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Formula 1
Chinese GP
2014 Chinese Grand Prix Sunday - Chinese GP
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And the Ferrari sweeps past, Alonso has pulled off the under-cut and jumps Vettel for an effective second.
Vettel pits one lap after second-place rival Alonso.
BEN ANDERSON: "Mercedes clearly has a straightline speed advantage but Rosberg was unable to utilise it to get on terms with the Red Bulls during this first stint. The front tyre graining has likely played a big part in keeping the order quite static."
Rosberg asks Mercedes to check his front wing. The team suspects there's rubber stuck in it.
Kobayashi, Maldonado and Bianchi have all made their first stops.
Massa is finally underway, but he was stopped for a long time. He'll be last on track. Perhaps there was some damage from that earlier hit with Alonso, after all.
Alonso makes his first pitstop from third on lap 11.
Both rear tyres are proving problematic for Massa. He's still stationary. Chances of a good result are fading fast!
Hamilton leads Vettel by 10.4s after 10 laps, with Rosberg another 4.8s back.
JONATHAN NOBLE: "Lewis Hamilton is about one second per lap quicker than the cars behind - and it's interesting to see almost all of that is being opened up in the final sector, which includes the back straight."
Problem for Massa. Rear right tyre seems to be the problem.
The train of cars from Vettel to Rosberg has stabilised with gaps between them too big for DRS use.
Perez is doing the same.
Massa and Raikkonen are now both in the pitlane.
Grosjean has made his first stop, and like Button he's gone for the mediums.
Still in fifth behind Ricciardo, Rosberg is now 11.8s away from his race-leading team-mate.
The Sauber twitter feed (@OfficialSF1Team) has eluded to Sutil's problems being related to the power unit. It's the Germans third retirement in a row.
Vettel is hoping for a pitstop to get rid of these fading tyres, but Red Bull says there are "no good gaps behind".
Once again, Hamilton is 1.6s faster than Vettel and is now 8.5s clear.
Button pits and grabs a set of mediums. Looking for a long sting, perhaps.
Vettel is reminded to "respect the beeps".
Rosberg has now got onto Ricciardo's tail for fourth.
Massive pace advantage for Hamilton now - he adds 1.6s to his lead over Vettel on lap seven.
EDD STRAW: "Complaints about graining at this stage are to be expected. What counts is how bad it is and how well you deal with it."
While Hamilton notes some "small graining" on the left front but says it's "not causing any problems."
Alonso is reporting left front graining.
Vettel edges a bit further away from Alonso again, while Hamilton leads by 5.3s after six laps.
Sutil is now in the pits and being pushed into the garage. Hs day is done.
Mercedes informs Rosberg that it's not expecting to have any telemetry at all during the race. That could be tough...
JONATHAN NOBLE: "We can already see some graining on the front tyres. It is the front left that takes a battering here in China - thanks to the long Turn 1 and the corner on to the back straight."
Sutil seems to be having some problems out there. He's last. By a long way. Could we be about to become the first retirement of the race.
Mercedes asks Hamilton for a tyre wear update. "So far the tyres seem to be OK," he replies.
Rosberg has swiftly dropped Massa and is hunting down Ricciardo. The gap is 1.2s and the Mercedes was 0.6s quicker last time.
Alonso is now within DRS range of Vettel for second, as Hamilton's lead builds to 4.1s.
After four laps, Vettel is 3.5s behind Hamilton. Alonso is another second back, and 1.5s ahead of Ricciardo.
Further replays show that Rosberg tagged Bottas into a big sideways slide at Turn 1. Some very hard hits there but with no damage.
Rosberg gets past Massa for fifth.
Replays of the start show that Massa dived for a gap between Alonso and Ricciardo but it narrowly and he made firm contact with the Ferrari. Both continued.
At the back of the grid, Maldonado has had a decent first few laps, jumping from last to 18th.
Rosberg is all over the back of Massa but can't find space for a pass.
By: Matt Beer, Edd Straw, Ben Anderson, Jonathan Noble, Andrew van Leeuwen
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