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Formula 1
Chinese GP
2012 Chinese Grand Prix The Chinese Grand Prix
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6 Days
13 hrs
16 min
36 sec
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Lap 33: Hamilton is all over Perez in a battle for track position. Webber is right behind the McLaren.
Lap 33: Caterham had a problem with the right rear of Kovalainen's car during his second stop. He has been back in to have the problem rectified, but has dropped to the back of the pack.
Lap 33: Di Resta pits the Force India and rejoins down in 14th place.
Lap 34: @MyCaterham reports: "Problem with the right rear on Heikki's car meant we had to bring him back in for another set of mediums"
Lap 34: Button has the lead gap down to 12.3 seconds as McLaren - closing rapidly on Rosberg.
Lap 34: Maldonado pits from eighth place, handing the position over to Massa, as Vettel in 11th after that stop sets the fastest lap of the race - 1m40.601s.
Lap 34: Webber tries a move on Hamilton but the move at Turn 6 doesn't stick for the moment in a fascinating scrap over fourth.
Lap 34: Rosberg pits from the lead.
Lap 34: Ricciardo and Karthikeyan have also been into the pits last time round. The Australian rejoins in 17th position.
Lap 35: Perez locks up at Turn 14, with Hamilton now all over the Sauber.
Lap 35: Rosberg resumes ahead of that scrap, with Button now leading.
Lap 35: The other Sauber entry is also in a fierce scrap, with Kobayashi all over the back of Raikkonen as they fight for seventh.
Lap 35: Rosberg will face a lengthy run to the flag on those tyres if he wants to stick on a two-stop plan.
Lap 35: Meanwhile, Hamilton is still struggling to get past Perez and now has Alonso on his case.
Lap 36: Perez yields to the pressure by pitting his Sauber.
Lap 36: Martin Brundle, the master of the one liners, says on Sky: "Alonso keeps pulling something out of his when he doesn't appear to have anything in his hat!" Alonso is fifth and chasing Perez and Hamilton.
Lap 36: Behind the frontrunners, Massa is now fifth with Raikkonen sixth, Kobayashi seventh, Vettel eighth, Grosjean ninth and Senna 10th.
Lap 37: So it's now Button leading by 8.6 seconds from Rosberg, with Hamilton now third and 4.7 seconds further behind, chased by Alonso.
Lap 38: Massa in fifth is now beginning to lead a train of cars. Raikkonen, Kobayashi, Vettel and Grosjean are all nose-to-tail behind him.
Lap 38: Senna is 10th and some 4.5s behind this train, with Webber 11th and catching the Brazilian quickly. Maldonado is 12th and Perez is 13th.
Lap 38: Rosberg is a little quicker than Button at this stage and closes to 7.4 seconds off the lead.
Lap 38: Hamilton and Alonso pit together.
Lap 39: Kobayashi gets out of that sandwich and into the pits for another set of tyres.
Lap 39: Hamilton remains ahead out of the pits and resumes behind Maldonado.
Lap 39: Pic also pitted the Marussia last time from 19th place. He drops one spot to 20th.
Lap 39: McLaren resets its pit crew and in comes Button.
Lap 39: Webber has caught up to the back of Bruno Senna and might be in prime position to pass the Williams into Turn 14.
Lap 39: @NickHeidfeld reckons Rosberg's in the pound seat: "Problem with the right rear on Heikki's car meant we had to bring him back in for another set of mediums.
Lap 40: There's a problem at the rear on Button's stop and he finally gets away after a terrible tyre change.
Lap 40: Button resumes behind a pile of traffic after a costly fumble on the left rear.
Lap 40: Massa is up to third with the recent stops. Raikkonen, Vettel and Grosjean are still all close behind the Brazilian.
Lap 40: So it's advantage Rosberg as the Mercedes resumes the lead.
Lap 40: Button rejoined from his stop in sixth, but quickly dispatches Grosjean and moves into fifth spot.
Lap 41: Kobayashi in 14th posts the fastest lap of the race - 1m39.960s.
Lap 41: Massa is now up to second but is yet to stop again. Raikkonen, Vettel, Button and Grosjean are all together right behind the Ferrari.
Lap 41: Button is unable to make his fresh tyres work as he gets boxed up in all that traffic.
Lap 41: Massa has held on well to this second set of tyres, but looking down the order, a 20 second add-on for his stop will still put him out of the top 10 - the field is so tight.
Lap 42: Massa finally pits the Ferrari and the rest will breathe a sigh of relief.
Lap 42: Rosberg is told to look after his tyres as Mercedes continue to eye a run to the flag on his current rubber.
Lap 42: Massa rejoins in 14th. Vergne has also been in for another stop - his third.
By: Emlyn Hughes, Geoff Creighton, Simon Strang
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