Lewis Hamilton wins the Chinese Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton poses with the winners trophy in the Chinese Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton won the Chinese Grand Prix for the second year in a row overcoming stiff challenge from his team mate Nico Rosberg and Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel.

Kimi Raikkonen looked good for most part of the race, but couldn’t overtake Vettel for a place on the podium. Williams’s Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas finished fifth and sixth. Mercedes used their two pitstop strategy to perfection even as experts predicted Ferrari’s lighter tyre usage could give them the edge.

Hamilton has now extended his championship lead over Rosberg to 13 points, while Vettel is still in second with 55 points, four points clear of Rosberg. The Williams drove a good race, but never looked like threatening the first four.

Lotus, Sauber and Toro Rosso were involved in an intriguing battle in the midfield. Pastor Maldonado was ahead of the pack before he messed it up twice – first on his way to his second pitstop and second at turn six. Romain Grosjean was the lone point scorer for the team in seventh place.

It was heartbreak for Toro Rosso’s Max Verstappen who retired from eighth place with a locked rear axle with only three laps left. Verstappen had pulled two impressive passing moves over Marcus Ericsson and Sergio Perez earlier in the race. Sauber collected points from the race with Felipe Nasr’s eighth and Ericsson’s tenth place finishes.

Daniel Ricciardo finished ninth after a poor start when he dropped down to 13th on the grid. Both Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button finished races for the first time in the new Honda engines.

Alonso finished 12th, behind Force India’s Sergio Perez. Button came in 13th ahead of Carlos Sainz Jr.