The front-runners all made at least two pit stops each in the Chinese Grand Prix, triggered by Red Bull’s early stops for Max Verstappen.
However the rest of the top 10 was filled by one-stoppers. They were led by Daniel Ricciardo, who had unsuccessfully tried to make the same strategy work in Bahrain.This time it paid off and he led the midfield home. He was the only driver to start the race on used soft tyres and complete it with just one further pit stop, for hard tyres.
Alexander Albon used the same strategy but had the benefit of being able to start the race on fresh rubber. He did a superb job, however, to climb 10 places – twice as many as any other driver – to finish in the points having started in the pits.
Red Bull took advantage of Pierre Gasly’s gap over his pursuers to give him a pit stop at the end of the race, put him on a set of (used) soft tyres, and grab the fastest lap of the race. But Gasly, who had been unable to get close to Max Verstappen’s lap times all weekend, only beat Sebastian Vettel to the fastest time by less than a tenth of a second.
Ferrari had the opportunity to do the same with Charles Leclerc but, just as in Australia, chose not to. This was a curious decision, but perhaps not as strange as their hotly-debated order early in the race for Leclerc to let Vettel pass him.
Before the switch the team asked Vettel if he could lap quicker than Leclerc. He replied that he could, but after the two swapped positions his lap times did not improve at all – if anything, he was slightly slower.
As the graph below shows, Leclerc lost almost two seconds letting Vettel through. Had Ferrari not made this call, they would have been in a stronger position to cover off the threat from Verstappen.
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2019 Chinese Grand Prix lap chart
The positions of each driver on every lap. Click name to highlight, right-click to reset. Toggle drivers using controls below:
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2019 Chinese Grand Prix race chart
The gaps between each driver on every lap compared to the leader’s average lap time. Very large gaps omitted. Scroll to zoom, drag to pan and right-click to reset. Toggle drivers using controls below:
Position change
| Driver | Start position | Lap one position change | Race position change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lewis Hamilton | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| Valtteri Bottas | 1 | -1 | -1 |
| Sebastian Vettel | 3 | -1 | 0 |
| Charles Leclerc | 4 | 1 | -1 |
| Max Verstappen | 5 | 0 | 1 |
| Pierre Gasly | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| Daniel Ricciardo | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| Nico Hulkenberg | 8 | -1 | |
| Romain Grosjean | 10 | 0 | -1 |
| Kevin Magnussen | 10 | -1 | -3 |
| Carlos Sainz Jnr | 14 | -5 | 0 |
| Lando Norris | 15 | -5 | -3 |
| Sergio Perez | 12 | 4 | 4 |
| Lance Stroll | 16 | 3 | 4 |
| Kimi Raikkonen | 13 | 1 | 4 |
| Antonio Giovinazzi | 20 | 6 | 5 |
| Daniil Kvyat | 11 | -6 | |
| Alexander Albon | 20 | 2 | 10 |
| George Russell | 17 | 2 | 1 |
| Robert Kubica | 18 | 2 | 1 |
2019 Chinese Grand Prix lap times
All the lap times by the drivers (in seconds, very slow laps excluded). Scroll to zoom, drag to pan and toggle drivers using the control below:
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2019 Chinese Grand Prix fastest laps
Each driver’s fastest lap:
| Rank | Driver | Car | Fastest lap | Gap | On lap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pierre Gasly | Red Bull-Honda | 1’34.742 | 55 | |
| 2 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1’34.836 | 0.094 | 37 |
| 3 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1’34.860 | 0.118 | 45 |
