Let’s look at the Chinese Grand Prix through quarks. Why? No idea.

Up

“It was an interesting Grand Prix,” said Mark Webber in the press conference. Too bloody right it was – particularly for Webber himself. After a horrible qualifying session, he started 18th on the grid, and at half distance he hadn’t remotely bothered the points paying positions. After the second pit stops worked themselves out, he was up in P7.

His third stop – on lap 40 of 56 – was the latest of those around him, and with fresher tyres he was a couple of seconds a lap faster than virtually everyone else in the closing stages of the race. Even without KERS, he managed to overtake Massa, Rosberg and Button to finish an astonishing 3rd. Aussie grit indeed.

Down

It wasn’t an ideal race for Sebastian Vettel, dropping to P3 from pole position on the first lap. It got better for him, of course, moving up to P1 thanks to his two stop strategy. But that strategy turned out to be less than optimal, and he ended up 2nd. To Vettel’s credit, he was no less jovial and entertaining in the press conference, despite not finishing on the top step for the first time in five races. Good man.

Charm

Third time’s a charm, they say. That seems to be the case for Formula 1, 2011-style: the third race of the year was a staggeringly exciting.

The overtaking was enthralling, and that was just at the pointy end – the rest of the pack got little coverage, such was the action up front. That’s a shame – particularly in the case of Webber’s progress through the field in the final third – but it allowed the main story of the race to be told properly. Which is an improvement on Malaysia.

The strategy battle between two and three stops was fascinating too, and Martin Brundle deserves credit for keeping on top of it all – again, much better than in Malaysia, to my mind. He’s turning into a rather good lead commentator.

Strange

What was going on with Jenson Button? There’s only one explanation: gin in his race bottle. His first stop was vitally important, pitting from P1, with Vettel stopping simultaneously from a very close P3. So Button stopping in the Red Bull Racing pit box was unexpected to say the least – for everyone involved, I’m sure. Button seemed half asleep when Hamilton passed him, too. Gin, definitely.

Top

What a day for Lewis Hamilton. There was nothing short of panic in the McLaren garage before the race, trying to fix a fuel leak to get his car out in time to take to the grid. Not an ideal start, then, but a storming race on a three stop strategy saw him come through to P2 with a few laps to go. His battle with Vettel for the lead was thrilling, and resulted in a well deserved victory for Hamilton.

Bottom

It’s not been a strong start to the year for Ferrari, but at least they’re scoring points and can have faith that development will push them forward. The longest faces must be at Williams. No finishes from the first two races, and today they could manage just 13th and 18th. And Pastor Maldonado in 18th was two places behind Heikki Kovalainen for Team Lotus. Ouch.