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Chinese Grand Prix (2013) RESULT

Qualifying for the 2013 Chinese Grand Prix produced a fascinating grid, with three former world champions at the front on soft tyres, two more world champions lurking down the grid on mediums – hoping a different strategy would see them rise to the top – and Red Bull’s Mark Webber starting from the pit lane after running out of fuel in qualifying. And the three world champions who started at the front – Hamilton in the Mercedes, Raikkonen in the Lotus and Alonso in the Ferrari – did indeed make it to the podium, but not in the order they started. Alonso had a cracking start, overtaking Raikkonen for second place at the start and taking Hamilton for the lead by lap five, but stopped two laps later to change his softs for mediums and coming out behind Vettel and Button, who had started on mediums, and Hulkenberg.

Police officer's special delivery

A POLICE OFFICE helped to deliver a baby girl in a London car showroom after being flagged down by the father. The heavily pregnant woman was being driven to hospital by her partner around 1pm yesterday when they realised the baby was about to arrive. Her partner pulled over next to Metropolitan Police transport officer Robert Morgan, who was dealing with a vehicle close to the Mercedes Benz showroom in Newham.

The scramble for scarce tires

North American automakers are struggling with a nagging shortage of tires, caused in part by tire plant closings and rising demand for low-volume specialty tires. Automakers are paying much higher prices -- double-digit percentage increases from a year ago -- as tire makers gain pricing power. "We have been bombarded from every side for additional tires, and we can't keep up," said David O'Donnell, Continental Tire's vice president of original equipment in the Americas.