F1 2017: Flawless Hamilton wins Chinese Grand Prix from Vettel

Lewis Hamilton registers his first win of 2017 season ahead of Sebastien Vettel in Shanghai. Max Verstappen steals the show as he finishes third.  

Lewis Hamilton took his first win of the season at the Chinese GP. Starting from pole, Hamilton held on to his grid position, driving flawlessly over the race distance of 56 laps of the Shanghai circuit. Sebastien Vettel of Ferrari settled for second, while Max Verstappen of Red Bull put up a stunning spectacle from the back of the grid to finish third in the race.

The Chinese GP started in damp conditions, meaning most of the drivers were in a fix over tyre choice. However, a majority of drivers decided to opt for intermediates in the beginning. As lights went out, Hamilton quickly took off, retaining his grid position, while Vettel battled with Valtteri Bottas for the second position. Verstappen meanwhile was on a charge and quickly moved up to seventh in the early laps. Thanks to a couple of incidents and safety car periods, the competition between leading drivers, including Verstappen was closer than expected.

Over the course of the race, drivers switched to slicks and were going full out. While Hamilton led the race throughout, the rest of the drivers swapped positions depending on their pit stops. Soon Vettel, too, broke away from the pack including Verstappen, Daniel Ricciardo and Kimi Raikkonen so as to give Hamilton a last moment scare. However, Vettel’s efforts were in vain as Hamilton managed a steady gap of over 8 seconds between him and the Ferrari. Hamilton won the race, while Vettel had to settle for second.

The last laps also saw Verstappen fend off teammate Ricciardo for the podium. Ricciardo had no answer to Verstappen and all he could manage was fourth position. Raikkonen finished behind the Red Bull duo in fifth while Bottas was sixth.

Carlos Sainz of Toro Rosso took an impressive seventh, ahead of Kevin Magnussen of Haas Racing in eighth. Force India drivers Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon wrapped up the top ten.