Hamilton takes second straight win in Shanghai.
Xinhua, April 12, 2015 Adjust font size:
Reigning world champion Lewis Hamilton took his second straight win in Shanghai as he led all the way through the 56-lap race to cruise to the top podium at the 2015 F1 Chinese Grand Prix here on Monday.
Hamilton's winning time was one hour, 39 minutes, 42.008 seconds. It was the second victory for the 30-year-old Briton of Mercedes in the current season and fourth win in Shanghai.
Hamilton's teammate Nico Rosberg trailed 0.714s behind to finish second while Farrari's former world champion Sebastian Vettel came in third.
Starting from the sixth position, the other Ferrari driver Kimi Raikkonen of Finland showed his aggressiveness and great skills as he surpassed Williams duo Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas in the first lap to stay fourth. And since then the race had become a duel between Mercedes and Ferrari.
Both Mercedes drivers used two-pit strategy and they managed to hold up Vettel and Raikkonen with their two sets of softs. After Hamilton drove out of the pit lane with his news medium tyres in the 34th lap and remained in the leading place, with Rosberg right behind him, the victory in Shanghai was almost the sure thing for Mercedes.
Toro Rosso's Max Verstappen had his car broke down in the 54 lap and the safety car had to lead the way in the remaining two lap until the last turn.
Raikkonen finished fourth while Massa and Bottas endured a relatively lonely afternoon en route to fifth and sixth places with Romain Grosjean took seventh for Lotus. Endi