Daniel Ricciardo ended up fourth with the reigning champion fifth. Vettel –
who has history when it comes to ignoring the wishes of his team – was
beaten fair and square by the Australian for the second race in a row.
After some slightly bizarre tricks on his way to the grid, in which he slowed
right down, holding the rest of the field up behind him, Hamilton eased away
from pole position.
But it was a torrid start for Rosberg, who immediately fell to seventh. He was
left without any telemetry for the entire race, having to make fuel
calculations as he went along. His poor getaway prompted Felipe Massa to
move right and then career left towards Alonso.
The Brazilian banged wheels with his former team-mate, and they were lucky to
emerge unscathed.
In the opening laps Hamilton rapidly established his advantage, with Vettel
second, Alonso third and Riciardo fourth.
All the drivers were suffering graining with their front tyres, largely due to
the almost implausibly long turn one. Vettel requested a pit stop, but
‘Rocky’, his engineer, told him: “There are no good gaps behind.”
By lap 12 the first of the leaders began to peel in for their stops, but
Hamilton continued serenely on. By the time he came in six laps later he had
established a 31-second lead, which was plenty to return him in clean air
and out in front.
In the following laps Ricciardo steadily closed in on his team-mate after
losing out at the start, producing the biggest drama of the race.
Red Bull told Vettel to allow the Australian through but, not for the first
time in his career, he ignored the order.
“Tough luck,” was the four-time champion’s response to his team’s request.
Clearly, he did not take kindly to being told for the second race in a row
that he needed to move out of the way for Ricciardo, who is in his four
races into his career with the team remember.
It was another hugely impressive performance by the 24-year-old, who diced
fairly and thrillingly with Vettel for almost half a lap.
Eventually, on lap 26, Ricciardo gained the place at turn one. To his credit,
Vettel left a gap plenty big enough to leave his team-mate space, but he
showed once again – as he did famously in Malaysia with Mark Webber last
year – that he will happily disobey his team.
The frustration did not end there for Vettel.
Coming close to the end of his second stint, Kamui Kobayashi unlapped himself,
provoking this irritated reaction over team radio: “Are you kidding,
honestly? Tell him to get out of the way! He’s got new tyres, of course he’s
quicker. But in two laps he’ll be off.”
A few laps later Vettel pitted again, coming out in fifth which is where he
stayed. The race was another demonstration of Ricciardo’s speed, as he beat
Vettel in a straight fight for the second race in a row, ending up 24
seconds clear at the chequered flag.
In front of the Red Bull pair Hamilton continued untroubled, while Alonso had
done wonders to keep his Ferrari in second place.
After all the turmoil at the team this week, with Stefano Domenicali resigning
as team principal, it was a hugely uplifting performance. The Spaniard
proved once again why he is so highly thought of in the paddock,
establishing a gap of more than half a minute over his team-mate Kimi
Raikkonen by the halfway stage.
But he was powerless to resist the pace of Mercedes, as Rosberg gradually
climbed his way back up the order after a poor start.
On lap 42 the inevitable happened, with a regulation pass on the 1.3km back
straight. Alonso did manage to hold onto third, bringing the team’s first
invaluable podium of the year.
Elsewhere, there were solid drives from the Force Indias and Valtteri Bottas
in the Williams. McLaren, however, did not enjoy such a successful day.
Jenson Button and Kevin Magnussen struggled all afternoon in Shanghai, both
finishing a lap down and failing to make it in the points. Button ended 11th
while his team-mate was 13th.
From then on it was a case of stroking her home for Hamilton and Rosberg, with
Mercedes dominating as they have done all year long.
Even a bad start was not enough to prevent Rosberg finishing second and giving
the team their third consecutive one-two.
Frustratingly for Hamilton, it still leaves him second in the championship.
But he will take enormous satisfaction from the fact that every race he has
finished – in Melbourne he retired with an engine problem – he has won.
If he continues at this rate it won’t be long before he wrestles control of
the championship lead. On the form he showed in China it is difficult to see
him giving it up easily.
Final Positions after Race (56 Laps):
1 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) Mercedes GP 1hr 36mins 52.810secs
2 Nico Rosberg (Ger)Mercedes GP 1:37:11.496
3 Fernando Alonso (Spa)Ferrari 1:37:18.575
4 Daniel Ricciardo (Aus)Red Bull 1:37:19.788
5 Sebastian Vettel (Ger)Red Bull 1:37:43.822
6 Nico Hulkenberg (Ger)Force India 1:37:50.391
7 Valtteri Bottas (Fin)Williams 1:37:50.955
8 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin)Ferrari 1:38:16.800
9 Sergio Perez (Mex)Force India 1:38:19.299
10 Daniil Kvyat (Rus)Scuderia Toro Rosso at 1 Lap
11 Jenson Button (Gbr)McLaren at 1 Lap
12 Jean-Eric Vergne (Fra)Scuderia Toro Rosso at 1 Lap
13 Kevin Magnussen (Den)McLaren at 1 Lap
14 Pastor Maldonado (Ven)Lotus F1 Team at 1 Lap
15 Felipe Massa (Bra)Williams at 1 Lap
16 Esteban Gutierrez (Mex)Sauber-Ferrari at 1 Lap
17 Kamui Kobayashi (Jpn)Caterham at 1 Lap
18 Jules Bianchi (Fra)Marussia at 1 Lap
19 Max Chilton (Gbr)Marussia at 2 Laps
20 Marcus Ericsson (Swe)Caterham at 2 Laps
Not Classified: 21 Romain Grosjean (Fra) Lotus F1 Team 28 Laps completed
22 Adrian Sutil (Ger) Sauber-Ferrari 5 Laps completed