By CHRIS LINES
AP Auto Racing Writer
SHANGHAI − A chaotic Chinese Grand Prix prompted a post-race stewards' hearing and recriminations among several drivers following contentious incidents in the first half of the race.
The race featured two pitlane passing attempts one between teammates and a frightening first-lap crash that took out three drivers.
Stewards investigated the incident between McLaren's Lewis Hamilton and Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel after the pair almost collided on the entry to pitlane. After their stops, they raced wheel-to-wheel along the pitlane.
Both drivers received an official post-race reprimand for driving ``in a dangerous manner.''
``At the stop I was ahead; I don't know why he pulled to the left and was keen to touch me. I hoped I didn't get a puncture from that I don't really understand why he did that as I was a bit ahead of him and had the advantage anyway,'' Vettel said.
It was the second straight race Hamilton had been cautioned by stewards, after weaving to block a following car in Malaysia.
``The team released me at what they thought was the right time, I got quite a bit of wheelspin when I left and I noticed Sebastian was there and he pushed me a little to the right,'' Hamilton said. ``But I think it was OK.''
In the other pit incident, Ferrari's Fernando Alonso overtook his teammate Felipe Massa on the approach road to the pitlane. Team boss Stefano Domenicali reacted by throwing his hands into the air while watching on a monitor.
``If he was not my teammate, there wouldn't be so much talk about it, and for me it was a normal move, and it definitely won't compromise our relationship,'' Alonso said.
Massa lost time as a result because he had to wait behind Alonso for his tire change.
The first-lap crash came on turn four when Force India's Vitantonio Liuzzi locked his brakes and went off the track, then headed backwards across the racing line, taking out Toro Rosso's Sebastien Buemi and Sauber's Kamui Kobayashi.
``Unfortunately I had a problem warming up the brakes on the formation lap due to the cold and the rain and then when I went into corner four on the first lap and braked, the rear completely locked and I lost control of the car and went off,'' Liuzzi said.
``It was a shame as we had a really good start and gained three positions in just the first corner and it could have been a very interesting race, particularly with how the conditions panned out.''
For the hapless Buemi, the retirement capped a woeful weekend. He had a terrifying accident in Friday practice, when both his front wheels came off simultaneously under braking due to a component failure.
``Not running on Friday was my first problem, because that means you don't qualify so well and once you have to start the race from the middle of the pack, the risk of this type of accident is always greater,'' Buemi said. ``I don't want to blame anyone for the crash, but Liuzzi lost his car and crashed into me.''
Buemi remains without a point this season, due to some dispiriting misfortune. ``I just need a change of luck,'' the Swiss said.
Kobayashi too was forced into his second straight retirement.
``It's such a shame. I'm sure we would have scored points today,'' Kobayashi said.
At least Buemi and Kobayashi were able to compete on lap one, unlike Virgin pair Timo Glock and Lucas di Grassi.
Glock's car was towed from the grid due an engine valve air pressure failure and he took no part. His teammate started from the pits due to a clutch problem. He got going seven laps late, and retired for good just eight laps later.
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