CRI听力: McLaren Dominate the Podium in Shanghai

McLaren celebrated their first one-two since 2007 at the Shanghai International Circuit on Sunday after Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton each drove a brilliant race in very testing conditions.

It was Button's second victory of the season and sees him claim the top spot in the driver's championship.

It was also the seventh different winner of the Shanghai GP in seven runnings. XYee reports.



Button again owed much to his decision-making, choosing to stay out when most of the field fled for the pits at the first signs of significant rain.

Afterwards Button was quick to point out that it had been a team effort, and that choosing to refrain from changing to intermediate tires too early, was a key to victory.

"This victory is very special, it really means a lot. It was a tricky race out there and we called it right. You know, it's not just about being quick it's about reading the conditions and I think coming home just one second ahead of Lewis, it shows what a team effort this has been and what a great result for the whole team."

A first win of the season still eludes Hamilton, but again the young Briton's performance was masterful, coming from way back to eventually claim second place, having pitted three times more than his teammate.

It was a particularly satisfying result for McLaren, especially as it was clear after qualifying that the McLarens were struggling to match the pace of the front row Red Bulls.

But Button was quick to play down the significance of a victory over Red Bull in particular, and preferred to focus on the performance of his team over the weekend.

"This is a great result for us and I'm leading the championship now. Red Bull have been very quick all year, like they were last year at the start of the season. But, you know, we're leading the championship at the moment which is a great position to be in. There's still a lot of work we need to do to find some pace. But that's what we're working on and we're working very hard and it's great to be able to get these results when maybe we haven't quite, quite got the legs on the Red Bulls."

Drama at the beginning of the race saw Fernando Alonso ghost to the front of the field before the first corner. But replays showed that he had jump started, and he was later given a drive through penalty by the race stewards.

A chaotic first lap also saw an incident involving Sebastien Buemi, Kamui Kobayashi and Vitantonio Liuzzi that saw them all retire, and the safety car deployed – not for the last time in the race.

Lewis Hamilton did little to deter his detractors who claim he is prone to drive dangerously with some questionable maneuvers when pitting to change tires on lap seven. He was subject to a steward's enquiry after appearing to drive recklessly alongside Sebastien Vettel as they exited the pit lane. Both drivers were reprimanded.

A wonderful tussle Between Hamilton and veteran Michael Schumacher was one of the highlights of the race.

The battle went on for over two laps before Hamilton eventually got his man with a wonderful maneuver on lap 16.

Button hit the front on lap 19 after an error from Rosberg gifted the lead to the world champion. A lead he did not relinquish for the remainder of the race.

As the conditions deteriorated, the action heated up. (www.hXen.com)

After a second intrusion from the safety car bunched up the leaders, the level of rainfall was clear to see from the spray produced when the cars resumed under normal conditions.

Hamilton took full advantage of the restart to quickly get a jump on Michael Schumacher for the second time in the race.

It was a thrilling climax to the race and capped a wonderful weekend for the England-based McLaren setup.

For CRI, I'm XYee.