| Rich Energy Haas F1 Team drivers Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen brought home finishes of 11th and 13th, respectively, in the Chinese Grand Prix Sunday at Shanghai International Circuit, the third round of the 2019 FIA Formula One World Championship and the 1,000th grand prix in Formula One history.
Grosjean, who started from the 10th grid position, chased Toro Rosso’s Alexander Albon for the 10th and final points-paying position over the closing laps around the 5.451-kilometer (3.387-mile), 16-turn track but fell 1.020 seconds short at the checkered flag. He made his second and final pit stop 20 laps from the finish to take a fresh set of Pirelli P Zero Yellow medium tires in place of the White hard compound he used for the middle portion of the 56-lap race. Albon and the three finishers ahead of him all completed the race on just one stop.
Magnussen, who like Grosjean started the race on Pirelli P Zero Red soft tires, struggled to maintain pace in the early going from his ninth starting position, falling back to 12th before pitting on lap 10 for a set of hards. He resumed in 17th and worked his way up to as high as 11th before pitting for a set of mediums on lap 35 that would take him the rest of the way. He settled into the 12th position by lap 46 and dropped a spot just before the finish.
Today’s results dropped the Rich Energy Haas F1 Team on position to sixth in the constructors’ standings, tied with McLaren with eight points each, four points behind Renault and Alfa Romeo who are tied for fourth, and one point ahead of eighth-place Racing Point.
Lewis Hamilton led a 1-2 finish by Mercedes, winning the Chinese Grand Prix by 6.552 seconds over his teammate Valtteri Bottas. Rounding out the podium was third-place Sebastian Vettel of Scuderia Ferrari.
The 2019 FIA Formula One World Championship resumes with the Azerbaijan Grand Prix April 28 at Baku City Circuit. |
