2010 Chinese Grand Prix: Button's Shanghai Win in the Rain and the Mercedes Podium

Jenson Button won the 2010 Chinese Grand Prix from fifth on the grid, in a race run in changing wet and dry conditions at the Shanghai International Circuit. His McLaren teammate Lewis Hamilton finished second and Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg third. It was Button's second win of the season, and it moved him ahead in the points table.

Why was the 2010 Chinese Grand Prix significant?

Held in Shanghai on 18 April 2010, the race was the fourth of the season and the seventh Chinese Grand Prix. The 56-lap event was run before about 85,000 spectators, and it produced a rare one-two for British drivers and a Mercedes podium sweep.

The race also turned on tyre timing. Rain and two safety car periods shaped who could switch to intermediates at the right moment, and that decided the order at the front.

A wet-weather tyre call and a late safety car gave Button his second win of 2010 and the lead of the drivers' table.

What was the championship picture before Shanghai?

Felipe Massa led the drivers' standings with 39 points, two ahead of Ferrari teammate Fernando Alonso, while Sebastian Vettel stood level with Alonso after winning in Malaysia. Button and Rosberg were tied fourth. In the constructors' table Ferrari led with 76 points, with McLaren ten points behind in second and Red Bull third on 61.

Button had won the Australian Grand Prix, while Hamilton had finished sixth in the two races before China. Whitmarsh, McLaren's team principal, said the team wanted to establish itself at the front of the field. Rivals expected the F-duct on the MP4-25 to be an advantage, and Button said he felt the car was fast enough for the race even if qualifying might be harder.

What technical rules and changes affected the event?

The FIA told all teams that adjusting suspension or ride height for aerodynamic gain after qualifying would be outlawed. The letter cited Article 34.5 of the Sporting Regulations, along with Article 3.15 of the Technical Regulations. It followed McLaren's suggestion that Red Bull had used a ride-height device on its RB6 in Malaysia.

McLaren's engineering director, Paddy Lowe, said the team had stopped development on its own suspension system once the clarification was confirmed. Several teams made changes for Shanghai. Red Bull added a small vertical exhaust duct to stop hot air hitting the rear wheels, Mercedes introduced a rear wing controlled by pressure sensors, and Ferrari brought a revised F10 package with a new front splitter and an altered diffuser. Williams and Renault changed the end plates on their front wings, and Renault added small vortex generators behind the mirrors.

Tyre supplier Bridgestone brought four types: the soft options and hard primes for dry running, plus intermediate and full wet compounds. The soft tyres carried a green stripe on the sidewall, and the wet compounds were identified by a green line in the central groove. Twelve teams each entered two drivers, with Paul di Resta running only in the first practice session.

How did practice and qualifying go?

In the first practice session Button set the fastest time of 1:36.677. Alonso stopped at turn six after 54 minutes with a fire in the exhaust bank. The session was briefly halted when Sebastien Buemi's Toro Rosso lost both front wheels under braking at turn 14, which left him in a gravel trap and a barrier.

In the second session Hamilton set the day's fastest lap, 1:35.217 on the soft tyres, while Button was third. Kovalainen stopped his Lotus with fading oil pressure. In the final session Mark Webber recorded the fastest time, 1:35.323, ahead of Hamilton and Vettel. Petrov crashed heavily into a tyre barrier, and the session was stopped for seven minutes while marshals cleared debris.

In qualifying Vettel took pole with a lap of 1:34.558, his third pole of the season and the eighth of his career. Webber was second, 0.248 seconds slower. Alonso used the hard tyres to take third, and Rosberg was fourth. Button ran on the soft tyre to finish fifth, with Hamilton sixth after car trouble in the final session. Massa was seventh, Robert Kubica eighth, Michael Schumacher ninth and Adrian Sutil tenth.

Rubens Barrichello, who had a new engine fitted after practice, was the fastest driver outside the top ten. Pedro de la Rosa locked his rear wheels and started 17th, and Karun Chandhok was given a five-place grid penalty and started from the pit lane after the Hispania team broke a seal on his gearbox without a representative present.

