Shanghai, April 20 (IANS) Lewis Hamilton grabbed his third straight triumph this season Sunday at the Formula One Chinese Grand Prix, also giving Mercedes their third consecutive one-two finish with Nico Rosberg sealing a second place.
Hamilton, pole-sitter, won the race comfortably and was never challenged. German teammate Rosberg was followed by Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso, reports Xinhua.
Hamilton took his first pit stop on lap 18 with a lead of more than 30 seconds over second-placed Alonso, who was the first to stop among the top five.
Rosberg, who started from fourth place, fell to sixth at the beginning but overtook four-time defending champion Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull on lap 23 to reach third place behind Alonso. He overtook the Spaniard on the 43rd lap and gave Mercedes the third one-two finish in a row.
Daniel Ricciardo slipped past his teammate Vettel on lap 26 to take fourth place. Vettel hung onto fifth place to the end.
Rosberg still leads the drivers standings with 79 points, but his lead has been narrowed down to just four points over Hamilton. Alonso moved one place up to third with 41 points.
Meanwhile, both Force India’s were again amongst the points. German driver Nico Hulkenberg, who is in fourth place in the drivers standings, put in another impressive performance to finish in sixth place while teammate Sergio Perez ended the race in ninth position.
Force India (52 points) are in third place in the constructors standings three points behind Red Bull in second. Mercedes have already opened up a massive gap and lead the table with 154 points.