We made it over to the Shanghai Grand Prix again yesterday for some F1 action, but the weather was most definitely not on our side. We'll put it this way, we got wet. Spoilers below.
The race began with a bit of caution, as the group tailed the AMG-supplied SL63 pace car for eight laps before being let loose to the elements. Red Bull Racing's Sebastian Vettel took the pole during Saturday's qualifying session, holding onto the position until today's rain soaked finish. Not only did Red Bull pull a 1st place podium finish, but team mate, Mark Webber also pulled it in, giving Red Bull Racing a one-two finish over the rest of the pack. It was a rather uneventful grand prix, with no real racing taking place except for a few fun laps with McLaren's Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari's Felipe Massa. Series leader, Jenson Button and his Brawn Honda/Mercedes, played hard, but was unable to hold onto his winning streak, eventually finishing 3rd.
Make sure you check out my coverage of Day 1 and Day 2 for more on track and lifestyle images from the event.
2009 FORMULA 1 CHINESE GRAND PRIX FINAL STANDINGS:
Pos No Driver Team Laps Time/Retired Grid Pts
1 15 Sebastian Vettel RBR-Renault 56 1:57:43.485 1 10
2 14 Mark Webber RBR-Renault 56 +10.9 secs 3 8
3 22 Jenson Button Brawn-Mercedes 56 +44.9 secs 5 6
4 23 Rubens Barrichello Brawn-Mercedes 56 +63.7 secs 4 5
5 2 Heikki Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes 56 +65.1 secs 12 4
6 1 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 56 +71.8 secs 9 3
7 10 Timo Glock Toyota 56 +74.4 secs 19 2
8 12 Sebastien Buemi STR-Ferrari 56 +76.4 secs 10 1
9 7 Fernando Alonso Renault 56 +84.3 secs 2
10 4 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 56 +91.7 secs 8
11 11 Sebastien Bourdais STR-Ferrari 56 +94.1 secs 15
12 6 Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber 56 +95.8 secs 11
13 5 Robert Kubica BMW Sauber 56 + 106.8 secs 17
14 21 Giancarlo Fisichella Force India-Mercedes 55 +1 Lap 20
15 16 Nico Rosberg Williams-Toyota 55 +1 Lap 7
16 8 Nelsinho Piquet Renault 53 +2 Laps 16
17 20 Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 50 +6 Laps 18
Ret 17 Kazuki Nakajima Williams-Toyota 43 +13 Laps 14
Ret 3 Felipe Massa Ferrari 20 +36 Laps 13
Ret 9 Jarno Trulli Toyota 18 +38 Laps 6