Fernando Alonso was left hailing “a perfect Sunday” even if confusion often reigned in the land of Confucius.
Alonso was flawless in the Chinese Grand Prix, three weeks after crashing out of the Malaysian Grand Prix with a front-wing failure following an opening-lap collision with Sebastian Vettel.
The race at the Shanghai International Circuit was always going to boil down to which car/driver/team combination could execute the ideal strategy given the number of variables on offer at the start.
There was exciting uncertainty as to who would emerge the winner but as the event unfolded and the lead consistently changed hands following an overwhelming number of pit stops, for the average viewer there must have been bewilderment as to what was going on at times.
There were no doubts about Alonso’s performance, however, en route to the 31st victory of his Formula One career, equalling Nigel Mansell’s feat and hauling the Spaniard up to fourth on the all-time winners’ list.
“It was definitely a fantastic race for us from start to end, without big problems with the car a perfect Sunday,” said double world champion Alonso who won in China in 2005.
“The team did a perfect job with the set-up of the car for qualifying and the race, with perfect pit-stop times and the way they were executed.
“The victory is a good reward for the team, and well deserved after the disappointment in Malaysia. It feels great.”
Kimi Raikkonen finished second with Lewis Hamilton third in his Mercedes.
Lotus driver Raikkonen was hindered in his bid for a win by a minor collision with Perez that affected his front wing.
Raikkonen is now three points behind championship leader Vettel, who had to settle for fourth, just 0.2 seconds adrift of Mercedes driver Hamilton.
Alonso has closed to within nine points of Vettel, with Hamilton 12 behind the reigning three-times world champion.
Behind Vettel, Button finished a creditable fifth given the ongoing limitations of his McLaren. The Briton was followed by Ferrari’s Felipe Massa, Daniel Ricciardo in his Toro Rosso, Di Resta, Lotus’ Romain Grosjean and Hulkenberg in 10th, with Marussia’s Max Chilton 17th.
Sauber’s Esteban Gutierrez, who rear-ended Sutil on lap 16 that forced both into retirement, has been handed a five-place grid penalty for next Sunday’s race in Bahrain.
Red Bull’s Mark Webber will serve a three-place penalty for running into Toro Rosso’s Jean-Eric Vergne, forcing a pit stop which saw him retire a lap later after the right-rear wheel came off.