GPI 2017 Chinese Grand Prix | Page 92

RACE REPORT Both Red Bull drivers had opted for Supersofts, with the rest of the front-runners bolting on the yellow band Softs. Behind the Red Bull duo, Raikkonen was inquiring angrily about the lack of torque over the radio, “What happened with me engine!?” Meanwhile Vettel lost precious time behind his teammate. He did get by eventually, but much time was lost. Once past he hunted down Ricciardo. The pair rubbed rubber in a thrilling side-by-side tussle which resulted in Vettel stealing third place from the Aussie. Then, when the Red Bull’s ran out of rubber later in the race, Vettel took Verstappen and found himself behind Hamilton. The Mercedes was about six seconds ahead. The pair battled it out on the timing screens, but it was a stalemate as Hamilton could not increase the gap, at the same time Vettel could not close it. Thus the Shanghai result was a reversal of the way they finished at the season opener in Melbourne. Game on: Hamilton versus Vettel. The battle between the Bulls was intense all race long, the pair slugging it out until the very end, with Verstappen beating his teammate by less than a second after Ricciardo went wide on his final attack of the race. Riveting stuff from them both.