We leave China with a one-point lead over Ferrari in the Constructors' Championship, after Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton's second and fourth-place finishes.
REPORT: Valtteri P2, Lewis P4 in China
What Happened?
- Valtteri and Lewis locked out the second row of the grid, lining up P3 and P4 for the Chinese GP on the Soft tyre compound.
- A strong move around the outside of Kimi Räikkönen at the first corner promoted Valtteri to second place on the opening lap, while Lewis dropped to fifth behind Max Verstappen.
- Lewis was the first of our drivers to stop, going onto the Mediums on lap 18. Valtteri dived in for the same compound on lap 19.
- The Finn used the undercut to jump Sebastian in the pit stop phase and take over the lead, opening up a gap before the Safety Car was deployed on lap 31.
- Red Bull pitted both drivers for Softs, while the silver and red cars stayed out. Valtteri stormed away at the restart but the Bulls started making inroads.
- Lewis lost out to Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen, on their fresh Softs, before Max collided with Sebastian. Lewis moved ahead of them both, but avoiding the clash dropped him behind Kimi.
- Daniel lunged past Valtteri on lap 45 to snatch the lead away. Valtteri then came under pressure from Kimi and a recovering Max, but he held them off to claim P2 in his 100th F1 race start.
- Lewis was P5 on the road, but advanced to P4 due to a time penalty for Max. It's his 28th consecutive race finish in the points, which is a new F1 record.
What Did We Learn?
While the result has promoted the team to the top of the Constructors' Championship, with a slender one-point lead, overall it's been another challenging weekend.
"Firstly congratulations to Valtteri finishing his 100th race with another podium," said Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director. "Last week, Valtteri wanted the race to run a few laps longer and this week he'll be glad that it finished when it did.
"He drove a strong race, managed his tyres well and had the pace to make the undercut work with Vettel. It would have been great to have seen him on the top step but we missed it by quite a margin today as we just weren't fast enough compared to Red Bull.
"Leading up to the Safety Car, the race was going reasonably well. Valtteri was running in first place and Lewis was in fourth having benefit from Ferrari going long on the first stint with Kimi.
"The Safety Car changed the situation: we had to stay out with Valtteri to retain the lead and decided not to stop Lewis as we might have lost a position to Ricciardo, and risked losing a further place to Kimi.
"However, we simply didn't have the pace to beat Red Bull on the same strategy today and we need to be very honest with ourselves regarding the performance of our car this weekend.
"We're off to Baku next, which is a very different type of circuit, and we are fully expecting another close battle. This championship is anyone's to win and we will be working flat out over the next few weeks and months to try and solve our weaknesses."
What We're Saying?
Valtteri: "This is disappointing; today doesn't feel like winning a podium but like losing a win. Coming home second is not what we aimed for after the beginning of the race and the successful undercut.
"The team did a really good job, the pit stop was absolutely perfect and came at the right moment. We lost the race under the Safety Car. When it came out, Sebastian and I were already past the pit entry, so we were a bit unlucky - the cars behind us could react, but we didn't have any choice.
"They could get fresh tyres, but I ended up doing nearly 40 laps on the Medium, so of course it was slower in the end.
"It's very close between Red Bull, Ferrari and us, so we need to make sure we keep developing our car.
"Nearly winning both last weekend and this weekend is the worst feeling - but it makes both me and the entire team even hungrier. Thankfully there are a lot more races to go."
Lewis: "It was another difficult day at the office. I was trying to hold on, but my tyres were done, so I had no chance of keeping the Red Bulls behind.
"Saturday and Sunday felt like a disaster from my side. I just haven't had the pace since yesterday and I struggled with the car.
"We've been underperforming but I'm not going to let my head drop because I know we have a tough battle ahead of us. I need to get back to my normal level of performance before I lose more valuable points.
"It could have been worse, Max did me a favour today in terms of the points standings, but it's a weekend to forget, that's for sure.
"Now we need to work hard to understand why we have been struggling and start the climb back to the front of the field."
Toto: "I am sure that was a fantastic grand prix for the fans watching in the grandstands and back at home - but it was a very challenging one from where we were sitting.
"Ultimately, the reality of today is that we lacked pace in each phase - Sebastian managed the performance in the opening stint, building a good gap to Valtteri, and the Red Bulls were significantly faster on fresher tyres after the Safety Car.
"The best part of our day was undoubtedly Valtteri's drive: the pit wall called an aggressive undercut, the boys delivered a perfect pit stop and he claimed first the position over Sebastian, then the lead from Kimi with a bold pass round the outside.
"We saw a real fighter in the car today and, while he was unfortunate with the Safety Car timing opening the door for Red Bull, he protected P2 in a perfect way. For Lewis, it was a tougher afternoon.
"He could not make progress in the opening stint, pitted early for the Medium tyre running a one-stop strategy and then was sitting in P3 after the Safety Car came in.
"In the end we must admit that the decision from Red Bull to pit for a fresh set of tyres under the Safety Car was the right call but that was not a given at that stage of the race.
"P2 and P4 is some good damage limitation from a tricky race, but it is little comfort that this puts us in the lead of the Constructors' Championship as we head home. We have been in tough spots before in recent years and shown the right spirit to respond. We will do the same again this time."