All About The Strategy

The Shanghai Grand Prix showed that the new Pirelli tyres are going to play a vital role in this year's F1 season. It was all about who decided to go on a two stop strategy or a three stop strategy and it was the three stop strategists that eventually won the race.

Pole sitter Vettel had a poor start as both Button and Hamilton overtook him from the start, the German was also under pressure from Rosberg but he managed to defend him. The only retirement came after ten laps when Alguersuari lost a rear tyre due to it not being put o the car properly after the first pit stop.

The drama really started from lap fourteen when both Button and Vettel pitted, Button somehow went into the Red Bull pitting area by mistake. This cost him dearly as Vettel was able to get his pit-stop done quicker and he over-took Button. A lap later Hamilton pitted along with fifth placed Massa, he Ferrari also overtook the McLaren, leaving Hamilton bewildered in fifth place. The shock of the race at this point was that Nico Rosberg was leading after sixteen laps after being one of the earliest to pit.

After 25 laps Button was the first to take his second pit-stop with leader Rosberg pitting a lap later along with Hamilton meaning that Vettel led the race. This only lasted six laps however as Vettel pitted for the second time, meaning that Massa now led. This was until he pitted two laps later on the 34th lap so that Rosberg re-led the race.

After 36 laps Hamilton over-took his McLaren teammate into second place before Button pitted for his third time two laps later, he rejoined in fifth place. A lap later Hamilton also pitted and rejoined in fourth before Rosberg pitted on lap 40 and rejoined in third, while Vettel was leading with his two-stop strategy.

Unfortunately for Rosberg his fuel levels became critical so he had to slow down a little, this allowed Hamilton to over take into third place. Hamilton then took full advantage of Ferrari's two-stop strategy as their tyres were beginning to wear, the McLaren overtook Massa into second on lap 45. Perhaps the performance of the day came from Webber who started eighteenth but by lap 45 his three-stop strategy meant he could over-take Alonso into sixth.

By lap 50 Button had made it into third place but two laps later Webber was gunning for him after over-taking Massa fifth. But Vettel's tyres were also starting to fade due his two-stop strategy and Hamilton eased past to take the vital lead of the race with four laps remaining. The last four laps saw Webber over-take Rosberg into fourth and then Button into third to grab an unbelievable podium finish.

Results in full: 1.Hamilton(McLaren), 2.Vettel(Red Bull), 3.Webber(Red Bull), 4.Button(McLaren), 5.Rosberg(Mercedes), 6.Massa(Ferrari), 7.Alonso(Ferrari), 8.Schumacher(Mercedes), 9.Petrov(Renault), 10.Kobayashi(Sauber), 11.Di Resta(Force India), 12.Heidfeld(Renault), 13.Barrichello(Williams), 14.Buemi(Toro Rosso), 15.Sutil(Force India), 16.Kovalainen(Lotus), 17.Perez(Sauber), 18.Maldonado(Williams), 19.Trulli(Lotus), 20.D'Ambrosio(Virgin), 21.Glock(Virgin), 22.Liuzzi(Hispania), 23.Karthikeyan(Hispania) DNF: Alguersuari(Toro Rosso)