China – Race: The 1,000th for Hamilton, indisputable winner!

May 13, 1950 – April 14. 69 years of competition, and especially a significant number: 1,000, like the number of races in the Formula 1 World Championship, between the first one, contested at Silverstone and the latest one, this morning in China. From past to present, there is only one step, as shown by Alfa Romeo, the only current manufacturer present in England for the first Grand Prix. However, it is difficult to do as well as back then, with Giuseppe Farina winning ahead of three other cars from the cloverleaf manufacturer!

Best positioned to clinch victory in this 1,000th event, Mercedes, locking out the front row on the grid. Valtteri Bottas was starting for the seventh time in his career from the front, with Lewis Hamilton by his side. The rest of the top 10 was equally well-ordered: the Ferrari duo on the second row, Sebastian Vettel ahead of Charles Leclerc, then the Red Bull duo (Max Verstappen ahead of Pierre Gasly), the Renault duo (Daniel Ricciardo ahead of Nico Hülkenberg), and finally the Haas duo, Kevin Magnussen ahead of Romain Grosjean. More “disorder” at the back of the grid, Daniil Kvyat was starting 11th, with Sergio Pérez’s Racing Point beside him. At the back of the pack, Antonio Giovinazzi’s Alfa Romeo, 19th, was plagued by an engine problem in qualifying. One car was starting from the pits, Alexander Albon’s Toro Rosso, after crashing during Free Practice 3.

To tackle the 5,451 kilometers of the Shanghai International Circuit, the weather was rain-free, but conditions were more challenging than during the qualifications: ten degrees less on the track and wind to destabilize the cars during the formation lap. A lap marked by Robert Kubica’s spin in his Williams… and Verstappen’s at the exit of the first sequence. These two drivers still managed to reach their spots to take the start!

The good deal for Hamilton and Leclerc, double contact for McLaren!

Jackpot for the drivers on the right side of the grid: Hamilton moved ahead of Bottas with a burst, as Leclerc did against Vettel! A good start also for Sergio Pérez’s Racing Point, on the inside of the first sequence, climbing from 12th to 8th place.

A smooth takeoff, unlike the sixth turn, a contact involving three cars! In the middle of a strange sandwich, Carlos Sainz’s McLaren, which hit Daniil Kvyat on his right, the Toro Rosso bouncing itself on the other McLaren, that of Lando Norris, on his left and on the curb. Disaster for the British team, both drivers were then forced to return to the pits to repair the broken parts. The Russian could continue without stopping, but the stewards deemed him responsible for the incident, and the penalty fell on the 7th lap: a drive-through, a passage through the pit lane! Another small reason for satisfaction for the McLaren drivers: this Virtual Safety Car which neutralized the race for a few seconds. #ChineseGP 🇨🇳 | T 1/56 🚦 IT’S ON 🚦 1 HAM 2 BOT 3 VET ⚠️ VSC ⚠️ Contact Kvyat with the McLarens #F1 #Race1000 pic.twitter.com/FTEWLUBs46— Sector F1 🏎️ (@Sector_F1) April 14

The Grand Prix quickly resumed its momentum: Kimi Räikkönen took advantage of the first few laps to get past both Haas cars, Magnussen and then Grosjean. The number 7 Alfa Romeo moved into the top 10. Up front, Hamilton had a good pace and widened the gap, with a three-second lead over Bottas by the 8th lap. The two Ferraris behind were keeping their distance, with Leclerc struggling to hold back Vettel, under a second apart.

The end of the 8th lap marked in any case the first real tire change, with the Alfa Romeo of Antonio Giovinazzi, who swapped the softs for the mediums.

Meanwhile, Scuderia Ferrari was negotiating with Charles Leclerc, who was forced to let Sebastian Vettel pass in the eleventh turn. Räikkönen, on the other hand, made a real overtaking move, swallowing Nico Hülkenberg’s Renault on the straight for the gain of the ninth place. Even though he was ahead, Vettel couldn’t pull away! A victim in this situation, Leclerc did not hide his discontent, especially since Max Verstappen was coming back and putting pressure by stopping on lap 18.

Leclerc drops to 5th place, Haas drivers fall out of the top 10

Forced to react, Scuderia Ferrari stopped Vettel on the following lap. The German came out on medium tires, just ahead of his opponent. But Verstappen was in attack mode, attempting an initial overtaking move on the 19th lap at the end of the straight: narrowly unsuccessful, the four-time world champion managed to regain his position.

