Chinese GP:Sebastian Vettel won a rain-affected Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai from team-mate Mark Webber as Red Bull Racing claimed a one-two finish to mark their first victory.
Heavy rain throughout the afternoon forced organisers to start the race behind the safety car but when it peeled off after eight laps the Red Bull duo showed superb pace to fend off the challenge of Brawn GP.
The efforts of Red Bull denied championship leader Jenson Button a third successive victory as the Briton finished third with team-mate Rubens Barrichello fourth.
There was joy for McLaren as they put their recent troubles behind them with fifth place for Heikki Kovalainen and Lewis Hamilton in sixth.
Toyota’s Timo Glock took seventh place while Toro Rosso rookie Sebastien Buemi completed a superb performance to claim eighth place.
Fernando Alonso, who had started second on the grid in his Renault, was ninth while Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen completed the top 10.
The sheer dominance of the Red Bulls was all the more impressive after driveshaft problems in both cars had wrecked their final practice session yesterday.
As a result they were cautious in qualifying as Vettel had just one run in each session but did enough to secure pole while Webber claimed third.
Despite running without the controversial ‘double-decker’ diffuser or KERS, Red Bull dominated as Vettel claimed his second grand prix win.
Felipe Massa, who missed out on the title to Hamilton by just a point last year, failed to finish, meaning Ferrari are yet to pick up a single point this season.
“I am extremely happy,” said Vettel. “The car was fantastic. The team did a really good job in preparing the car. We were struggling a bit with reliability but fixed it overnight. Both cars finished the race and a double win for Red Bull is incredible.”
Results
Overall positions after race (56 Laps): 1 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull 1hr 57mins 43.485secs, 2 Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull 1:57:54.455, 3 Jenson Button (Gbr) Brawn GP 1:58:28.460, 4 Rubens Barrichello (Bra) Brawn GP 1:58:47.189, 5 Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) McLaren 1:58:48.587, 6 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) McLaren 1:58:55.351, 7 Timo Glock (Ger) Toyota 1:58:57.961, 8 Sebastien Buemi (Swi) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:58:59.924, 9 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Renault 1:59:07.794, 10 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 1:59:15.235, 11 Sebastien Bourdais (Fra) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:59:17.641, 12 Nick Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber 1:59:19.319, 13 Robert Kubica (Pol) BMW Sauber 1:59:30.338, 14 Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Force India +1 lap, 15 Nico Rosberg (Ger) Williams +1 lap, 16 Nelson Piquet Jr. (Bra) Renault +2 laps, 17 Adrian Sutil (Ger) Force India +6 laps. Not Classified: 18 Kazuki Nakajima (Jpn) Williams +13 laps, 19 Felipe Massa (Bra) Ferrari +36 laps, 20 Jarno Trulli (Ita) Toyota +38 laps
World Championship Standings
Drivers Championship:1 Jenson Button (Gbr) Brawn GP 21.0pts, 2 Rubens Barrichello (Bra) Brawn GP 15.0, 3 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull 10.0, 4 Timo Glock (Ger) Toyota 10.0, 5 Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull 9.5, 6 Jarno Trulli (Ita) Toyota 8.5, 7 Nick Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber 4.0, 8 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Renault 4.0, 9 Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) McLaren 4.0, 10 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) McLaren 4.0.
Manufacturers Championship:1 Brawn GP 36.0pts, 2 Red Bull 19.5, 3 Toyota 18.5, 4 McLaren 8.0, 5 BMW Sauber 4.0, 6 Renault 4.0, 7 Scuderia Toro Rosso 4.0, 8 Williams 3.5, 9 Ferrari 0.0, 10 Force India 0.0.