Lewis Hamilton eases to third straight GP win and third win overall in China

Lewis Hamilton cruised to his third straight victory of the season in Shanghai, winning the race by a commendable margin of 18 seconds despite using lesser fuel than any other driver in the top 10.

Those who were expecting a repeat of the Bahrain Grand Prix were left disappointed as there was more action behind the scenes in the strategy departments of teams than between drivers on the race track.

Meanwhile, Nico Rosberg finished the race in a distant second place after a poor start put him in 7th at the end of the first lap. He spent the majority of the race recovering the positions he had lost, eventually getting past Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso on lap 42 to take second. With Hamilton nearly 15 seconds ahead up the road at that point, Rosberg had to be content with the runner-up position.The German encountered telemetry issues as well which continued throughout the race, possibly ruining his start and forcing him to consistently update the team about his fuel usage.

Third place went to Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso who made a great start and drove equally well in the race to record his and the team’s first podium of the season. With this result, he moves into third in the drivers’ standings, albeit 31 points behind championship leader Nico Rosberg.

The Red Bulls occupied fourth and fifth place in the final race results with Daniel Ricciardo having the upper hand over world champion teammate Sebastian Vettel once again. In the middle of the race, Vettel was asked by his team to give way to Ricciardo as he was on a different strategy. Vettel disobeyed the team order, but Ricciardo soon found a way past, eventually finishing the race with a 25-second gap over the German.

Nico Hulkenberg again drove a superb, albeit uneventful race to take sixth at the chequered flag. His teammate Sergio Perez, who finished on the podium a fortnight ago in Bahrain, finished ninth. The Force Indias didn’t have the same pace they showed in Sakhir but were able to score a decent haul of points.

Valtteri Bottas in the Williams took seventh after closing in on the Force India during the latter stages of the race. Felipe Massa, in the other FW36, had a great start and looked set for a decent finish until a slow pit stop put him at the back of the grid. He eventually finished a lap down in 15th place.

While Fernando Alonso in the lead Ferrari finished on the podium, Kimi Raikkonen finished a disappointing ninth, nearly a minute behind his German teammate.

Daniil Kvyat took the final points scoring position while his teammate Jean Eric Vergne, who qualified ahead, took 12th at the chequered flag.

It was an utterly disappointing day for McLaren with both their cars lapped and finishing outside of the top 10. After the double podium in Australia, the Woking squad has only gone backwards. Jenson Button suggested yesterday that the car’s slow pace was due to lack of downforce.

Finally, Romain Grosjean looked set to break into the points for the first time this season, until a gearbox problem forced him into retirement. Pastor Maldonado in the other Lotus finished 14th.

by Rachit Thukral