Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso emerged unscathed to win Sunday’s drama-packed Chinese Grand Prix, with the Lotus of Kimi Raikkonen and Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton holding on for second and third.
Reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel came fourth, just 0.2 seconds behind Hamilton, after adopting a different tyre strategy, while his Red Bull teammate Mark Webber failed to finish.
Webber broke the front wing of his Red Bull and damaged the car’s rear right wheel after hitting Toro Rosso’s Jean-Eric Vergne 17 laps into Sunday’s 56-lap race.
He was on his way back to the pits when the broken tyre fell off and rolled across the track at Shanghai International Circuit.
It follows a horror weekend for the Australian, who started the race from pit lane after his team decided to change his gear box and make other modifications.
Webber was originally meant to start from the back of the grid, having been excluded from qualifying on Saturday after a technical error left his car with not enough fuel for a sample.
Fellow Australian Daniel Ricciardo recorded his best-ever finish in F1, crossing the line in seventh spot to claim six championship points.
Jenson Button, of McLaren, was fifth, and Alonso’s teammate Felipe Massa sixth.
Alonso said he was delighted to get his season back on track after retiring early in Malaysia last month.
The two-time world champion was second, behind the rejuvenated Raikkonen, in the season-opening race in Melbourne.
“It feels good, it is a long time from my victory here eight years ago,” said the Spaniard, who narrowly lost out to Vettel for the world title last season.
“It was not easy to understand this race sometimes, not an easy race. The risk is there when you overtake.
“This is a good reward for the team after the disappointment in Malaysia. Let’s hope this is now the start of the championship and we need to keep going like that.”
In warm and dry conditions, and in front of a packed grandstand – not always the case at the Chinese Grand Prix – the race got off to a clean start.
But there was soon drama, as Sauber’s Esteban Gutierrez slammed into the back of Adrian Sutil, of Force India.
Engineers battled to save Sutil’s race, but both cars were out.
Vettel, who started ninth on the grid, was moving ominously up the field.
Likewise Webber, who started the race from the pits after a disastrous qualifying session. That run to the front was curtailed though on lap 16 when Vergne cut across him.
Webber was called into the pits, but shortly afterwards he inexplicably lost a right-rear tyre.
Several cars had to swerve as the tyre rolled across the track.
Raikkonen was in the thick of it, suffering slight damage when Sergio Perez, of McLaren, attempted to snuff out the Finn’s overtaking manoeuvre.
“What the hell’s he doing?!” exclaimed the straight-talking Raikkonen over the team radio.
“I was surprised there was not more damage,” the Finn said later.
“I hit him quite hard, and was also surprised I didn’t have more problems. It was a good fight for second place and quite a good result in the end.”
