Chinese Grand Prix
This weekend’s race was one of the best I have seen in a long time. With seven cars fighting for second place during the mid section of the race it was all about tactics and tyre wear. The strategy that won the race was a two stop strategy and Nico Rosberg won the race by over twenty seconds which is a huge lead. A victory that he had waited a long time for considering it was his 111th grand prix. Jenson Button was held in the pits for nearly ten seconds this hold up bought him out in traffic and eased the pressure on Rosberg.
Pirelli tyres have changed the dynamic of the sport this season with the teams having to plan for track temperature far more than ever before. A few degrees difference in the track temperature is having a huge effect on the Pirelli tyres whereas with the previous sponsor Bridgestone tyres there was only a marked difference in performance if the track temperature increased or decreased by around 5 degrees.
Technology changes over the last couple of seasons added the excitement back into F1. KERS and DRS are the two biggest factors to make a difference. KERS stands for Kinetic Energy Recovery System and this recycles the energy used to stop or slow the vehicle, and stores the energy ready to give the car a boost at a later time in the lap. DRS stands for Drag Reduction System. This system simply allows the drivers to open the rear wing of the car. There are some rules with this system but the main one is that you have to be within one second of the car in front. The FIA have also not changed the rules much this season giving all the teams the chance to catch up with technologies, and this has lead to some interesting developments.