Comfortably in front, Lewis Hamilton made his pit stop on lap 23 to switch to hard tires. Charles Leclerc did the same a few seconds later: the Monegasque had lost a lot, coming out 9 seconds behind the Vettel-Verstappen duo. A slight scare for the leader as he returned to the track with a gap reduced to 1.7 seconds on Bottas, who had stopped a lap before him. The Finn was hungry and clocked two fastest laps on the 24th and 25th!

Despite threats from some on others, the standings still froze for several laps, with only one overtake, that of Räikkönen on Grosjean, for 9th place. The race pace of the Haas was insufficient: on a two-stop strategy, Magnussen was overtaken by Albon’s Toro Rosso, for 11th place this time. More difficulty for Daniil Kvyat, forced to return to the pits on lap 32 to change his front wing: after his drive-through, the Russian lost all hope of scoring points at the finish. He officially retired on lap 43.

Hamilton did not suffer!

As with the first tire change, Red Bull dictated the strategy to Ferrari in this race: Verstappen stopped on the 36th lap, a few minutes before Vettel, who was forced to cover the strategy. Both set off again with yellow-banded medium tires, and the German easily rejoined in front of the Dutchman. The ripple effect also hit Mercedes; for the same safety concerns, Hamilton and Bottas also switched to medium tires.

Only Leclerc continued with the tires from his first stint. Having moved up to a provisional second place, the young driver could do nothing against Bottas, then Vettel. The former Sauber driver finally stopped on lap 43. A difficult second stop with a slight stall on exit, due to a hesitant blinking light at his pit spot. Leclerc rejoined in 5th, equipped with softs, 15 seconds behind Verstappen.

#ChineseGP 🇨🇳 | L 43/56

Vettel passes Leclerc before the Monegasque stops a second time. #F1 #Race1000 pic.twitter.com/jVdkH5yX60— Secteur F1 🏎️🇫🇷 (@Secteur_F1) April 14

The suspense regained some interest in front of him: having set the fastest lap, Vettel was less than four seconds behind Bottas. But the Finn woke up and stabilized the gap, ten laps from the finish.

The end of the race was marked by a new technical issue, affecting Leclerc! This time it was a gearbox problem that shook car #16. But the main party involved managed to finish in fifth place.

One of the last suspenseful moments was actually the contest for 10th place, with a battle between Albon’s Toro Rosso and Grosjean’s Haas. Unfortunately, the Frenchman could not find an opening!

More than a minute ahead in the standings, the leader arrived without any issues under the checkered flag, waved by Alain Prost. Lewis Hamilton wins this Grand Prix, the 1,000th of the Formula 1 World Championship! In this season, the Brit repeats his success, 15 days after his victory in Sakhir. This win is all the more deserved, as the five-time world champion was not threatened by the competition.

Valtteri Bottas finishes the Grand Prix six seconds behind and loses the lead in the drivers’ championship to his teammate. Third, Sebastian Vettel completes the podium, scoring only 15 points as his fastest lap was erased in favor of Pierre Gasly, who clocked 1:34.742 on soft tires after stopping on lap 54.

Regarding statistics, Hamilton confirms his dominance on the Shanghai International Circuit with a sixth victory in twelve participations! It should be noted that the Briton had already won the 900th race in Formula 1 history at the 2014 Bahrain Grand Prix. Here is the full classification of this Chinese Grand Prix /f1/actualite/23236-chine-qualifications-bottas-intouchable-retour-des-renault-en-q3-.html!

FINAL CLASSIFICATION

A 1-2 for the Silver Arrows, with Verstappen splitting the Ferraris

First points of the season for @danielricciardo in P7 💪

Hard-earned points for Räikkönen Albon 😅#ChineseGP 🇨🇳 #Race1000 pic.twitter.com/fJVpU14xGq

— Formula 1 (@F1) April 14 /f1/actualite/23236-chine-qualifications-bottas-intouchable-retour-des-renault-en-q3-.html

Building on this success, Lewis Hamilton takes the lead in the drivers’ standings, with 68 points, six ahead of Valtteri Bottas. The Briton already has almost a Grand Prix lead over the rest of the competition, with Max Verstappen trailing by 23 points and Sebastian Vettel by 25!

For the constructors, this new double win is obviously in favor of Mercedes, 57 points ahead of the Scuderia Ferrari!