Photo: Morio
Jenson Button earned his second victory of the year, and the F1 points lead, in a rain soaked Chinese Grand Prix. Button, known for his conservative driving style, was able to preserve his intermediate rain tires long enough to hold off a challenge from his McLaren Mercedes teammate, Lewis Hamilton. Nico Rosberg, driving for Mercedes, rounded out the podium spots.
There was plenty of wheel to wheel drama, despite the weather. Hamilton and Red Bull driver Mark Webber earned reprimands for their aggressive driving through pit lane. Hamilton and Webber had been dicing at pit entry, and Hamilton used the insinde lane to pass Weber going into the pits. Released by his McLaren Mercedes crew as Weber was alongside, Hamilton tried to beat Webber exiting the pits. Webber, driving for Red Bull Renault, was having none of it and tried to hold Hamilton to the inside lane. Sanity prevailed and Hamilton lifted to allow Webber by.
Michael Schumacher had a good race despite his tenth place finish. The Mercedes driver showed flashes of brilliance in his wet-track battles with Felipe Massa (Ferrari) , Lewis Hamilton and Vitaly Petrov (Renault).