It would be another difficult race for the Williams F1 team at the 2013 Chinese GP with Valtteri Bottas and Pastor Maldonado finishing 13th and 14th. It was a day where again the Williams drivers suffered from their lack of pace, something that will not really change until updates in Spain.
Chinese GP Race Review
After a revision
in the final grid of the fifty six lap 2013 Chinese Grand Prix would see
Williams F1 drivers Pastor Maldonado and Valtteri Bottas start from
fourteenth and sixteenth. After a difficult lead-up to the race the Williams
team would be hoping that strategy would see them secure a points scoring
finish. At the front of the grid Hamilton was on pole from Raikkonen,
Alonso, Rosberg, Massa, Grosjean, Ricciardo, Button, Vettel, and in tenth Hulkenberg. Pirelli had supplied the soft and
medium tyre for the race with the soft tyre as much as 1.5 seconds per lap
faster but had suffered from degradation. Webber would start the race from
pitlane with the team having taken the opportunity for a gearbox change. He
would have started the race from the rear after receiving a penalty.
The top seven would all be on the soft tyre with Button, Vettel and
Hulkenberg on the medium tyre. Valtteri was also on the medium tyre while
Pastor was on the soft. Webber was also on the soft tyre. There were two DRS
zones for the race one on the back straight and the other the start
straight. The grid would move away on their parade lap and would form up and
the lights would go out and it would be Hamilton leading with Alonso and
Massa second and third. Rosberg would pass Grosjean for fifth while Vettel
was in ninth. Pastor and Valtteri were running together in fifteenth and
sixteenth. Raikkonen was in fourth as Webber pitted to take on the medium
tyre. Lap two and Hamilton was leading by 0.8 seconds with the DRS enabled.
The top four
were running close together with Alonso passing Hamilton into Turn one.
Massa would also get past and into second as Ricciardo pitted on lap five.
Hamilton and Rosberg would both pit on lap six with Sutil also coming in
with a damaged rear wing. This was a result of Gutierrez ramming the rear of
the Force India. Sutil would retire in his pit and Gutierrez out on the
track. Lap seven and Alonso and Raikkonen would both pit joined by Bianchi and Van Der Gar. Massa was now leading from
Hulkenberg and Vettel. Lap eight and Massa, Grosjean, and Pastor all
pitting. Hulkenberg was now leading from Vettel, Button, and Perez. Valtteri
was now in ninth but had been passed by Van der Gar at the end of the long
main straight. Di Resta was now fifth followed by Alonso, Hamilton, Valtteri, and Raikkonen
tenth.
Massa had passed Webber to be eleventh while Raikkonen had passed Valtteri
seeing Valtteri now tenth. Massa would also pass Valtteri with the Williams
now eleventh while Pastor was down in sixteenth. Raikkonen would pass Vergne
for eighth while there would be investigations regarding drivers using their
DRS while it had been disabled as a result of Gutierrez's accident. Lap twelve and Hulkenberg
was leading Vettel by 1.0 seconds followed by Button, Perez, Di Resta,
Alonso, Hamilton, Raikkonen, Vergne, and Massa tenth. Valtteri had dropped
to thirteenth while Alonso would pass Perez using his DRS on the start
straight to now be fourth. Pastor would set a personal best on 1m:44.516 on
lap thirteenth. Both Hulkenberg and Vettel would pit on lap fifteenth with Vettel getting back out on front of Hulkenberg. Di
Resta would pit from eighth. Webber would make contact with Vergne. Webber
would pit for a new nose joined by Vergne.
Raikkonen would
hit the rear of Perez's McLaren with the Lotus receiving damage to his nose.
For Webber his race would be ruined as he slowed reporting that his had a
problem with his right rear. On lap seventeen Valtteri would pit but Webber
would not get back to his pit as his right rear tyre would fall off seeing
Webber retire on the side of the track. Button was now leading from Alonso
and Hamilton. Pastor was now in front of Valtteri with the pair running in thirteenth and fourteenth. Both
Button and Perez had yet to pit while on lap twenty Massa and Rosberg would
pit and Vettel would pass Perez for fifth. Alonso would pass Button for the
lead using his DRS at the end of the start straight. Rosberg was back in
again on lap twenty one again getting medium tyres.
