This led to a rather exciting first lap, with multiple passings and re-passing, sometimes four abreast. And at the beginning of lap 2, “every top ten driver to have started on the right hand-side of the grid had lost position to the driver starting on the left,” to quote Pete Gill of Planetf1. That included Vettel, of course, who quickly increased the distance between his RB8 and all other drivers, including team-mate Webber. Alonso was third giving Ferrari fans serious hopes as the Spaniard started attacking the Aussie driver. However…

Behind the leaders, it was soon mayhem just beyond second crossing of the start-finish line. Kobayashi, perhaps over-thrilled by his first podium ever in Japan, turned into a kamikaze. First, he banged Rosberg into a wall before turn one, forcing the unlucky German into yet another early retirement. Shortly thereafter, on the same lap at turn 3, it was Button’s turn, and though he hit no wall, his front left suspension was broken by Kamui’s left rear tire, which shredded on impact; game over for the hapless Brit. Same verdict for Kobayashi a number of laps later, but probably including his hopes of keeping his F1 seat with Sauber.

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At the front, meanwhile, it remained an all-Red Bull affair; memories of 2011. Vettel kept his lead until the end – even though in the last ten laps he had to very carefully nurse his right front tire at the urging of his (for once) very nervous pit crew. Webber easily finished second, as Alonso could never quite make up the difference between his prancing horse and the charging bulls, in spite of his ace driving. In fact, Massa – yes, Felipe Massa – was right behind the Spaniard during the last dozen laps and coming so close he had to be told in no uncertain terms by his engineer to “keep a distance of at least two seconds at all times” between his car and Alonso’s,” which the dutiful Brazilian did. This very strong performance in Korea, following visibly improved showings in the previous three races, now confirm a true renaissance of this able and loyal driver and – breaking news – has officially guaranteed him one extra year with Ferrari.

Behind these four drivers, Raikkonen did the best his car could and finished fifth, followed by a revived Hulkenberg who might very well end up in Kobayashi’s seat next season. What about Hamilton, you now ask. He had a miserable race, and his car never seemed to be right for him – in fact he had a broken anti-roll bar, which tortured both his tires and pace. He was the only top driver who had to change tires three times. During the last five laps, he was even seen lamentably vying to keep the two Toro Rossos behind him, while his McLaren was trailing what appeared like a long green scarf on its right side beneath the radiator pod – actually a piece of astro-turf caught in a wide corner. The strange flapping of this green swath made his final stint look even more sullen, as Jean-Eric Vergne first, then Daniel Ricciardo both passed the McLaren, leaving Hamilton with P10.

This earned the Woking team just one single driver point for the weekend and allowed Ferrari to grab the second spot in the Manufacturers Championship from them – 290 to 284 points. The humiliation!

On that last topic, Michael Schumacher finished in P13, after a fully undistinguished race, except that he avoided another spectacular mistake. Pete Gill called the German’s 2012 season “a squalid long goodbye.” P13, some will find that number symbolic. It was clearly bad luck to attempt a come back. And the people in Stuttgart are not smiling. Messrs. Brawn and Fry? Step forward, please.

And so with four races left – India is next – Vettel has now regained the lead in the driver championship over Alonso by 6 points. Red Bull is rising into the clouds. Unless Maranello can bring a wild stallion of a new trick out of its red magic bag by October 25, this season ending can be labeled “Advantage Vettel” in Red Bull Day-Glo.

Before we leave, there was a “Breaking News” announcement that concerns all American fans: F1 Management announced that it will not renew its long-running association with Speed TV after the 2012 season ends. People in the know told me that NBC Sports has the new multi-year contract. While it is sad for the always-entertaining Speed TV anchors, it marks a clear commitment by Ecclestone and the F1 teams towards expansion of their coverage in North America, where they will have three races next year between the North Pole and the Rio Grande. It’s about time.