| 4 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 1’34.872 | 0.130 | 38 |
| 5 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1’35.892 | 1.150 | 47 |
| 6 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull-Honda | 1’36.143 | 1.401 | 45 |
| 7 | Lance Stroll | Racing Point-Mercedes | 1’36.678 | 1.936 | 46 |
| 8 | Romain Grosjean | Haas-Ferrari | 1’36.873 | 2.131 | 37 |
| 9 | George Russell | Williams-Mercedes | 1’37.283 | 2.541 | 51 |
| 10 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas-Ferrari | 1’37.471 | 2.729 | 35 |
| 11 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | McLaren-Renault | 1’37.502 | 2.760 | 44 |
| 12 | Kimi Raikkonen | Alfa Romeo-Ferrari | 1’37.812 | 3.070 | 27 |
| 13 | Daniil Kvyat | Toro Rosso-Honda | 1’37.975 | 3.233 | 27 |
| 14 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Alfa Romeo-Ferrari | 1’38.048 | 3.306 | 32 |
| 15 | Lando Norris | McLaren-Renault | 1’38.346 | 3.604 | 37 |
| 16 | Daniel Ricciardo | Renault | 1’38.632 | 3.890 | 38 |
| 17 | Sergio Perez | Racing Point-Mercedes | 1’38.702 | 3.960 | 37 |
| 18 | Alexander Albon | Toro Rosso-Honda | 1’38.901 | 4.159 | 22 |
| 19 | Nico Hulkenberg | Renault | 1’39.677 | 4.935 | 14 |
| 20 | Robert Kubica | Williams-Mercedes | 1’39.772 | 5.030 | 28 |
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2019 Chinese Grand Prix tyre strategies
The tyre strategies for each driver:
| Stint 1 | Stint 2 | Stint 3 | Stint 4 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lewis Hamilton | C3 (22) | C2 (14) | C3 (20) | |
| Valtteri Bottas | C3 (21) | C2 (15) | C3 (20) | |
| Sebastian Vettel | C3 (18) | C2 (17) | C3 (21) | |
| Max Verstappen | C3 (17) | C2 (17) | C3 (22) | |
| Charles Leclerc | C3 (22) | C2 (20) | C3 (14) | |
| Pierre Gasly | C4 (19) | C2 (20) | C3 (14) | C4 (3) |
| Daniel Ricciardo | C4 (18) | C2 (37) | ||
| Sergio Perez | C3 (20) | C2 (35) | ||
| Kimi Raikkonen | C3 (25) | C2 (30) | ||
| Alexander Albon | C4 (19) | C2 (36) | ||
| Romain Grosjean | C4 (8) | C2 (27) | C3 (20) | |
| Lance Stroll | C3 (20) | C2 (24) | C4 (11) | |
| Kevin Magnussen | C4 (9) | C2 (24) | C3 (22) | |
| Carlos Sainz Jnr | C3 (1) | C2 (35) | C4 (19) | |
| Antonio Giovinazzi | C4 (7) | C3 (23) | C3 (25) | |
| George Russell | C3 (22) | C2 (27) | C4 (5) | |
| Robert Kubica | C3 (26) | C2 (28) | ||
| Lando Norris | C3 (1) | C2 (16) | C3 (17) | C4 (16) |
| Daniil Kvyat | C3 (7) | C2 (18) | C4 (5) | |
| Nico Hulkenberg | C4 (11) | C2 (5) |
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2019 Chinese Grand Prix pit stop times
How long each driver’s pit stops took:
| Driver | Team | Pit stop time | Gap | On lap | |
| 1 | Daniil Kvyat | Toro Rosso | 17.257 | 7 | |
| 2 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 22.196 | 4.939 | 21 |
| 3 | Pierre Gasly | Red Bull | 22.301 | 5.044 | 19 |
| 4 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 22.316 | 5.059 | 35 |
| 5 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 22.365 | 5.108 | 34 |
| 6 | Pierre Gasly | Red Bull | 22.408 | 5.151 | 53 |
| 7 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 22.524 | 5.267 | 34 |
| 8 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | McLaren | 22.532 | 5.275 | 36 |
| 9 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 22.644 | 5.387 | 22 |
| 10 | Pierre Gasly | Red Bull | 22.722 | 5.465 | 39 |
| 11 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 22.749 | 5.492 | 18 |
| 12 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 22.921 | 5.664 | 22 |
| 13 | Alexander Albon | Toro Rosso | 23.215 | 5.958 | 19 |
| 14 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 23.223 | 5.966 | 17 |
| 15 | Romain Grosjean | Haas | 23.261 | 6.004 | 8 |
| 16 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | 23.383 | 6.126 | 33 |
| 17 | Lance Stroll | Racing Point | 23.466 | 6.209 | 20 |
