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Formula 1
Chinese GP
2012 Chinese Grand Prix The Chinese Grand Prix
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6 Days
09 hrs
36 min
25 sec
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Lap 4: On board with Vettel and he is unable to make any real ground on di Resta's Force India at the end of the long straight.
Lap 5: Rival strategists expect Mercedes to struggle for grip in the latter stages of this first stint, leaving Button well-placed in his McLaren.
Lap 5: Senna in 12th is encouraged by his race engineer to get back up to and past Massa if possible. The pair made light contact in the opening exchanges.
Lap 5: Alonso is fighting the rear of his Ferrari as he continues to try and close in a one second gap to Kobayashi, with Webber next in ninth.
Lap 5: Button is congratulated on his great start by his engineer, who will expect his tyre preservation skills to pay off this afternoon.
Lap 6: Rosberg sets the fastest lap to pull 2.6 seconds clear of team-mate Schumacher.
Lap 6: Vettel gets a better drive out of Turn 13 but di Resta is again able to maintain that short gap and hold onto 13th place.
Lap 6: The world champion is already frustrated and complaining on the Red Bull team radio that he is 'nowhere on the straight.'
Lap 7: Vergne is continuing his progress at the back of the field. He has passed Pic and Glock and now runs in 20th place. His next target is Vitaly Petrov.
Lap 7: Webber pits the Red Bull from ninth position.
Lap 7: Webber takes on medium compound tyres and gets away very quickly.
Lap 7: Alonso in eighth is losing a little bit of ground to the Sauber duo and is now 1.7s behind Kobayashi.
Lap 8: Raikkonen remains right on the gearbox of Button but isn't able to make a DRS move for the moment. Hamilton, Perez and Kobayshi are in train
Lap 8: Button is now just 0.9 seconds behind Schumacher, who is the slower of the Mercedes drivers at the moment.
Lap 8: Webber rejoined in 20th position and the Australian is a few seconds behind Vergne.
Lap 9: Rosberg's lead is now 4.1 seconds as Schumacher struggles for pace in second place, backing up the pack behind him.
Lap 9: Webber crosses the line and posts the fastest lap so far - 1m43.010s. Ahead of him, Vergne has passed Petrov for 18th.
Lap 9: Sauber's mechanics are ready for action in the pitlane.
Lap 10: Alonso continues in eighth with a slight deficit to the Sauber duo, with Massa a further three seconds back in ninth, as Red Bull gets ready for Vettel.
Lap 10: Kobayashi is the man to head in for Sauber and switches to the harder tyre, which seems to be the better rubber choice at the moment.
Lap 10: The German comes in and as he leaves, the Force India of Hulkenberg pits.
Lap 10: Front wing change for Hulkenberg and he is away after a slight delay.
Lap 10: Button, Raikkonen, Hamilton and Perez remain nose-to-tail in these early stages but DRS is not proving effective so far here.
Lap 11: Webber has passed Vergne on track and is up to 17th place. His next target is Ricciardo, just 2.7s up the road.
Lap 11: Raikkonen and Hamilton pit together.
Lap 11: Hamilton opts for soft rubber and Just pips Raikkonen in a drag race out of the pits.
Lap 11: Petrov pits for Caterham this time round and Vettel has rejoined in 18th position.
Lap 11: Hamilton remains clear of a big squabble between Raikkonen and Webber as they head around an outlap.
Lap 12: Button is the next man to pit, as does Grosjean.
Lap 12: Grosjean, di Resta and Maldonado all pit together in a straight race between the crews.
Lap 12: Button takes soft compound rubber as well, emerging ahead of Hamilton.
Lap 12: Vettel is up to 17th place and sets the fastest lap of the race - 1m42.732s.
Lap 12: Rosberg still leads for the moment from Schumacher, Perez and Alonso - all yet to stop.
Lap 13: The top four have yet to pit. Massa, Senna and Kovalainen are also yet to come in for a stop.
Lap 13: Schumacher and Alonso head for the pits, as does Senna.
Lap 13: Kovalainen pits the Caterham from what was 11th place temporarily.
Lap 13: Schumacher resumes and he has lost track position to both Button and Hamilton.
Lap 13: Rosberg has run wide at Turn 6 but still has a sizable lead over Perez for the moment.
Lap 13: Vettel is up to 14th place and has taken track position from di Resta in the pitstop phase.
Lap 13: Schumacher has pulled off and retired in the Mercedes.
By: Emlyn Hughes, Geoff Creighton, Simon Strang
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