Shanghai delight for Rosberg: Five talking points from the Chinese Formula One Grand Prix
Nico Rosberg took the chequered flag in Shanghai, but what more did we learn after race three of the season in China?
Now it’s Rosberg’s to lose
Nico Rosberg put himself among some of the F1 greats with his sixth straight win as he established himself as the man to beat this season. With a 36-point lead after three races, Rosberg assumes pole position early in the title race with another 18 grands prix to go in Formula One’s longest season yet. Only Sebastian Vettel, Alberto Ascari and Michael Schumacher have won six races or more in a row, although three of Rosberg’s victories date from the tail-end of last season when the championship had already been clinched by Lewis Hamilton. Rosberg was left in Hamilton’s slipstream last year, after also finishing behind his Mercedes teammate following a dogfight for the title in 2014. Now the pressure will be squarely on the German as he attempts to keep his nose in front until the end of the season. One stat is already ringing in Rosberg’s ears: no driver who has won the first three races has failed to seal the world title.
Vettel’s red, red whine
Sebastian Vettel’s enraged reaction to his first-corner collision with Ferrari teammate Kimi Raikkonen has some pundits wondering whether he was trying to cover his own embarrassment. The four-time world champion aimed a series of insults at Red Bull’s Daniil Kvyat, labelling him “a madman”, “suicidal” and saying he “came like a torpedo” after the Russian charged into a gap, forcing Vettel to take evasive action and hit Raikkonen’s car. However, the stewards saw nothing untoward and Kvyat, who finished third behind Rosberg and Vettel, was unrepentant. “You see the gap, you go for it,” shrugged the Russian. Vettel’s fiery outburst, which included a sharp exchange with Kvyat after the race, was termed “whining” by a stream of fans on social media, and a BBC website columnist wondered whether the German was upset because he had crashed into his teammate with Ferrari’s president, Sergio Marchionne, watching. “Was he overcompensating because he felt a bit embarrassed?” the columnist wrote.
‘Best fans in the world’
Let’s put this to bed
Cut to the quick
Daniel Ricciardo sported a new hairdo this weekend as he sped to second in qualifying, his highest yet this year, and finished fourth for the third race in a row, his best start to a season. But it remains unclear whether he’ll keep his “lucky” new look, created by a friend with a set of clippers who untidily shaved his hair at the sides and left a curly mop on top. The results were so bad that Ricciardo had to call in a proper hairdresser to attempt a repair job. “Hopefully it grows back soon anyway,” he said, according to news.com.au. “My engineer’s excited, I’ve saved about 300 grams.” Australian media were unimpressed. “It’s a good thing Daniel Ricciardo spends a large amount of time with a helmet on his head,” the news.com.au article commented.