Shanghai: Lewis Hamilton won the Chinese Grand Prix for a record sixth time Sunday to seize the overall lead from his Mercedes team mate Valtteri Bottas in Formula One’s (F1) 1,000th World Championship race.
Bottas, who made a poor start from pole and lost out to five-time World Champion Hamilton into the first corner, was second for his team’s third one-two finish in as many races this season.
Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel took third place, his first podium appearance of the campaign, with Red Bull’s Pierre Gasly denying the German an extra point with the fastest lap right at the end.
The comfortable win in a race short on thrills was the 75th of Hamilton’s career, and second in a row after his lucky triumph in Bahrain two weeks ago.
“To have a one-two together is really special in the 1,000th Grand Prix. The start was where I was able to make the difference, and after that it’s kind of history,” said the Briton.
The win also put Hamilton back at the top of drivers standings with 68 points, six ahead of teammate Bottas. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen is third with 39 points.
Vettel’s teammate Charles Leclerc, on pole in Bahrain was denied victory after a late loss of power while leading, finished fifth behind Verstappen, who briefly went wheel-to-wheel with Vettel for the final podium spot.
Leclerc got ahead of Vettel at the start but was instructed by Ferrari to let his teammate through on lap 11, an order the Monegasque complied with while making clear that he did not agree.
The German then struggled to find a rhythm when freed up to take on the Mercedes pair, but Leclerc was the clear loser of a situation that pushed him back and behind Verstappen after the pitstops despite an attempted longer stint.
“I’m happy to be on the podium,” said Vettel, who made two pitstops that Mercedes covered by switching to a similar strategy. “But (the race was) tough because we tried to stick with them but just couldn’t.”
Mercedes pitted Bottas first to protect him from Vettel, a move that reduced Hamilton’s lead, and later on pitted the pair in a perfectly timed sequence with Hamilton leaving the box just as Bottas arrived.
Gasly was sixth, ahead of Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo — the Australian’s first finish of the season after two retirements— and Racing Point’s Sergio Perez.
Kimi Raikkonen finished ninth for Alfa Romeo and Thailand’s Alexander Albon, who started from the pitlane after missing qualifying due to a heavy crash in final practice, took the final point for Toro Rosso.
Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg, McLaren’s Lando Norris and Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat were the three retirements. Kvyat was handed a drive-through penalty for causing the collision, a decision the Russian felt was unfair and needed clarifying.