Shanghai: Lewis Hamilton won the 1,000th Formula One grand prix Sunday after grabbing the lead from Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas at the first corner and powering to victory in blustery Shanghai. Hamilton, who started from second on the grid, took the world championship lead after romping home to win the Chinese Grand Prix by more than 6.5 seconds from Bottas, with Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel third. Max Verstappen of Red Bull was fourth and Charles Leclerc in the second Ferrari was fifth.
This was world champion Hamilton’s sixth victory at the Chinese Grand Prix and second in a row this season. “To have a one-two [for Mercedes] is really special in the 1,000th grand prix but the start was where it made the difference and the rest is history,” said the Briton. Hamilton was pipped for pole position by Bottas by just 0.023 seconds in qualifying and had said that he was “struggling with the car”. But the Finn laboured out of the blocks, allowing Hamilton to nip in and grab the lead at the first corner.
“I lost it on the start, honestly, shame about the start, I got some wheel spin on the start line,” said Bottas, who also relinquished his hold on the standings after three races. Talented 21-year-old Leclerc meanwhile pulled off the same trick at the start at the expense of his team-mate Vettel, darting into third. There was more early drama when Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat tangled with both McLarens of Lando Norris and Carlos Sainz, earning the Russian a drive-through penalty.
On lap 11, four-time world champion Vettel leapfrogged back in front of Monaco’s Leclerc into third following radio orders from Ferrari telling the youngster to let him pass. “We do our job, stay focused,” Leclerc – agonisingly denied victory last time out in Bahrain after his Ferrari lost power late on – was informed on team radio after he briefly protested. Back at the front, the 34-year-old Hamilton began pulling away, establishing a more than five-second gap on Bottas with a third of the race gone.
With five-time world champion Hamilton – winner in Bahrain two weeks ago – serene up top, the real battles unfolded behind him. Vettel, under pressure after a number of unforced errors going back to last season, went wheel-to-wheel with Verstappen after both pitted for fresh tyres. Vettel, Bottas and then Toro Rosso’s Alexander Albon, who missed qualifying after a nasty crash in final practice, all exchanged fastest laps. On lap 38 of the 56 it was Leclerc and Bottas who had a skirmish in the compelling battle for second.
Leclerc then pitted and was momentarily held up by a comparatively sluggish change of tyres. Nico Hulkenberg, who qualified eighth for Renault, saw his race come to an early conclusion after the team retired his faltering car. Norris and Kvyat were also forced out before the end. The fourth race of the season takes place on the streets of Baku, in Azerbaijan, in a fortnight.
Kush secures podium finish on debut
Monza: Debuting as a Rookie at the Formula Renault Eurocup Championship, Kush Maini finished third overall in the season opener at the historic Monza circuit here. Starting this season, the Formula Renault Eurocup now features cars that fall under the classification of the FIA’s Regional F3 specifications. Kush, starting from the second row of the grid in fourth moved up one place to complete his race on the podium at third. The J.K.Tyre backed driver made a great start, which saw him battle fellow competitor Leonardo Lorandi heading into the first corner.
While he was unable to overtake Lorandi, both men were able to capitalise on an incident that saw pole sitter Lorenzo Colombo spin on the exit of turn 1, in turn stalling his car. With a stranded car out on track, the organisers were forced to deploy the safety car for two laps thus bunching the field together. A sluggish getaway on the restart of the race saw Kush drop down to fourth, however he fought back in no time reclaiming third in a matter of a few laps once again displaying his phenomenal overtaking ability, something that has become a bit of a trademark in his short career so far. While Kush did manage to close the gap on Lorandi, he was unable to pull off a move on the Italian and ultimately had to settle for third.
Messy race for Ferrari
Another race, another head-scratching performance from Ferrari — compounded by a third consecutive one-two finish from Mercedes. Ferrari was supposed to be the favourite coming to China but it leaves Shanghai having raised even more questions about its ability to beat the German manufacturer. For the third race in a row, the Ferrari pit wall attempted to dictate the order of its cars on track. After Charles Leclerc ignored an order to stay behind his teammate for at least two laps in Bahrain, he was compliant in China when asked to move over for Sebastian Vettel on lap 11, reports ESPN.
To be fair to Ferrari, Vettel looked like the quicker car at the time and was being held up by his teammate, but as soon as he got clear the roles reversed and he faced pressure from a frustrated Leclerc. Vettel made a bunch of errors that saw both cars lose time and fall into the sights of Max Verstappen, while losing any hope of troubling the Mercedes pair. Leclerc couldn’t resist pointing out the obvious over team radio: “I am losing quite a lot of time.
I don’t know if you want [to know] it or not, but just to let you know”. Red Bull smelt blood and pitted Verstappen early to give him a tyre advantage over the Ferraris, successfully undercutting Leclerc and giving him a shot at a pass on Vettel on lap 20. Arguably, the Red Bull had the pace and strategy nous to trouble Ferrari regardless of the team orders, but given the situation, Ferrari could have been the one attempting the undercut on the Mercedes duo with one of its cars rather than have them battle. Even though the end result saw Vettel secure his first podium of the season, it looked messy and left Leclerc with a disappointing fifth place finish.
