Lewis Hamilton steers Mercedes to win in China F1

Lewis Hamilton did not take long to get back to his winning form as he clinched the first position on the final day of the Formula 1 race in China. With two races over for the 2017 season, both he and Sebasitan Vettel of Ferrari are at par with one win each. Vettel won the Australian GP, the first race of the season, and now in Sunday’s 2017 Formula 1 Heineken Chinese Grand Prix he came in second, with a mere 6.2s keeping him apart from the winner. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen came in a commendable third, fighting his way through the maze from his 16th position on the grid.

For Force India’s driver, they managed to come in the first ten, grabbing a total of three points for the team. Sergio Perez came in ninth followed by Esteban Ocon tenth.

This was Hamilton’s 54th F1 triumph as he started off from pole position to finish a winner. The race began on a rather damp track that dried up pretty fast as the race progressed and all the drivers preferred their intermediate tyres barring Carlos Sainz of Toro Rosso.  Rosso’s choice was wrong as he spun off on Lap 1, scraping the wall. He then made his way back onto the circuit.

Soon everybody went in for dry rubber and within the early part of the race Force India’s Sergio Perez collided with Williams’ Lance Stroll, leaving the latter beached in the gravel.

The first set of cars in the early stages included that of Hamilton, his team mate Valtteri Bottas, Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo, Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen and Verstappen. But then before long Antonio Giovinazzi crashed his Sauber exiting the final corner, crashing his car into the pit wall. As the race progressed, Vettel came in to make it a thriller race.

They have 43 points apiece in the drivers’ table as Mercedes eased ahead of Ferrari by one in the constructors’.

Verstappen, like Ricciardo, had to stop for more supersofts, but just kept ahead for the final podium slot after a superb drive from the back of the grid which earned him the Driver of the Day vote from fans. Raikkonen just held on to fifth as Bottas fought back after spinning from fifth place to 12th on the seventh lap whilst weaving in an attempt to keep temperatures up under the safety car.

The F1 paddock now moves to the 2017 Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix in just a week’s time.