World champion Lewis Hamilton has won the Chinese Grand Prix for the second year running, holding off Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg in a race which finished under the safety car.
The Briton made it two victories from three races this season and extended his record number of Shanghai wins to four, while Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen finished third and fourth for Ferrari.
Australia’s Red Bull driver Daniel Ricciardo finished in ninth place.
Hamilton was cruising home almost five seconds ahead of Rosberg until Max Verstappen’s Torro Rosso stopped on the pit straight two laps from the end, bringing out the safety car.
After a flawless weekend, Hamilton darted aggressively into turn one from pole and he picked up the pace over the second half of the race.
Rosberg, who reacted angrily to his near-miss in Saturday’s qualifying by snapping at his mechanics over the radio, pushed hard, at one point demanding: “Tell Lewis to speed up.”
Hamilton, who had been protecting his tyres, duly obliged after a second round of pit stops, and established a comfortable gap over the German.
Vettel, who stunned dominant Mercedes to win in tropical Malaysia two weeks ago, failed to produce a similar upset as the Silver Arrows resumed normal service.
Williams drivers Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas finished fifth and sixth respectively.
Source: AFP