Lance Stroll went off into the gravel immediately, causing a virtual safety auto, meaning many quickly took the option to change to slicks.
Advertisement
Canadian rookie Lance Stroll was the first casualty of the inclement conditions after he was punted from behind by the Force India of Sergio Perez. The starting of the race saw Hamilton take the lead and remained comfortably there for the remainder of 56 laps.
That enabled all five to keep their positions as they pitted, leaving Vettel to drop from an initial second to sixth, and set up the thriller.
The battle for the victory at the close was very much a two-horse race beetween Hamilton and Vettel; however, with the Briton coming out ahead of the German, having taken pole into the race. “It was hard to know”. In 2008, he beat Ferrari’s Felipe Massa to his debut title by passing a vehicle on the last corner of the final lap of the last race. “We need to look into what we should do with those cars if there’s blue flags”.
Hamilton converted from pole position as he was unaffected by both virtual and real safety auto phases in the early running of the 56-lap race around the 5.451-kilometre Shanghai International circuit. “Ferrari have done a great job and it is great that we are both pushing”.
“And it was going to mean we would have to pull out all the stops and really have a very, very ideal lap, you know, a solid lap”. Usually I like driving in the wet but I am a little bit apprehensive.
“Without the safety vehicle the story of the race should be different”, said Marchionne.
Vettel’s pace late in the race was impressive, but Hamilton was too far ahead and was pacing his way home to a fifth victory in Shanghai.
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen stole the show with an incredible drive, going from P16 all the way to seventh right in the first lap.
“Ah, would, could, should”. I think Lewis was quick, first of all. “Full stop. I think they did a good race, he did a good race, so to get into these kind of conversations, or discussions, usually there is no point”. It was a good match. “The race was a lot of fun, very entertaining”.
“I had some overtaking”.
“It is going to be one of the closest, if not the closest, fights [driver championship battle] I have experienced”. You shouldn’t just open the flap and sail past.
Lewis Hamilton mastered Shanghai’s changing conditions and stayed clear of squabbling rivals to win the Chinese Formula One Grand Prix on Sunday.
Advertisement
“I was trying to have the tyres warmer than any auto around to be able to attack and I went too far”, Bottas told reporters.
