The Chinese Grand Prix 2018 was the 3rd round of the 2018 F1 season, and took place at the Shanghai International Circuit in Shanghai, China, on April 15th.
Daniel Ricciardo won the race after starting in the 6th position, followed by Valtteri Bottas, and Kimi Räikkönen completing the podium.
Sebastian Vettel started from the pole position, but only managed to finish 8th.
Final results
Race evolution
Pit Stops
There were a total of 30 pit stops during the race.
The most popular pit stop windows were:
- Laps 10-13: 5 stops
- Laps 16-24: 11 stops
- Laps 27-33: 13 stops
The fastest pit stop was Valtteri Bottas's, stopping the clock at 22.097 seconds during his pit stop on lap 19, while the slowest one was was Pierre Gasly's, who stopped the clock at 34.650 seconds, 12.553 seconds slower than Bottas, during his pit stop on lap 31.
These times include the time the driver spent going through the pit lane, as well as the actual time he stopped for the mechanics to work on his car.
Strategy
The race was not obvious in terms of pit stop strategy, with different teams and different drivers choosing to make anywhere from 1 to 2 stops.
The race winner, Daniel Ricciardo, was on a 2 stops strategy.
1 stop
-
-Lewis Hamilton
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1Valtteri Bottas
-
7Sebastian Vettel
-
-Charles Leclerc
-
1Stoffel Vandoorne
-
4Lance Stroll
-
1Kevin Magnussen
-
1Kimi Räikkönen
-
6Fernando Alonso
-
4Marcus Ericsson
2 stops
-
5Brendon Hartley
-
1Esteban Ocon
-
-Carlos Sainz
-
4Sergio Pérez
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1Nico Hülkenberg
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7Romain Grosjean
-
-Max Verstappen
-
5Daniel Ricciardo
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1Pierre Gasly
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1Sergey Sirotkin
Excluding those drivers who could not finish the race, those on a 1 stop strategy lost an average of 0.9 positions, while those on a 2 stops strategy lost an average of 0.44 positions.
This difference in possitions gained, together with a deeper nalaysis of each strategy, reinforces the conclusion that a 1 stop strategy was the best option, even if Daniel Ricciardo managed to win the race making 2 stops.
It is important to note that this might not always be the case for other races held at the Shanghai International Circuit, as the conditions might change from year to year, in terms of wheel degradation, accidents, safety cars, etc.
Incidents
There race went on mostly with no incidents. Only 1 divers were involved in circumstances that were severe enough to prevented them from finishing the race.
These included, .
Collision damage
-
Brendon HartleyLap 51
Qualifying
Sebastian Vettel managed to get the pole position by 0.087 seconds and a final lipe time of 1:31.095. Kimi Räikkönen was right behind him, helping Ferrari score a one-two and monopolize the first line of the grid.
The second line fo the grid was dominated by Mercedes, with Valtteri Bottas in third position, and Lewis Hamilton in fourth.
But the team pairings didn't stop there, as the two Red Bulls were right behind them, with Max Verstappen in fith position, and Daniel Ricciardo in sixth.
Track evolution
As the qualifying session went on, with the track rubbering in, and the drivers testing the limits of the grip of their cars, the times per lap dropped, and 14 out of the 15 drivers that took place in Q2 were able to improve their times.
The Q3 is the time were all the remaining drivers put all their cards on the table, even those with a superior car who might have been managing their times in Q1 and Q2 push their cars to the limit in Q3. It therefore comes as no surprise that 8 out of the 10 drivers that took place in Q3 were able to improve their times.