Hamilton wins as Mercedes repels Ferrari

Lewis Hamilton took his second victory of the season in the Chinese Grand Prix as Mercedes had the race pace to keep Ferrari at bay.

With higher temperatures on race day than the rest of the weekend, Ferrari was well placed to challenge with Sebastian Vettel starting third behind the two Mercedes. However, Hamilton and team-mate Nico Rosberg managed their tyres in the middle stint before pulling away after the final pit stops for what was ultimately a comfortable one-two.

Vettel held on to third place from team-mate Kimi Raikkonen, with Ferrari showing it has the potential to concern the two Mercedes drivers on a fairly regular basis this season. Raikkonen had delivered an impressive start to jump Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas - who finished fifth and sixth respectively - by Turn 6 on the opening lap, but couldn't quite get close enough to his team-mate as the race ended under the safety car.

With three laps remaining, Max Verstappen - who was running in the top ten - stopped on the pit straight with an engine problem and marshals were unable to clear it quickly enough to allow the race to be started.

While the final standings show a close result, Hamilton was never really threatened and completed a clean sweep of the race weekend after following the fastest time in all three practice sessions with pole position, fastest lap and the race win.

A poor qualifying performance appeared to hurt Raikkonen's chances in the race but the Finn made up for it with a blistering start, passing Massa around the outside of Turn 3 before diving up the inside of Bottas in to Turn 6. Hamilton held off Rosberg at the front having pointed his car towards his team-mate on the grid, while the big loser was Daniel Ricciardo who almost stalled and rapidly dropped backwards.

Pastor Maldonado was the big mover in the opening stint as he pulled off a number of clean overtaking moves to move up to eighth place behind team-mate Romain Grosjean before the first round of pit stops saw the race start to come alive.

The two Mercedes drivers managed the gap during the opening stint, with Vettel four seconds behind Rosberg by the time of the first round of stops. However, Ferrari pit first and then upped the pace as the top four remained on the soft tyre despite higher temperatures, with Vettel and Raikkonen closing in to see all four cars covered by less then seven seconds at one stage.

Hamilton was twice given the message to hurry up by Mercedes, with Rosberg complaining the pace was too slow as Vettel closed in. However, Ferrari couldn't sustain the pace as Hamilton started to increase his speed and while Vettel and Rosberg both pit for a second time, the race leader pumped in two fastest laps by a clear distance to underline Mercedes' potential.

After that stop the gaps grew, despite Hamilton complaining of a hot seat in the car. Massa and Bottas were the best part of 20 seconds adrift of Raikkonen but clear of Romain Grosjean in seventh as Red Bull failed to pose a threat in another disappointing race for the team.

Following Ricciardo's poor start, team-mate Daniil Kvyat retired early on with an engine problem at Turn 6, becoming the second driver to retire after Nico Hulkenberg stopped at the same corner with a gearbox issue. Ricciardo then spent most of the race fighting back in to the points - enjoying close scraps with Marcus Ericsson - to eventually finish in ninth place behind Felipe Nasr as he split the two Saubers.

Ericsson inherited a point for tenth late on thanks to Verstappen's stoppage, but it should have been Lotus celebrating two cars in the points but for an eventful second half of the race for Maldonado. The Venezuelan ran deep at the pit lane entry and had to be pushed back on to the track, before spinning at Turn 7 soon after.

Maldonado was then trying to fight back through the field and engaged in a good battle with Jenson Button before the McLaren ran in to the rear of the Lotus at high speed in to Turn 1. Maldonado went spinning in to the run off and soon retired with brake failure, while Button dropped behind team-mate Fernando Alonso with front wing damage, finishing in 13th place but under investigation.

Verstappen's problem in the closing laps came after a hugely impressive race as he climbed up to eighth place, pulling robust moves in to the Turn 14 hairpin under braking, coming perilously close to contact with Ericsson on one occasion. Verstappen was leading the charge for Toro Rosso after a poor race for Carlos Sainz Jr, who spun at Turn 1 in the early laps and suffered gearbox trouble late on.

There was further encouragement for Manor, with Will Stevens and Roberto Merhi finishing the race in 15th and 16th places respectively, two laps down but running more competitively than in Malaysia.

Hamilton's 35th victory leaves him with a 13-point lead over Vettel in the drivers' championship after three rounds, with Rosberg a further four points back in third place.

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