Chinese Grand Prix result: Lewis Hamilton leads home Mercedes one-two as Ferrari struggle again

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Joe Krishnan14 April 2019

Mercedes' dominant start to the season continued as Lewis Hamilton won the Chinese Grand Prix to secure back-to-back victories.

As Formula One celebrated its 1,000th race, it was fitting that the Briton was the one coming home to take the chequered flag with team-mate Valtteri Bottas in second.

Hamilton passed team-mate Bottas at the first turn after the Finn paid the price for a poor start and the two Mercedes quickly moved clear of the rest of the pack.

Charles Leclerc, who has impressed since joining Ferrari, passed his senior colleague Sebastian Vettel up the inside on Lap 1.

But after Ferrari enforced team orders, telling the Monegasque driver to let Vettel past, Leclerc was furious to find himself stuck behind the German.

Vettel faced pressure from Max Verstappen after the first round of pit stops and after the Dutchman's brave move down the main straight, Vettel narrowly held onto third place with Leclerc slipping down to fifth.

The Scuderia tried to force Red Bull's hand by pitting Leclerc for a second time on fresh tyres but the 21-year-old struggled to catch Verstappen as the Italian team endured another disappointing race.

The two McLarens, Lando Norris and Carlos Sainz, were victims of a first-lap collision with Daniil Kvyat and the Russian was penalised with a drive through penalty for his blunder.

Nico Hulkenberg's rotten luck in the unreliable Renault continued as he was forced to retire with a mechanical problem on Lap 18 and Kvyat capped a miserable race when he retired on Lap 44.

After sustaining heavy floor damage, Norris was forced to retire with just three laps to go as the 19-year-old retired for the first time in his F1 career.

14 April 2019

So we're about 30 minutes away from the race start and the drivers are making their way onto the circuit as we prepare for the 1,000th official race in F1 history!

Right now, Valtteri Bottas is the man to beat. Two pole positions, one race win and three podiums, the Finn has outclassed his team-mate Lewis Hamilton when it has mattered so far this season.

Photo: Getty 

Only a Charles Leclerc engine failure helped the Brit to victory in Bahrain, with the 34-year-old a long way off the pace of the Ferrari, and it remains to be seen whether he has the race pace to catch Bottas right now.

Chasing his sixth championship title, it looks like Hamilton has another battle on his hands for the trophy - just not from the man he thought he'd be fighting.

14 April 2019

Vettel unsure over F1 future

Sebastian Vettel has cast doubt over his long-term future in Formula One after former F1 supremo Bernie Ecclesone suggested the German could quit the sport when his Ferrari contract expires.

Photo: Getty 

The 31-year-old has struggled to produce the form that saw him challenge Lewis Hamilton for the championship and Vettel admits he doesn't know if he will continue beyond next year.

"I don't know at the moment," he said. "I am not going to be in Formula One as long as Bernie was that's for sure, but I hope I am going to be as fit and sharp as he is today when I am 88."

"I feel on top of my game. I am very self-critical and very ambitious. I put a lot of expectation on myself.

"I love driving, I love the sensation of speed, and I love fighting these guys. There are a lot of things I like at the moment and things I would miss, so that is why it is not an option to quit tomorrow.

"But the contract is just a piece of paper. We will see what happens."

14 April 2019

Gasly and Ricciardo improving after tough start

It hasn't been an easy start to life at his new team after leaving Red Bull but Daniel Ricciardo finally made it into Q3 after being left frustrated with his new Renault car.

Photo: Getty 

The Australian admitted he was still adapting to the new chassis but managed to qualify seventh, ahead of his team-mate Nico Hulkenberg, for the race which he won in 2018.

The man who replaced him, Pierre Gasly, also made a marked improvement as he crossed the line sixth-fastest, though he was still nine tenths off his team-mate Max Verstappen.

14 April 2019

Going into the third race of the F1 calendar, here are the drivers standings.

Just look how close it is between Bottas and Hamilton!

14 April 2019

What the drivers said...

Photo: AFP 

Valtteri Bottas: "It has been a good weekend so far. I felt really comfortable in practice this morning. In qualifying I struggled a bit in Q3 to get the perfect lap in but it was good enough. The car has been really good all weekend and Lewis managed to improve a lot during qualifying and it was super close."

Lewis Hamilton: "I kept pushing right to the end. Big congratulations to Valtteri. He has been stellar all weekend. I have been struggling and chipping away at it. The gap was 0.8secs at one stage so to be as close as we were is a good job and an incredible result for the team."

