It was one-two for Red Bull in the wet China. The rain started before the race start. The race was started behind The Safety Car because there was a lot of water on the track. Kubica and Glock started from the pit lane. While The Safety Car was on the track Rosberg and Alonso made their early first pitstops. After eight laps The Safety Car left the track. Vettel was leading the race followed by Webber, Rubinho, Button, Trulli and Hamilton who overtook Kimi suffering some kind of engine problem in his Ferrari. Buemi was the 8th followed by Heidfeld, Kovalainen and Massa. Soon Hamilton overtook Trulli and climbed into the fifth position. Red Bull drivers started to pull away Rubinho who was overtaken by his team-mate Button on the 11th lap. On the 12th lap Hamilton spun and dropped into the 10th position behind his team-mate Kovalainen. Buemi and Massa had overtaken Kimi. Hamilton's speed was fast and he overtook both Finns drivers Kovalainen and Kimi on the laps 13 and 15. However, on the 16th lap Kimi overtook Hamilton. Trulli dropped rapidly and after 15 laps he had dropped into the 9th position.

On the 14th lap Webber made his first pitstop and rejoined the sixth position behind Massa. On the 15th lap Vettel made his first pitstop and rejoined the third position. Brawn GP cars were one-two but lost their leading margin on the 18th lap when The Safety Car was deployed. Kubica had hit the rear of Trulli's Toyota and there was a lof of debris on the track. Trulli retired into the pits and Kubica had to make the pitstop for the new front nose. When The Safety Car was on the way to the track Buemi ran into Vettel's rear in the water spray, but Vettel's car didn't suffer any damage. Buemi had to make the pitstop for the new front nose. On the 19th lap both Brawn GP cars made their first pitstops. Vettel was leading the race followed by Button, Massa, Webber, Kimi, Hamillton, Rubinho, Kovalainen, Bourdais and Buemi.

On the 20th lap Massa retired due to the electrical problem. After 21 laps The Safety Car left the track. Vettel drove very fast laps and pulled away Button. Webber was right behind Button. On the 23 lap Hamilton overtook again Kimi and another McLaren Kovalainen overtook Rubinho. On the 27th lap Kimi made his pitstop and dropped into the 15th position behind Rosberg. On the 29th lap Webber overtook Button after Button's driving mistake, but Button re-overtook Webber after the Australian ran wide on the corner on the 31 lap. On the next lap Webber overtook again Button. On the 33th lap Hamilton made his pitstop and rejoined the 8th position behind Buemi. On the next lap Kovalainen made his pitstop and rejoined the 10th position behind Force India's Sutil. Alonso had climbed into the fifth position, but made the pitstop on the 35th lap and dropped into the 9th position behind Kovalainen. On the next lap Alonso spun and he dropped four positions when Heidfeld, Rosberg, Kimi and Glock overtook him. The race order was the following: Vettel, Webber, Button, Rubinho, Buemi, Hamilton, Sutil, Kovalainen, Heidfeld, Rosberg, Kimi, Glock, Alonso.

On the 37th lap Vettel made his second pitstop and rejoined the third position behind Button. On the 39th lap Webber made his second pitstop and rejoined the third position behind Vettel. On the 40th lap Vettel overtook Button and showed his enormous speed because Vettel didn't want to drive behind Button waiting for Button's pitstop. Brawn GP cars made their second pitstops on the laps 42 and 43 and rejoined the third and the fifth positions. On the 42th lap Kovalainen overtook Sutil. On the 45th lap Buemi made the pitstop when he was driving on the fourth position and dropped into the 10th position. On the 47th lap Hamilton ran wide on the corner and dropped into the sixth position behind his team-mate Kovalainen. On the 49th lap Hamilton spun and dropped into the seventh position behind Sutil who was driving the first point place for his team Force India. However, on the 51th lap Sutil spun, hit the wall and retired.

It was one-two for Red Bull. The next two were Brawn GP cars Button and Rubinho and the next two were McLarens Kovalainen and Hamilton. Glock was the 7th followed by Buemi, Alonso and Kimi. Bourdais who spun several times was the 11th followed by BMW Saubers Heidfeld and Kubica, and Fisichella. Rosberg was the 15th. Rosberg suffered the visor problem during the race, rain drops were sticking his visor. Rosberg also gambled the tyre choice, he changed into the intermediate tyres which was a mistake. Piquet Jr. who spun several times was the 16th. Nakajima retired into the pits 13 laps before the finish line due to a transmission problem. See the full results here.