Pastor and Valtteri were now tenth and thirteenth while on lap twenty two
Hamilton and Raikkonen would pit from third and fourth. Rosberg would return
to his pit to retire while on lap twenty four Alonso and Button would both
pit joined by Grosjean, Ricciardo, and Pastor. This would see Vettel leading
from Hulkenberg, Alonso, Button, Hamilton, Raikkonen and Perez. Perez would
pit for the first time on lap twenty five. Valtteri and Pastor were now
thirteenth and fourteenth. Alonso would pass Hulkenberg at the entry to be
main straight, also gaining the use from his DRS as was ahead of Hulkenberg.
Hamilton was catching Button in fourth. Hamilton would pass Button at the
end of the start straight. Alonso was now right with Vettel and
would pass just prior to the start of the main straight.
Lap thirty and
Hulkenberg would pit from fifth taking on the soft tyre. He would return in
eighth while on lap thirty two Vettel would pit again taking on medium
tyres. Raikkonen had passed Button for fourth as Perez also pitted.
Ricciardo had passed Grosjean to be eighth while Vettel would pass
Hulkenberg for fifth. Valtteri was now twelfth and Pastor fourteenth.
Raikkonen would pit on lap thirty five taking on the medium tyre. Valtteri
would also pit having been passed by Perez. Alonso was now 11.0 seconds
ahead of Hamilton with Button third. Vettel would pass Button at the end of
the main straight using his DRS. Massa and Hulkenberg would pit on lap
thirty seven and on the following lap Hamilton would pit from second
rejoining in sixth.
Grosjean had also pitted joined by Vergne. Ricciardo would pit from sixth on
lap thirty nine, with this being his first stop. Alonso's lead was now 19.0
seconds over Vettel. Pastor would pit on lap forty. Alonso would pit the
next lap taking on a set of medium tyres. He would come back out behind
Vettel but Vettel still had to make another pit stop. Valtteri and Pastor
were now in thirteenth and fourteenth. At the end of the
start straight Alonso would pass Vettel using his DRS. Button was told that
he was racing Vettel. Hamilton was looking to pass fourth placed Raikkonen
but Raikkonen would have his won plans and would pass Button for third.
Hamilton would also follow Raikkonen and pass Button. Valtteri had moved up
to twelfth with Pastor fourteenth. Ricciardo would pass Hulkenberg for
eighth and Turn fourteenth. Button would pit from fifth on lap fifty taking
on the soft tyre. Button would return in seventh. Button would use DRS to
pass Massa for sixth as Hamilton closed in onto Raikkonen.
Vettel would pit
on lap fifty two taking on his soft tyres for his run to the finish. Vettel
was in fourth while for Williams Valtteri was leading Pastor with the pair
thirteenth and fourteenth. But Valtteri would pit again been forced to take
on the soft tyre for his final run. Di Resta would pit from fifth on lap
fifty four with Valtteri now fourteenth and Pastor thirteenth. Lap fifty
four and Alonso was leading by 10.2 seconds from Raikkonen, Hamilton,
Vettel, Button, Massa, Ricciardo, Di Resta, Grosjean, and Hulkenberg in
tenth. Vettel was gaining in onto Hamilton as Hamilton moved through
traffic. Alonso would finish to win the 2013 Chinese Grand Prix with
Raikkonen second and Hamilton third. Vettel despite a great effort could not
get past Hamilton finishing in third. For the Williams F1 team Valtteri
would finish ahead of Pastor with the pair thirteenth and fourteenth with Valtteri having gained from his soft
tyres. Both drivers were fairly well matched during the race but both are
still well of the pace in what was another frustrating and disappointing
race for the team.
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