Nico Rosberg has accused Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton of compromising his race at the Chinese Grand Prix. Hamilton controlled proceedings but Rosberg feels that the Briton backed him into Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel during the second stint of the race. Hamilton was asked during the post-race press conference for his thoughts about Rosberg asking Mercedes to implore Hamilton to up his pace during the race, to which the World Champion replied, "I wasn't controlling his race, I was controlling my own race." Rosberg, who ultimately finished […]

Fernando Alonso says he is targeting finishing Sunday's Chinese Grand Prix after McLaren was again eliminated in the first knockout session in qualifying. Alonso was beaten by team-mate Jenson Button by just 0.004s but the Spaniard, who will line-up in 18th place, says his focus is on reaching the end of the race at Shanghai. "We were two tenths away from the mid-pack – and close to getting into Q2 – today," said Alonso, who sat out the final practice session due to a technical […]

Manor Marussia team principal John Booth says that the squad continues to make good progress after both Will Stevens and Roberto Merhi qualified for the Chinese Grand Prix. Stevens posted a time of 1:42.091 to end the session in 19th position, with Merhi eight-tenths back in 20th. The squad has not fielded two cars in a race since last year's Japanese Grand Prix but Booth is sure that the squad is now making a clear improvement. "Today’s qualifying represents another good step for us, with […]

Nico Rosberg cut a frustrated figure after he missed out on pole position at the Chinese Grand Prix by just 0.042s. Lewis Hamilton claimed pole position with a rapid lap early on in Q3 and while Rosberg improved his time, he fell narrowly short and missed out on snatching top spot from his Mercedes team-mate. "I'm frustrated with today's result because four hundredths of a second is nothing," said Rosberg. "I had a good lap at the end but, in hindsight, it's always possible to […]

Lotus driver Pastor Maldonado has put his absence from Q3 at the Chinese Grand Prix down to continued struggles with the balance on his E23 Hybrid. Maldonado set the 11th quickest time in qualifying, missing out on a berth in the top 10 shootout, and says he has been having problems this weekend. "I expected to fight in Q3 but it’s been harder for me so far this weekend than it has in the previous two races," he explained. "For whatever reason we’ve struggled through […]

Williams' Valtteri Bottas says that it will be difficult for the squad to challenge Ferrari during the Chinese Grand Prix, despite splitting the Italian team's cars in qualifying. Felipe Massa and Bottas qualified in fourth and fifth places to edge ahead of Kimi Raikkonen, but Bottas believes that Williams will be unable to take the fight to Ferrari in race trim. "Obviously [it's] a good step from practice but from Q2 onwards I struggled with rear stability compared to all the weekend," said Bottas. "Our […]

Daniel Ricciardo is hopeful that Red Bull can challenge Williams during the Chinese Grand Prix and reverse its difficult start to the 2015 campaign. Ricciardo, who collected only a point in Malaysia, will start the race in seventh position but is sure that Red Bull has better race pace compared to its lap times in qualifying. "I think I'm as satisfied as can be," Ricciardo told reporters in Shanghai. "[I was a] bit more hopeful of a top five finish but realistically Williams finds more […]

Sebastian Vettel says he expects Ferrari to be comparatively closer to Mercedes than it was during qualifying for the Chinese Grand Prix. Vettel will line-up on third on the grid at Shanghai after he posted the quickest non-Mercedes lap time during Saturday's qualifying session. But his best lap was nine-tenths of a second slower than that achieved by Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton and Vettel anticipates that the gap will be closer in the race. "I would have loved to be closer but you have to be […]

Lewis Hamilton claimed his third successive pole position as he beat Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg during qualifying for the Chinese Grand Prix. Hamilton posted an initial time of 1:35.782 in Q3 but was unable to improve on his second lap, allowing Rosberg a chance of snatching pole position. Rosberg’s time, however, was insufficient to take top spot but he ended just 0.042s shy of Hamilton’s pole position. Sebastian Vettel was third quickest for Ferrari - nine-tenths behind Hamilton - while Felipe Massa beat Williams team-mate […]

World Champion Lewis Hamilton says that Ferrari will once again present a threat to Mercedes at this weekend's Chinese Grand Prix. Hamilton topped practice at Shanghai but is wary that Ferrari, which ended Mercedes' spell of domination in Malaysia, will provide a challenge at the head of the pack. "Today was definitely an improvement on Friday in Malaysia," he said. "It was good to get both sessions in and that puts me in a stronger position. "The team has done an amazing job to find […]

Williams says that Felipe Massa's premature exit from the second practice session for the Chinese Grand Prix was caused by a rear wing stall on his FW37. Massa was on his flying lap during the session when his car spun out of control under braking for the hairpin in the final sector. Massa spun off the circuit and clipped the barriers, causing minor damage to the front wing and resulting in the session being stopped while his car was retrieved. "The first session went to […]

Toro Rosso duo Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz Jr are sure of a strong weekend for the squad despite finishing outside of the top 10 positions during second practice for the Chinese Grand Prix. Both drivers believe that their lowly positions in the timesheets was down to missing out on a qualifying simulation due to the red flag being brought out for Felipe Massa's crash in the second session. Verstappen nonetheless reckons Toro Rosso still has to make progress with its STR10. "It was a […]