FOUR CHINA WINS FOR FERRARI
Company press release.
Maranello, 14 April – Sunday's event will be the eleventh Chinese Grand Prix. The race has always been staged on the 5.451 kilometres of the Shanghai circuit, a futuristic venue designed by German architect Hermann Tilke. Ferrari has won four times here, which is a hit rate of 40%. The race was first held in 2004, three from the end of the season. Ferrari took the maiden win, courtesy of Rubens Barrichello in the F2004, who produced a faultless performance. The Maranello squad took a clean sweep as apart from the win and pole position for the Brazilian, Michael Schumacher added the fastest race lap. Two years later, it was Schumacher himself who took the win in a complex race: it began in the wet and Fernando Alonso in the Renault managed to pull away from the German's 248 F1. But when the rain eased, Schumacher began to claw back the gap and then go on to past the Spaniard.
The win meant the Ferrari man caught up with Alonso at the head of the classification, with two races remaining. The win was equally important the following year. Rookie Lewis Hamilton had driven a pretty much faultless season so far, but here made a banal but critical error, getting his McLaren stuck in the pit lane run off area which had become slippery in the rain. He had to retire and, combined with a win for Kimi Raikkonen in the Ferrari, the battle for the World Championship was on again for the Finn, who actually took the title in the final round in Brazil. Ferrari's most recent Chinese win came last year. Fernando Alonso was on incredible form, outpacing his rivals on track and also doing a great job of handing the difficult tyre management strategy. Twice the Spaniard found Sebastian Vettel ahead of him, but both times easily managed to dispose of him to win ahead of Kimi Raikkonen in the Lotus and Lewis Hamilton in the Mercedes.
Maranello, 14 April – Sunday's event will be the eleventh Chinese Grand Prix. The race has always been staged on the 5.451 kilometres of the Shanghai circuit, a futuristic venue designed by German architect Hermann Tilke. Ferrari has won four times here, which is a hit rate of 40%. The race was first held in 2004, three from the end of the season. Ferrari took the maiden win, courtesy of Rubens Barrichello in the F2004, who produced a faultless performance. The Maranello squad took a clean sweep as apart from the win and pole position for the Brazilian, Michael Schumacher added the fastest race lap. Two years later, it was Schumacher himself who took the win in a complex race: it began in the wet and Fernando Alonso in the Renault managed to pull away from the German's 248 F1. But when the rain eased, Schumacher began to claw back the gap and then go on to past the Spaniard.
The win meant the Ferrari man caught up with Alonso at the head of the classification, with two races remaining. The win was equally important the following year. Rookie Lewis Hamilton had driven a pretty much faultless season so far, but here made a banal but critical error, getting his McLaren stuck in the pit lane run off area which had become slippery in the rain. He had to retire and, combined with a win for Kimi Raikkonen in the Ferrari, the battle for the World Championship was on again for the Finn, who actually took the title in the final round in Brazil. Ferrari's most recent Chinese win came last year. Fernando Alonso was on incredible form, outpacing his rivals on track and also doing a great job of handing the difficult tyre management strategy. Twice the Spaniard found Sebastian Vettel ahead of him, but both times easily managed to dispose of him to win ahead of Kimi Raikkonen in the Lotus and Lewis Hamilton in the Mercedes.