Race Results

1	VETTEL	RBR-Renault	1h36m28.651s
2	WEBBER	RBR-Renault	+ 8.2s
3	ALONSO	Ferrari	+ 13.9s
4	MASSA	Ferrari	+ 20.1s
5	RÄIKKÖNEN	Lotus-Renault	+ 36.7s
6	HULKENBERG	Force India-Mercedes	+ 45.3s
7	GROSJEAN	Lotus-Renault	+ 54.8s
8	VERGNE	STR-Ferrari	+ 69.5s
9	RICCIARDO	STR-Ferrari	+ 71.7s
10	HAMILTON	McLaren-Mercedes	+ 79.6s
11	PEREZ	Sauber-Ferrari	+ 80.0s
12	DI RESTA	Force India-Mercedes	+ 84.4s
13	SCHUMACHER	Mercedes	+ 89.2s
14	MALDONADO	Williams-Renault	+ 94.9s
15	SENNA	Williams-Renault	+ 96.9s
16	PETROV	Caterham-Renault	+ 1 lap
17	KOVALAINEN	Caterham-Renault	+ 1 lap
18	GLOCK	Marussia-Cosworth	+ 1 lap
19	PIC	Marussia-Cosworth	+ 2 laps
20	KARTHIKEYAN	HRT-Cosworth	+ 2 laps
21	DE LA ROSA	HRT-Cosworth	+ 39 laps, throttle
22	KOBAYASHI	Sauber-Ferrari	+ 39 laps, accident damage
23	ROSBERG	Mercedes	+ 54 laps, accident
24	BUTTON	Mercedes	+ 55 laps, accident
Fastest Lap	WEBBER	RBR-Renault	1m42.037s

NOTE: Pic dropped 10 grid spots for unscheduled engine change; Ricciardo dropped five for gearbox penalty. Karthikeyan failed to set a Q3 time within the 107% requirement – raced at stewards‘ discretion.

Driver’s Championship Standings

1	VETTEL	RBR-Renault	215 Points
2	ALONSO	Ferrari	209 Points
3	RÄIKKÖNEN	Lotus-Renault	167 Points
4	HAMILTON	McLaren-Mercedes	153 Points
5	WEBBER	RBR-Renault	152 Points
6	BUTTON	McLaren-Mercedes	131 Points
7	ROSBERG	Mercedes	93 Points
8	GROSJEAN	Lotus-Renault	88 Points
9	MASSA	Ferrari	81 Points
10	PEREZ	Sauber-Ferrari	66 Points
11	KOBAYASHI	Sauber-Ferrari	50 Points
12	HULKENBERG	Force India-Mercedes	45 Points
13	DI RESTA	Force India-Mercedes	44 Points
14	SCHUMACHER	Mercedes	43 Points
15	MALDONADO	Williams-Renault	33 Points
16	SENNA	Williams-Renault	25 Points
17	VERGNE	STR-Ferrari	12 Points
18	RICCIARDO	STR-Ferrari	9 Points

Constructor’s Championship Standings

1	RBR-RENAULT	367 Points
2	FERRARI	290 Points
3	McLAREN-MERCEDES	284 Points
4	LOTUS-RENAULT	255 Points
5	MERCEDES	136 Points
6	SAUBER-FERRARI	116 Points
7	FORCE INDIA-MERCEDES	89 Points
8	WILLIAMS-RENAULT	58 Points
9	STR-FERRARI	21 Points

For the past 100 years, Mercedes, then as Mercedes-Benz, came onto the Grand Prix scene like a blitzkrieg, devastating all comers almost immediately with advanced designs, superb technology, a lot of money and the best drivers available. Then they would disappear for decades while the mere rumors of a comeback struck terror into the Grand Prix constructors both before and after WWII.

Mercedes first made a huge impact on Grand Prix racing when they won the prestigious 1908 French Grand Prix. It was all quiet on the western front until 1914, when three Mercedes team cars walked over the highly favored Peugeots on July 4th; the French were soundly defeated and equally furious. A month later the French and Germans would be at war. A devastating defeat for Germany was followed by years of economic woes. No serious Grand Prix car would emerge from what was now Mercedes-Benz for the next 20 years.