How did the race unfold?

The race began in cloudy conditions, with rain falling on the circuit in the half-hour before the formation lap. Alonso made a fast getaway and passed both Red Bulls to lead into the first corner, with Webber moving past Vettel into second.

Buemi had set up his Toro Rosso for the wet, while Ferrari chose a high-downforce set-up for the shower it expected. At turn six a three-car accident brought out the safety car, and Liuzzi slid into the cars of Kobayashi and Buemi. Several drivers pitted for intermediate tyres at the end of the second lap as the rain grew heavier. Rosberg, Button, Kubica and Petrov stayed out, and Rosberg led the field back to racing speed when the safety car came in at the end of lap three.

Alonso was then told that he had jumped the start, and he took a drive-through penalty on the next lap, rejoining in 14th. Because the intermediates did not last, every driver running on them made a second stop, which left Rosberg, Button, Kubica and Petrov with a significant lead on track.

Hamilton spun his wheels as he left his pit stall alongside Vettel, and the two made contact. Webber was also involved in a pit incident, damaging his front wing on the front jack. That mistake cost him nine seconds and left him tenth. On lap nine Hamilton passed Barrichello for 12th, and de la Rosa retired on the same lap with an engine failure.

Vettel passed Webber for eighth on lap 11, and Hamilton took Webber a lap later. Hamilton caught Schumacher at about three seconds a lap and pressed him for several laps. Button, meanwhile, closed on Rosberg and passed him for the lead at the turn 14 hairpin on lap 19.

Which incidents shaped the afternoon?

Rain intensified on lap 20, and the leading trio pitted for intermediates on the following lap. Alguersuari's front wing came off after an encounter with a Hispania, scattering debris across the track and triggering the second safety car on lap 22.

Once the field was released from the safety car at the close of lap 25, Button eased to a near standstill at the bottom hairpin. The field bunched up, and Webber ran wide at the final bend. As the leader is entitled to set his own pace, the stewards took no action. Hamilton then passed Schumacher on lap 26 and Petrov on the following lap.

On the 29th lap Hamilton passed Kubica for third at the turn 14 hairpin. Rosberg's tyres began to degrade, but his team told him to stay on the track. Hamilton attacked the Mercedes on the outside, and on lap 36 he tried again and went ahead briefly before Rosberg took the place back. Hamilton moved ahead of Rosberg during the final round of pit stops for intermediates, through to the 38th lap.

Button had built a 9.5 second advantage over Hamilton, which was cut to 5.3 seconds when he ran deep at the hairpin. Rain fell heavily on the final lap, and Button and Hamilton closed up but chose to be conservative. Button crossed the line first.

What was the final result?

What did the drivers and teams say?

Button called the win his best victory and said the safety car early in the race was decisive for those who had switched to intermediates. Hamilton said the weather made the tyre call very difficult, and admitted that he had changed too late.

Ferrari principal Stefano Domenicali called the Alonso and Massa incident in the pit lane a racing incident, and both drivers later posted that no dispute existed between them. Massa said Alonso had been on the inside, so there was nothing he could do, and he referred the rule question to Charlie Whiting. Renault's Eric Boullier praised Petrov's composure on a wet track. Webber said the Red Bulls had been blown away, and that they needed to fix the car's weakness in the wet.

The stewards reprimanded Hamilton and Vettel for dangerous driving after their pit lane clash on lap five. Vettel said he did not understand why Hamilton had been released alongside him, while Hamilton said the team had waited for a while before releasing him.

What changed in the championship?

Button's win took him to the top of the drivers' standings for the first time in 2010, with 60 points. Rosberg was ten points behind in second, while Alonso and Hamilton were tied in third. Vettel fell to fifth with 45 points after his sixth place.

In the constructors' table McLaren overtook Ferrari at the top. Red Bull stayed third, while Mercedes and Renault were fourth and fifth, with 15 races still to run in the season.