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The Chinese Grand Prix this year did not start out as anything special. Vettel and Bottas were fighting it out in an interesting, but not overly exciting duel for first, with 3rd 4th & 5th almost certain to go to Verstappen, Raikkonen & Hamilton. However, in the midst of all this, two wild Toro Rosso's left some debris on the track, leading to a safety car that turned this race on its head entirely.
From charging Bulls to tight on-track battles between everyone from Ferraris & Mercedes to McLarens & Renaults, this Chinese GP was something to behold. The turn of events that lead to Daniel Ricciardo's 6th race win was something to behold, so let's take a look at the craziest moments from Shanghai!
#1 Bottas gets Ahead
This Chinese Grand Prix looked like it was going to be decided solely on pit stops for a while, and it almost was. Sebastian Vettel managed to hold off Kimi, Lewis & Valtteri for the first part of the race, but then it started going downhill for Ferrari. Mercedes pulled the undercut, allowing Bottas to put in some sparking laps while Vettel was still on degrading, worn out tires. A miscalculation from Ferrari & a slow pitstop on their part meant that Vettel was around a second behind Bottas on aggregate, allowing the Finn to come out on top after pit stops.
What didn't do Ferrari any favours in the first stint of the race was that they kept Kimi Raikkonen out on used tires far longer than he needed to. This was in an attempt to back Bottas into Vettel. Even this turned out to be futile as Bottas edged ahead of both Ferraris, leaving Kimi trailing on poor tires & Vettel struggling to catch up.
#2 Toro Rosso Run In
After a brilliant drive to P4 in Bahrain, Pierre Gasly has some explaining to do as he effectively ended Brendon Hartley's race in Shanghai and threw a wrench in the works for the rest of the teams. On completely different race strategies, Gasly was supposed to get ahead of Hartley cleanly so that they could continue with their respective races.
However, he misjudged the braking & speared Hartley's car at the hairpin turn in Shanghai, throwing debris everywhere.
The debris lounged on track for a couple of laps before the safety car was called in, crucially after both Mercedes & Ferraris had passed the pit lane. This meant that they weren't able to benefit from a free pit stop.
#3 Verstappen's Shunt into Vettel
In the midst of the chaos caused by a surprise safety car, Max Verstappen & Daniel Ricciardo charged through the field, with the Dutchman getting past Raikkonen & Hamilton, ending up directly behind Sebastian Vettel in 3rd place. After having just been run off track by Lewis Hamilton in an attempted overtake, the aggressive young driver pulled it back, picked off Hamilton and had his sights set on the other 4 time World Champion, Sebastian Vettel.
Down the long straight in China and right at the end of the hairpin seemed to be a good place to do it. Knowing that Max was on better tires, Vettel seemed resigned to let the Red Bull through. However, Verstappen did himself no favours, adding to his critics' argument that he is too rash, and creamed into the side of the Ferrari.
This sent both himself and Vettel out of position, allowing Hamilton & Raikkonen to get past, crucially allowing Kimi to get into 3rd. While Verstappen came out better than Vettel, he was handed a rather measly 10 second time penalty, which allowed the Dutchman to score P5, building enough of a distance between himself and P6 Nico Hulkenberg.
#4 Hulkenberg & Alonso Double Team Vettel
With Sebastian Vettel heavily weakened by a long stint on degrading tires, and then by a spin caused by an errant Max Verstappen, Nico Hulkenberg & Fernando Alonso stood to benefit. The Ferrari of Vettel was left with barely any grip, after all, it had been through in the race, allowing Vettels' compatriot Nico Hulkenberg to storm pass within 2 turns of the shunt with Verstappen.
The Renault came storming past into P6, docking Vettel of a haul of points, but more importantly, left Vettel in the firing line of 2 time World Champion Fernando Alonso. Not only did Alonso pounce on the opportunity to grab P7, he did so in an aggressive manner, forcing Vettel off the track at one point as well.
2 great overtaking manoeuvres from 2 great drivers in Hulkenberg & Alonso, but Vettel's woes were not over just yet, having to defend from a relentless Sainz in P9 to avoid losing more points and have his Championship lead drop below 11 points.
#5 The Honey Badger's Raging Charge
The man himself said it best after winning the 2018 Chinese Grand Prix: "I Just don't seem to win boring races." Daniel Ricciardo certainly proved himself as one of the most exciting drivers to grace this sport for a long time after executing some daring overtakes and a stellar offensive drive to get to P1 in Shanghai.
After taking advantage of the safety car like his teammate Max Verstappen, Ricciardo was originally behind the Dutchman. However, with Verstappen being pushed off the track by Hamilton, Ricciardo was able to narrowly avoid collision with the other Red Bull & go on the attack.
Within a few laps, Ricciardo had stormed past a pair of 4-time world champions, at 2 completely unexpected times. While most people wouldn't dare try and get past Lewis Hamilton without DRS, Daniel Ricciardo is not most people. The Honey Badger moved sneaky as a snake & weaved past Hamilton on the back straight, braking as late as possible to make the move stick.
He then did the same to former teammate Sebastian Vettel, flying past him on the straight like nobody's business. With only race leader Valtteri Bottas in front of him, Ricciardo executed his most astonishing move of the race, finding a gap, where only he could find a gap and squeezing his Red Bull in front of the Finn & getting the race victory!