| 18 | Daniel Ricciardo | Renault | 23.506 | 6.249 | 18 |
| 19 | Lance Stroll | Racing Point | 23.515 | 6.258 | 44 |
| 20 | Romain Grosjean | Haas | 23.520 | 6.263 | 35 |
| 21 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 23.597 | 6.340 | 36 |
| 22 | Sergio Perez | Racing Point | 23.733 | 6.476 | 20 |
| 23 | Kimi Raikkonen | Alfa Romeo | 23.888 | 6.631 | 25 |
| 24 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | 23.964 | 6.707 | 9 |
| 25 | George Russell | Williams | 23.965 | 6.708 | 49 |
| 26 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 24.083 | 6.826 | 36 |
| 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Renault | 24.107 | 6.850 | 11 |
| 28 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 24.227 | 6.970 | 42 |
| 29 | George Russell | Williams | 24.332 | 7.075 | 22 |
| 30 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Alfa Romeo | 25.137 | 7.880 | 30 |
| 31 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Alfa Romeo | 25.184 | 7.927 | 7 |
| 32 | Daniil Kvyat | Toro Rosso | 26.050 | 8.793 | 25 |
| 33 | Robert Kubica | Williams | 32.627 | 15.370 | 26 |
| 34 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 33.638 | 16.381 | 17 |
| 35 | Daniil Kvyat | Toro Rosso | 43.206 | 25.949 | 30 |
| 36 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | McLaren | 45.878 | 28.621 | 1 |
| 37 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 50.738 | 33.481 | 1 |
2019 Chinese Grand Prix
- Top ten pictures from the 2019 Chinese Grand Prix
- 2019 Chinese Grand Prix Star Performers
- Hamilton cruises to sixth China win as Ferrari tactics backfire
- Third consecutive one-two gives Mercedes chance to break record
- Paddock Diary: Chinese Grand Prix day four
ColdFly (@)
14th April 2019, 17:07
Gasly totally destroyed Vettel with softer tyres and 30kg less fuel :P
Still happy for the guy though, and hope he’ll improve quickly.
Danny (@denny)
14th April 2019, 18:06
Graphs shows that Chalres is so fast in Ferrari that Ferrari can’t handle from strateg point of view. They want Seb to lead Ferrari in Championship but after three races Charles is showing the leadership.
After bad week for Charles, only 13 laps in FP2 Charles still faster.
Sebastian had full potential and he had Bahrain test with 100 laps and still he can not deliver.
GtisBetter (@)
14th April 2019, 18:24
I don’t think you can draw any conclusion from the graphs. If they told Leclerc that he had to stay out as long as possible after Vettel passed him he likely went a bit slower. They also told Leclerc to push on his fresh tyres after the first pitstop. We really need all the info and contex to get the full picture. They were definitly very close though.
mystic one (@mysticus)
14th April 2019, 21:01
If graphs told the whole story? Mercedes are a miracle team as one Ali G fan said once…
dorin mogos
15th April 2019, 7:11
The race chart is not compared to the average lap time of the leader, but it should. It would be easier to read the story of the race.
Nitzo (@webtel)
15th April 2019, 9:11
Its amazing how close Sergio and Daniel were throughout the race.
Lap times–Gasly consistently slower than Max on the same tyres… Genuinely feel there is more in that car. Poor chap is still trying to get a hang of the car i guess.
Todfod (@todfod)
15th April 2019, 11:53
There was nothing to choose between Vettel’s and Leclerc’s lap times during the entire race. The only difference being when Leclerc was on really work out tyres and being kept out as a roadblock for Bottas. What a brain fart of a decision to give team orders and let Vettel by.
Leclerc can only be positive about his performances though.. he was struggling this weekend as compared to Vettel and yet managed to have as strong if not a stronger race weekend than Seb.