The automatic width control of the strip that is used in vertical rolling is a key issue in the hot strip rolling process. It is the first time that the internal deformation power and the friction power are obtained by using angular bisector yield criterion and Pavlov projection principle in the vertical rolling. At the same time, the shear power is determined by use of the integral mean value theorem. Then the vertical rolling force and shape parameters are obtained by minimizing the total power functional. The relative error of rolling forces is less than 8.29 % compared with those measured on-line in a hot strip rolling plant. Moreover, the formula forms of the three powers mentioned above are greatly simplified and improved.