The first phase of this year’s Formula One championship came to a close in China last Sunday. So far the four ‘away’ races in the Far East have been anything but boring. Everyone was sceptical prior to the start of the season fearing the multitude of new regulations would hinder the excitement.

However, innovative technology, hybrid motors up, and turbo engines have delivered the goods. Credit must also be given to the 22 drivers who have mastered all the new gizmos on board including the new steering wheels which resemble more a tablets relaying information to the drivers.

Despite the initial fears, the cars are also faster. The top speeds registered on straights in Malaysia and China have been astronomical even though the braking distances have increased and the functionality of the DRS seems to be non-effective on certain circuits.

However it is definitely a plus sign with this electronic revolution and for sure the times will come further down when the teams will have mastered the optimum operation of the complete power train.

It seems that Mercedes have succeeded in mastering the electronic revolution and are further looking at other areas of improvements within their aero setup. It is obvious that Red Bull RB10 is the most efficient where aerodynamics are concerned.

The car is exceptionally stable exiting corners, yet is suffering from an underpowered propulsion. New recruit Daniel Riccardo seems to have settled quicker than four times world champion Sebastian Vettel. Riccardo has been constantly faster than Vettel.

The new generation Pirelli tyres seem to be taking longer to reach their operational temperature and were suffering a lot resulting in under performance. Ironically, drivers like Hamilton and Alonso, who are known for their aggressive driving, seem to be benefitting most.

Mercedes have to keep their momentum and continue to improve their car. Their advantage at the moment is massive but things can change on the championship’s return to Europe on May 11.

Chinese F1 Grand Prix

Team by team analysis

Mercedes
(Lewis Hamilton 1, Nico Rosberg 2)

Hamilton’s third win in a row, the first time in his F1 career that he has done that, and 25th in total. He has now equalled the tally of former champions Niki Lauda and Jim Clark and is eighth on the all-time list. Dominant Mercedes have won all four races this year, the last three as one-two finishes. Rosberg still leads the championship by four points. The German had no telemetry from car to engineers during the race and made a poor start because of a clutch problem. He also made contact with Bottas’s Williams at the first corner.

Red Bull
(Daniel Ricciardo 4, Sebastian Vettel 5)

Vettel was ordered to let Ricciardo through for the second race in a row, complying after initial reluctance. Ricciardo had started on the front row but from the dirty side and lost two places. Vettel said he moved over once he realised they were on different strategies.

Williams
Valtteri Bottas 7, Felipe Massa 15)

Both drivers banged into other cars at the start but escaped without serious damage. Massa forced past several cars off the grid but hit Alonso’s Ferrari while Bottas and Rosberg had a coming together. Massa lost a minute in an agonising pitstop, with the team struggling to fit a rear wheel in a blunder that wrecked the Brazilian’s race.

Force India
(Nico Hulkenberg 6, Sergio Perez 9)

Force India slipped from second place but remain the second strongest Mercedes team. Hulkenberg had a straightforward race, Perez raced into the points from 16th and has now scored in three of his four races with the team.

Ferrari
(Fernando Alonso 3, Kimi Raikkonen 8)

Alonso and Ferrari’s first podium of the season in the team’s first race since the departure of Stefano Domenicali as principal. The Spaniard, whose car was hit by Massa’s at the start, said being in the top three was a nice surprise. Raikkonen had a largely anonymous race.

McLaren
(Jenson Button 11, Kevin Magnussen 13)

McLaren slipped further down the standings after failing to score points for the second race in a row. Both drivers complained of a lack of downforce with Button struggling to get the front tyres up to temperature.

Toro Rosso
(Daniil Kvyat 10, Jean-Eric Vergne 12)

Kvyat scored a point for the third time in four races after a battle with Button. The Russian had started 13th. Vergne paid for a bad start and first lap.

Lotus
(Pastor Maldonado 14, Romain Grosjean retired)

Still no points for Lotus, although Grosjean was running 10th when he retired on lap 28 with a gearbox problem. The Frenchman had started 10th. Maldonado started last after being unable to take part in qualifying and kept out of trouble.

Sauber
(Esteban Gutierrez 16, Adrian Sutil retired)

Sutil retired on lap six with an engine problem after difficulties even on the formation lap. Tyre wear forced Gutierrez to switch from a two to three stop strategy.

Marussia
(Jules Bianchi 17, Max Chilton 19)

Bianchi battled with Kobayashi and was rewarded at the finish. Chilton notched up another solid race for his 23rd consecutive finish.

Caterham
(Kamui Kobayashi 18, Marcus Ericsson 20)

Kobayashi passed Bianchi on the last lap but the move was meaningless due to an earlier mistake with the chequered flag which meant the lap didn’t count. The Japanese also passed Vettel to unlap himself, which did not please the champion. Ericsson suffered understeer all race.

(Compiled by Alan Baldwin, editing by Pritha Sarkar.)

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