In February of 1934, to conform to a new 750KG Grand Prix formula, Mercedes-Benz introduced the W25, a breakthrough design with a 325 hp supercharged engine and a rear-mounted 4 speed transaxle. Mercedes would dominate Grand Prix racing with the W25, the W125 and the W154. The Italians decided to alter the formula for the 1939 Tripoli Grand Prix to the 1.5 liter rules, a class in which both Maserati and Alfa Romeo had competitive cars. Since the Germans had no such race cars, the Italians assumed that they would finally be able to break the German winning streak in Libya. However, Mercedes built two cars, largely in secret. The cars finished first and second. “..the W165 Mercedes-Benz scored one of the most stunning and memorable wins in the history of motor racing. Italian cars and drivers were humiliated,” wrote Karl Ludvigsen.

Another war and 15 years would pass with virtually no participation from Mercedes-Benz in Grand Prix racing. But for the new 2.5 liter Grand Prix Formula, in 1954, Mercedes introduced the W196 streamliner and open wheel cars for the 1954 and 1955 season. After a few teething problems they once again walked away with the laurels in both years. Shock and awe, to be sure

Ironically, it was yet another tragedy of enormous proportions that caused Mercedes to totally withdraw from racing for another thirty three years. The Le Mans disaster caused the board of Daimler-Benz to reconsider its participation in racing; they also knew that there was little else to prove, having won both the sports car and F1 championships in 1955.

There was to be no roar from Daimler-Benz until January 1988, when they announced a return to racing, participating in the Group C Endurance events with Sauber. It was successful, with 16 out of 18 wins, but it was not Grand Prix. In 1991 it was decided to drop out of the WSC events and concentrate on GT racing. But in the backroom the boys were playing Formula 1 behind the curtain.

Neither shock nor awe but struggle
The WSC era was followed by a complex arrangement to assist with the creation of the Mercedes Ilmor motor and the Sauber chassis but resulted in no concrete successes. By 1995, an agreement with McLaren provided the Mercedes Ilmotor engine to Ron Dennis’ team. A breakthrough came in 1997, as David Coulthard won the Australian Grand Prix. This then was Mercedes’ first F1 success since Monza in 1955, but it was only a half win; the chassis was McLaren and even the Ilmor motor was engineered by Swiss Mario Illien and Brit Peter Morgan (the Ill and Mor of the name). In 1998, the McLaren-Mercedes won championships with Mika Häkkinen driving and in 1999 he did it again. Hamilton would take the McLaren-Mercedes to another world championship in 2008 and Button would manage another with the Brawn-Mercedes in 2009.

But the Anglo-German effort, as successful as it was, was not pure Mercedes. That would be remedied in 2010 when the full might of Mercedes-Benz got behind F1 and Ross Brawn along with that other guy they lost to Ferrari. Of course it is hard to tell where the 2009 Brawn ends and Mercedes begins. But since then it would not be shock nor awe but a difficult struggle to maintain position in mid pack. Mercedes was back in full, but no one was shaking in their Guccis.

The Race
The Chinese Grand Prix was an epic event in its own right. It was truly great seeing Rosberg and Schumacher one-two on the front row. Amazed at what appeared to be Schumacher’s giving way to Rosberg (orders?) we were saddened when he retired due to a loose wheel nut on Lap 13. It was even nice seeing a more or less proper Mercedes-Benz winning a Grand Prix once more. Rosberg did a superb job throughout the race, a well deserved victory. But it was his 101th Formula 1 race and only his first victory. Something here does not equate, but it may be part of the mysteries of F1 today. Y’just never know.

Perez (who led the race briefly on Lap 14) and Kobayachi were on right up front with the Sauber Ferraris. Sixty years ago these guys would never have made it this far…they are fearless and tough but would have been caught out by a tree, a bridge, or a lamppost.
Of course we’ve been harping for two years that Kobayachi should be given a good ride…lacking that at least the Sauber team has come up with a good ride themselves, moving from the back of the grid to the front, no doubt thanks in large part to their two tiger drivers. Could Sauber be the next Red Bull?

Everyone had written off Vettel and yet he worked his way up from 14th to second at one point, until caught in the high strung sprint race near the end. Still, he did well and still finished 5th. No one should write off Vettel yet for this year, it’s far too early.

