Before the Chinese Grand Prix in 2016, the race with the largest number of overtaking was the Brazilian Grand Prix, held in 2012. That weekend was replete with events that were of great importance for Formula 1 - the last race of Michael Schumacher, the last victory of Jenson Button, the struggle of Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso for the title in the final rounds, won in the end by the German pilot. All this was flavored with increasing rain from start to finish, which led to the fact that as many as 112 overtaking in 71 laps were recorded in the race.
In the next era of turbo engines and increasingly stricter safety rules, it seemed that this record would remain eternal - overtaking statistics began to fall steadily, and even rain races sometimes did not save the situation. Fans of Formula 1 have become less likely to witness races with incredible interchanges and overtaking in the last laps, since usually by the second half of the distance all places were completely distributed.
But before the Chinese Grand Prix in 2016, several factors came together at once, which made it possible to hope for an incredible end to the racing weekend. First, the leadership of Formula 1 has returned the familiar format of qualifications. After an unsuccessful experiment with elimination arrivals, the pilots really perked up and were ready to fight not only on Saturday, but also on Sunday.
Secondly, it became apparent that Nico Rosberg was seriously aiming to take the title from his partner in Mercedes Lewis Hamilton. The German began the season with two victories, and taking into account the previous season, he already had five races won in a row. Fortunately for him, Hamilton arrived in Shanghai with a new gearbox, for which a fine of five places on the starting grid was expected. The greater chances that Rosberg would win would increase the likelihood that Hamilton would try even harder to cope with pressure from Red Bull and Ferrari.
Finally, there was a chance that rain would interfere with the weekend. And although the forecast did not materialize on Saturday or Sunday, the qualification spun the race’s intrigue even more. Hamilton complained of loss of power right after leaving the pits. The reigning champion refused the recovery system, and he had to go to the pit lane - all outsiders should prepare for the menacing look of Mercedes in the rearview mirror.
However, the main result of the qualification was to consider another event - not the Ferrari pilot, but Daniel Riccardo rose to the first row of the starting grid to Rosberg. The Red Bull racer left behind not only his partner Daniil Kvyat, who became the sixth in the end, but also the faster red cars Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen. In general, all that was needed to make the race interesting even without rain was done. It only remained to bring the script invented by auto racing rock to life.
As the lights went out, Riccardo overtook the future world champion Rosberg. Quat had a good overclocking, and he had the opportunity to attack both Ferrari. The Russian did this in a turn, which Vettel went along the central path, and Raikkonen due to the loss of downforce - on the outside. When the Finn wanted to return, his partner had nowhere to go because of the Red Bull pilot. Two Ferrari pilots collided with each other, and Quat, for whom it was at that moment a protracted conflict with Vettel, came out of the water and climbed to third place.
The clash of red fireballs immediately after the start had a consequence not only for them, but also for Hamilton - because of the wreckage, he ran into Felipe Nasr of Sauber and immediately went to repair the car. Fallen victim to the accident and Riccardo, who had to say goodbye to leadership because of a burst tire. Only after that a safety car drove onto the track, and it could be cleared. The pit stops shuffled the peloton again, and when the race resumed, the leading Rosberg was in its place.
The favorites immediately began to recoup. Quat made four overtaking, Raikkonen left behind six pilots, Riccardo beat seven rivals, Hamilton broke ten positions up, and Vettel was the most unstoppable at all - in five laps he overtook 11 riders, while the podium was still quite far away. Quat was third, second only to Rosberg and Felipe Massa, but the pilot Williams did not resist for long and gradually began to roll back into the peloton.
Quat and Vettel simultaneously began a new series of pit stops, and the Russian came out victorious in this strategic battle, returning to the track ahead of the German. For several more circles, they systematically shifted the slower cars out of the way, but did not think about their own rivalry. Everything changed after the next entry into the pits for 20 laps before the finish. Quat got tougher tires than Vettel, and was forced to give up his second place.
The first three and reached the finish line unchanged, and behind her, meanwhile, a drama erupted with Hamilton. The Mercedes pilot was in great shape, but his car quickly wore out rubber due to problems that arose at the beginning of the race. Having once managed to rise to fifth place, he skipped ahead of Riccardo and Raikkonen. Hamilton's future partner Valtteri Bottas at Williams ended the race with an engine that lost power, and this led to several more overtaking in the last laps.
FINAL LAP CHART
Pit stops: 66
Finishers: 22
Drama: Off the scale # ChineseGP 🇨🇳 pic.twitter.com/GyeHj1Krhv
Rosberg celebrated his sixth consecutive victory, and two weeks later he was to win the Russian Grand Prix, which would be a repeat of Vettel, Schumacher and Alberto Askari. Quat remained in third place and the second time in his career went up to the podium. After that, in the paddock, he provoked a German who had clearly not departed from the episode at the start of the race for emotional conversation.
Quat: What happened at the start?
Vettel: You ask what happened at the start? If I had not shifted to the left, you would have crashed into me and we would have all three gone.
Quat: Well, I ...
Vettel: No "well, I"! You burst in like a torpedo.
Quat: Well, this is a race.
Vettel: Racing, but if I moved along the same trajectory, we would have collided.
Quat: So don’t move.
Vettel: Yes, but there was still a car on the left.
Quat: As if I could see all three cars. Two eyes - two cars.
Vettel: You will crash if you continue this way.
Quat: But we did not collide.
Vettel: You did not collide.
Two weeks later, Vettel's "prophecy" came true. Quat again ran into him at the start of the Sochi Grand Prix, which forced the Red Bull bosses to immediately send the Russians to a lowering in Toro Rosso, and then completely send them on an annual “vacation”.
In total, according to the official statistics of Formula 1, 128 overtaking was recorded at the Chinese Grand Prix. Not least of all, this was due to the fact that not a single pilot lost the race, which happens in the "royal races" quite rarely.