2010 Chinese GP: Button's gamble pays off as McLaren celebrate a one-two

Jenson Button won the Chinese Grand Prix at the Shanghai International Circuit on 18 April 2010, finishing ahead of his McLaren team-mate Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg in the Mercedes. Button set up the win in the opening laps. When light rain began to fall, he stayed out on dry tyres, while most of the favourites switched to intermediates. That was the start of a race in which the world champion drove from 5th on the grid all the way to the front.

Sebastian Vettel was on pole position in the Red Bull, but he was not first into the opening corner. Fernando Alonso started 3rd in the Ferrari, swept past both Red Bulls and led after the first lap. Behind him, Mark Webber also got ahead of Vettel. The lightning getaway had a catch, though: the stewards ruled it a jump start. According to Wikipedia, Ferrari found out on lap 5. Alonso served the drive-through penalty on the next lap and rejoined in 14th.

Further back, there was a crash on the opening lap. At Turn 6, Vitantonio Liuzzi lost control of his Force India under braking and slid into Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber) and Sébastien Buemi (Toro Rosso). That ended the race for all three of them. The Safety Car came out and stayed on track until the end of the third lap.

The tyre gamble started behind the Safety Car. At the end of the second lap, several drivers pitted for intermediates, among them Alonso and both Red Bull drivers. Rosberg, Button and the two Renault drivers, Robert Kubica and Vitaly Petrov, stayed on slicks instead. The rain did not get heavier, so the drivers on intermediates soon ran short of grip and had to pit a second time. Rosberg now led the field, with Button right behind him.

On lap 19 Button took the lead when he passed Rosberg at the Turn 14 hairpin. Soon afterwards the rain got heavier and the field switched to intermediates again. From lap 22 the Safety Car was out for a second time. Jaime Alguersuari had damaged his front wing in contact with a Hispania. When he pitted for a new nose, the wing came loose and scattered debris across the track. The Safety Car came in at the end of lap 25. Button's lead was gone, but he stayed in front at the restart. According to grandprix.com, this Safety Car period helped Alonso most of all, while it cost Kubica the advantage he had gained with the right tyre choice at the start.

At the flag, Button was 1.530 seconds ahead of Hamilton. Rosberg finished 9.484 seconds behind the winner, and Alonso was fourth, 11.869 seconds down (times according to grandprix.com).

Hamilton had switched to intermediates early, so he had to fight his way back from further down the field. He later admitted that he had decided to change “very, very late” and that it was “not the right choice”. On lap 5 he and Vettel left their pit boxes side by side. Hamilton spun his wheels and touched the Red Bull. The stewards gave both drivers a reprimand for dangerous driving.

From there, Hamilton put together a strong comeback. He had a tough battle with Michael Schumacher and afterwards called him the most aggressive opponent he had ever raced against (grandprix.com). On lap 13 he set the fastest lap of the race with a 1:42.061. On lap 29 he passed Kubica for 3rd place. Soon afterwards Rosberg was struggling more and more with worn tyres. Mercedes still kept him out because more rain was expected. In the final round of pit stops, Hamilton got ahead of Rosberg and took second place.

Winners of the day:
- Vitaly Petrov went from 14th on the grid to 7th, gaining 7 places. In the closing stages he also passed Schumacher and Webber. These were his first championship points and the first ever scored by a Russian driver in Formula 1. With Kubica finishing fifth, Renault scored points with both cars for the first time this season.
- Heikki Kovalainen in the Lotus (14th) and the HRT drivers Bruno Senna (16th) and Karun Chandhok (17th) also gained 7 places.
- Button and Hamilton each gained 4 places.

Losers of the day:
- Red Bull: Vettel dropped from pole to 6th, and Webber went from 2nd on the grid to 8th. When they switched to intermediates, Vettel had to wait behind Webber in the pits. Webber lost around nine seconds at one stop because he hit the jack with his front wing.
- Felipe Massa could only finish ninth. On lap 22 Alonso passed him on the way to the pit entry, and Massa had to wait in the pits. Ferrari called it a normal racing incident.
- Schumacher finished tenth. He said it was a race best forgotten.

• Timo Glock (Virgin) could not start. His engine suddenly lost air pressure in the pneumatic valve system, and the cause turned out to be a fault in the chassis. There was no time left to repair it.
• Liuzzi, Kobayashi and Buemi were out on the opening lap after the accident at Turn 6.
• Pedro de la Rosa (Sauber) retired after 7 laps with a technical problem.
• Lucas di Grassi (Virgin) started from the pit lane after a clutch change. After 8 laps the clutch failed again.
• Jarno Trulli (Lotus) parked his car after 26 laps with a hydraulic failure.

His second win of the season put Button in the lead of the 2010 standings with 60 points. Rosberg was next on 50, followed by Alonso and Hamilton on 49 each and Vettel on 45. In the constructors' standings, McLaren moved past Ferrari (90) with 109 points, and Red Bull were 3rd on 73.

The race also made history. It was the ninth Grand Prix win of Button's career. It was the first British one-two since the 1999 Austrian GP, and the last time two Englishmen had taken the top two places was at the 1969 Monaco GP. Rosberg's car also had a Mercedes engine, so for the first time since the 1955 British Grand Prix every driver on the podium was Mercedes-powered. After his win in Melbourne (see 2010 Australian GP), Button showed once again that he had a sure feel for the right tyre in mixed conditions.