The track at Shanghai appears to be as boring as the current crop of constipated circuits can be, but it nevertheless provided the most stirring driving and racing we have seen this year, perhaps in several years. With six World Champions on the track and cars that are as evenly matched as ever, the racing is awesome. Positions 2-8 changed so fast in the latter part of the race that it was impossible to keep up, even though everyone had their last tire change. We looked in vain for update positions on the screen and they too, seemed unable to cope with the place changes. By lap 48 Vettel was in second, with Rosberg still holding the lead. But the race between Button, who finished second, and Hamilton, 3rd and Weber who placed 4th was amazing. The fearless foursome pushed the aggressive Perez and Kobayashi down to midfield positions and left no doubt as to who was a World Champion and who was not.

So will Mercedes now continue on a winning streak as dictated by their tradition? Maybe, but that’s the fun of F1. Y’just never know.

BTW: Time and time again we have referenced all four of the books in the “Racing Color” series edited by Karl Ludvigsen. They are handy, very accurate, and allow us quick insights into what the Germans, French, British and Italians were doing in any given era. “German Racing Silver”, also written by Ludvigsen, was published by Ian Allan Publishing in 2009 and was a great help in writing this article. The poster and cutaway above also appear in the book.

Race Results

1	ROSBERG	Mercedes	1h36m26.929s
2	BUTTON	McLaren-Mercedes	+ 20.6s
3	HAMILTON	McLaren-Mercedes	+ 26.0s
4	WEBBER	RBR-Renault	+ 27.9s
5	VETTEL	RBR-Renault	+ 30.4s
6	GROSJEAN	Lotus-Renault	+ 31.4s
7	SENNA	Williams-Renault	+ 34.5s
8	MALDONADO	Williams-Renault	+ 35.6s
9	ALONSO	Ferrari	+ 37.2s
10	KOBAYASHI	Sauber-Ferrari	+ 38.7s
11	PEREZ	Sauber-Ferrari	+ 41.0s
12	DI RESTA	Force India-Mercedes	+ 42.2s
13	MASSA	Ferrari	+ 42.7s
14	Räikkönen	Lotus-Renault	+ 50.5s
15	HULKENBERG	Force India-Mercedes	+ 51.2s
16	VERGNE	STR-Ferrari	+ 51.7s
17	RICCIARDO	STR-Ferrari	+ 63.1s
18	PETROV	Caterham-Renault	+ 1 lap
19	GLOCK	Marussia-Cosworth	+ 1 lap
20	PIC	Marussia-Cosworth	+ 1 lap
21	DE LA ROSA	HRT-Cosworth	+ 1 lap
22	KARTHIKEYAN	HRT-Cosworth	+ 2 laps
23	KOVALAINEN	Caterham-Renault	+ 3 laps
24	SCHUMACHER	Mercedes	+ 44 laps, wheel
Fastest Lap	KOBAYASHI	Sauber-Ferrari	1m39.960s

Note – Hamilton qualified second, but dropped five grid places as penalty for an unscheduled gearbox change. Vergne qualified 18th, but started from pit line following pre-race car changes.

Driver’s Championship Standings

1	HAMILTON	McLaren-Mercedes	45 Points
2	BUTTON	McLaren-Mercedes	43 Points
3	ALONSO	Ferrari	37 Points
4	WEBBER	RBR-Renault	36 Points
5	VETTEL	RBR-Renault	28 Points
6	ROSBERG	Mercedes	25 Points
7	PEREZ	Sauber-Ferrari	22 Points
8	Räikkönen	Lotus-Renault	16 Points
9	SENNA	Williams-Renault	14 Points
10	KOBAYASHI	Sauber-Ferrari	9 Points
11	GROSJEAN	Lotus-Renault	8 Points
12	DI RESTA	Force India-Mercedes	7 Points
13	VERGNE	STR-Ferrari	4 Points
14	MALDONADO	Williams-Renault	4 Points
15	RICCIARDO	STR-Ferrari	2 Points
16	HULKENBERG	Force India-Mercedes	2 Points
17	SCHUMACHER	Mercedes	1 Point

Constructor’s Championship Standings

1	McLAREN-MERCEDES	88 Points
2	RBR-RENAULT	64 Points
3	FERRARI	37 Points
4	SAUBER-FERRARI	31 Points
5	MERCEDES	26 Points
6	LOTUS-RENAULT	24 Points
7	WILLIAMS-RENAULT	18 Points
8	FORCE INDIA-MERCEDES	9 Points
9	STR-FERRARI	6 Points