Lewis Hamilton dominated the Chinese Grand Prix and made it a perfect Grand Slam in Shanghai this weekend.
Lewis took pole position, was leading for every single lap, won the race, and set the fastest lap. Incredibly, he also set his fastest lap time on lap 44; his car and lucky number.
The victory in Shanghai was the 54th victory of his F1 career and returns the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport Team to the top step of the podium following rival Sebastian Vettel's win in Australia. The Ferrari driver was second ahead of Red Bull's Max Verstappen, but in truth it was a smooth victory for Lewis.
"It has been a dominant weekend. It has been remarkable that this is my 10th year here and I have had six poles and five wins. I have a great record here, and have been very fortunate to work with some intelligent and hard-working people who have helped elevate me to the top step.
"This is a track that suits my driving style, whether it is in the wet or the dry. I am really happy with how I performed today. Our strategist made the right decision in terms of coming in for tyres, and the guys in the garage did a fantastic job with the stops, so it was a very on-point weekend.
"I am so happy that we have got our first win of the year. I am really looking forward to the next race now. I was fine after the Australian Grand Prix but a few hours later, the pain of not winning was burning inside of me and I said to Sebastian that I was coming back after him. So when I saw him on the podium, I was like; I told you I was coming back!"
While Lewis was celebrating his victory, his Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport team-mate Valtteri Bottas had a tricky race in the damp conditions. The Finn spun while running behind the safety car but battled back from 12th to finish in sixth place.
He was particularly self-critical of his error but will be ready to race again in Bahrain next Sunday. Valtteri said:
"Behind the Safety Car I was trying to generate as much tyre temperature as I could and I went too far away, was too aggressive, made a mistake and spun and I lost so many places. I'm really sorry for the team and the points we lost today.
"After that is was tricky for a while to get the tyres back to working. I got them eventually there and the pace towards the end of the race was good. But from the stupid mistake of mine we lost a lot of points. I'm leaving for Bahrain tonight and I'm glad the next race comes soon. Once you've made a mistake it's done, so you try to forget it and do everything you can to make up for it next time. I will take a look in the mirror at myself and come back stronger."
The action continues with round three in Sakhir at the Bahrain Grand Prix on April 16th.
Race result:
1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 56 1h37m36.158s
2 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 56 6.250s
3 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Renault 56 45.192s
4 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull/Renault 56 46.035s
5 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 56 48.076s
6 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 56 48.808s
7 Carlos Sainz Toro Rosso/Renault 56 1m12.893s
8 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 55 1 Lap
9 Sergio Perez Force India/Mercedes 55 1 Lap
10 Esteban Ocon Force India/Mercedes 55 1 Lap
11 Romain Grosjean Haas/Ferrari 55 1 Lap
12 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 55 1 Lap
13 Jolyon Palmer Renault 55 1 Lap
14 Felipe Massa Williams/Mercedes 55 1 Lap
15 Marcus Ericsson Sauber/Ferrari 55 1 Lap
- Fernando Alonso McLaren/Honda 33 Transmission
- Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso/Renault 18 Retirement
- Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren/Honda 17 Retirement
- Antonio Giovinazzi Sauber/Ferrari 3 Spun off
- Lance Stroll Williams/Mercedes 0 Collision
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