Hamilton has won the Chinese Grand Prix 2017 after leading from start to finish, the Brit did not lose P1 at any given point during the race, a long stint on soft tires paid off in the end allowing Mercedes to have a comfortable stop towards the finish. Vettel claimed P2 while Verstappen rounded off the podium in third. In the standings, Vettel and Hamilton are tied on 43 points. For Hamilton, this was his third career grand slam, and now ranks 8th in the all time records.

Chinese GP 2017 Results

1. Hamilton – Mercedes
2. Vettel – Ferrari
3. Verstappen – Red Bull
4. Ricciardo – Red Bull
5. Raikkonen – Ferrari
6. Bottas – Williams
7. Sainz – Toro Rosso
8. Magnussen – Haas
9. Perez – Force India
10. Ocon – Force India

There was a 20% chance of rain at the Chinese GP 2017 main race, much lower than the 90% chance during qualifying. All drivers started on intermediate Pirelli tires besides Sainz.. Hamilton started from P1 in what was Mercedes’ 75th pole, with Vettel in P2 after beating Bottas by 0.001s yesterday. The second Mercedes started from P3 on the second row next to Raikkonen in P4.

Sainz was the only driver on slicks, the highly favored supersports tire for this round. The race kicked off smoothly with Hamilton holding on to P1, followed by Vettel, Bottas, Raikkonen and Ricciardo. The Red Bull managed to sweep past Raikkonen for fourth, meanwhile, Stroll was involved in a spin halfway through the opening race. At the same time, Vettel was under investigation for starting outside his grid spot.

The Virtual Safety Car was released to help clear Stroll’s Williams. The young rookie has been on a high this weekend, he managed to make it through to Q3 yesterday after an impressive qualifying. Palmer also spun during the VSC, he was on supersofts. In the midst of all that shebang, Verstappen and Alonso managed to get into the top ten, the Red Bull was in fifth place while the McLaren was a few spots back in ninth after 3 laps.

Giovinazzi was not having it this weekend, he crashed heavily on the start/finish straight prompting out the full safety car this time. All cars were directed to go through the pit lane after that incident. This was a good moment to pit and gamble for tires, Hamilton, Bottas and Raikkonen opted for softs while the two Red Bulls went for supersofts.

The race got underway and Hamilton led the field back into action, Ricciardo was right behind followed by Verstappen, Raikkonen, Vettel, Sainz, Alonso, Perez, Magnussen and Bottas who had fallen behind. Sainz managed to set a series of fastest laps before Raikkonen rose to the challenge with a 1m41.492s, much higher than the 1m 31s lap record at Shanghai set by Hamilton yesterday.

“I’m quickest on track in the corners – we need more rain now,” said Alonso who was running in P7 after lap 13 of 56. Verstappen set a new fastest lap on 1m39.238s, the Red Bull man was 1.8s behind Hamilton in P2, having passed his teammate Ricciardo. Both cars were on supersofts. While in tenth place, Bottas managed to pull a new fastest lap with a 1m39.1s, it was trimmed down further by Hamilton with a 1m38.124s. Hulkenberg meanwhile was handed a five seconds penalty for overtaking under the VSC, and a further 5s penalty for a different offence still under the VSC.

Vandoorne retired on lap 19 after his McLaren suffered fuel problems. The following lap Vettel managed to pass Raikkonen for fourth and began hunting down the Red Bulls ahead. At the same moment, Kvyat pulled his Toro Rosso off the track after losing power steering. Hamilton then confirmed his intention to get to the finish line with the same set of soft tires.

Vettel’s hunt paid off as he managed to get past Ricciardo for third on lap 22, the two even brushed wheels a little bit as the Ferrari made its way past the Red Bull. Hamilton managed to set a new fastest lap on 1m37.560s, extending his lead over Verstappen to 6.5s. Next was Bottas who managed to pass Alonso for P7 on lap 26.

A Verstappen vs Vettel tussle heated on lap 28 which ended with the Dutchman locking up, and with the help of DRS, the Ferrari was able to take second place comfortably. Verstappen dived into the pits after that lock up, he picked up a new set of supersofts and rejoined in P6 just ahead of Alonso.

Ricciardo pitted on lap 34 for fresh supersports, emerging in P6 ahead of Sainz. Vettel followed to the pits for a new set of softs to take him to the end, he rejoined behind Raikkonen in third. Despite an awesome drive, Alonso was forced to retire after encountering driveshaft problems.

Bottas and Hamilton pitted at the same time on lap 36 for a set of new softs, the Briton emerged in P1 thanks to the lead he had prior to the stop. Bottas rejoined in P7.

Raikkonen pitted on lap 40 and rejoined with super softs this time, enough to last him till the end. The Ferrari was now in P6 behind Sainz. The final laps became a battle for points, the front runners were comfortable with their positions but Ricciardo was still looking for a way past Verstappen for that valued third place.

Hamilton went ahead to win the Chinese Grand Prix 2017 with a comfortable lead of 6.2s over Vettel. Verstappen made it an even podium by claiming third.

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