Hamilton wins 2019 Chinese Grand Prix

China Plus Published: 2019-04-15 09:43:22
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Formula 1 celebrated its 1000th World Championship race as Lewis Hamilton dominated at the Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai on Sunday.

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain celebrates with the trophy after winning the Chinese Formula One Grand Prix at the Shanghai International Circuit in Shanghai on Sunday, April 14, 2019. [Photo: AP]

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain celebrates with the trophy after winning the Chinese Formula One Grand Prix at the Shanghai International Circuit in Shanghai on Sunday, April 14, 2019. [Photo: AP]

Sunday's race was not the thriller that fans might have been hoping for.

Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas, who was in pole position, was overtaken by his teammate Lewis Hamilton at the first corner. Hamilton then led the race all the way to the finish line.

It was Hamilton's sixth win at the Chinese Grand Prix, making him the most successful driver in Shanghai.

He also reclaimed the lead in the drivers' standings, giving him a solid start towards defending his world championship.

"A little bit of a struggle this weekend for me, but once I got into qualifying, a little bit of a shift in driving style enabled me to unlock a bit more potential with the car, which Valtteri was clearly able to do. And then the start was obviously great, which was really the decisive moment I'd say for the race. And then after that it was fairly straightforward. I managed to have quite good pace today compared to P2, practice two, long run pace, so I'm really, really happy with it."

Bottas secured second place in Shanghai, giving Mercedes three straight one-two finishes this season.

Ferrari still has no answer to their tough competitors. Sebastian Vettel could only manage third place on the podium, while Charles Leclerc was back in fifth.

Vette almost lost position when Red Bull's Max Verstappen challenged him in the middle of the race.

"I think we can be very happy with where we are and the engine side seems to be strong. I think overall our cars were working, there's nothing wrong with it. But I think its just about a place in the right window. And then being able to extract the performance of the car has. Year, it seems to be there somewhere. But at the moment, it seems to be a bit more difficult to find. You know where it is to be able to be a fair match to miss at this point."

Pierre Gasly from Red Bull had the fastest lap time in Shanghai, after swapping over to soft tyres in the last minutes of the race, securing the extra point.

Apart from the race, Chinese driver Zhou Guanyu's first F1 testing also attracted attention on the day.

The Formula Two racer, who is a Shanghai native, is Renault's development driver this season.

He is now looking forward to becoming the first F1 driver from the Chinese mainland.

"For now I just want to do well in Formula Two. As we all know, the top three drivers of F2 last year all made it into F1 this season. And they all earned points in the opening races. This really motivates us young drivers. For China, the fan base for the sport is growing. I hope I can reach F1 in the future and do what Yao Ming did in basketball to help motorsports grow in China."

Formula One heads to Azerbaijan in two weeks' time.


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