Sebastian Vettel: "Right from Q1 they seemed to start off from a better place. We had a good session. I think there was maybe a little bit more but not enough to beat these guys today. When we get close we have an advantage in a straight line, and maybe we can do something there. The race is long and it should be a good day tomorrow."

14 April 2019

It's not just a special landmark for Formula 1, it's also the 250th race for Toro Rosso this weekend.

And the sister team to Red Bull marked the occasion with a celebration from the team's garage. 

It wasn't a happy day in qualifying after rookie Alexander Albon's crash in practice meant he wasn't able to set a time, while Daniil Kvyat narrowly missed out on Q3, qualifying in 11th.

Photo: Getty 

14 April 2019

As we gear up for the 1000th race in Formula One history, we spoke to legendary broadcaster and former driver Martin Brundle about the best and craziest races...

The Chinese Grand Prix is always a special race filled with drama and excitement. But this year, it holds more significance than perhaps ever before.

As the 20 teams head to Shanghai, Formula One is preparing to celebrate its 1,000th official race on Sunday, a milestone that some thought it would never reach after the controversial switch to hybrid engines in 2013.

But here we are in 2019, where F1 is still thriving and fittingly, the Chinese Grand Prix is sold out with more than 200,000 spectators making the trip to the Far East.

Photo: Sky Sports 

There is one man who has tasted the action both from the cockpit, where picked up nine podiums, and the commentary box as a broadcaster for the past 22 years. Martin Brundle has been there to see it all.

Having worked for ITV Sport from 1997 to 2008, Brundle hopped over to terrestrial rivals BBC in 2009 when they picked up the rights.

Now at Sky Sports after the broadcasting giant bought the rights in 2012, Brundle is one of the most respected voices in the F1 sphere.

Standard Sport asked the Sky Sports F1 Expert Analyst to reflect on his best memories and Brundle recalled the race where Lewis Hamilton was crowned Formula One world champion for the first time 11 years ago.

"It has to be the crazy 2008 Brazilian Grand Prix, with its changeable weather and multiple pit stops," Brundle said.

"It seemed that local man Felipe Massa was crowned world champion, only for Lewis Hamilton to pass a car [Timo Glock] in the last corner to snatch the championship away 20 seconds later."

Unsurprisingly, the 59-year-old recalled the 1998 Belgian Grand Prix as the craziest race he has witnessed.

It was Spa-Francorchamps where the Scot David Coulthard spun while leading away from the first corner taking out 13 cars with him.

After the race was red flagged and restarted, Michael Schumacher emerged in the lead but was unsighted in heavy rain and crashed into the back of Coulthard in his spare car. Eventually allowing Damon Hill to win a remarkable Jordan team one-two at the flag.

Looking back nostalgically on his days as a driver, where he entered 159 races for teams such as Tyrrell, Jordan and McLaren, Brundle says there are three men in particular who he remembers fondly.

"The special personal days I remember were sharing podiums in Monaco, Monza and Silverstone and suchlike with legends like [Ayrton] Senna, [Michael] Schumacher and [Nigel] Mansell," he added.

"But [there are others], when I survived three huge career crashes to race on. The darkest day was competing in the race where Senna died on May Day in 1994 [at Imola]."

Now that Formula One has reached the 1,000 race landmark, there are concerns over how much longer the sport will go on. But Brundle insists the sport can live on, adapt to the new rules and make new memories along the way.

"F1 has a global momentum and awareness with ever increasing history and heritage," he said.

"It will evolve with the times, but mankind will always want to race each other at the highest level, and another 1,000 races will be no problem." 

14 April 2019

Verstappen fumes at rivals over 'unwritten rule'

Max Verstappen turned on his rivals with an X-rated radio blast during qualifying for the Chinese Grand Prix after failing to get over the line in time to set a lap time.

The 21-year-old was unable to set a final lap after he failed to cross the line in sufficient time.

Photo: Getty 

As he prepared for his last shot at improving his grid position, the Dutchman was passed by Sebastian Vettel, Daniel Ricciardo and Nico Hulkenberg.

After being urged to speed up by his race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase, Verstappen yelled: "They are such w******, honestly.

"You're trying to be nice but everybody's just f****** it up."

Verstappen will start fifth, behind both Mercedes and Ferrari cars. Valtteri Bottas lines up on pole for the first time since the Russian Grand Prix last October.

Later, speaking to Dutch TV, Verstappen claimed drivers should not overtake one another as they gear up for their speedy laps. He also vowed to gain revenge the next time he qualifies for a race.

"We were just staying neatly behind each other, but at a certain point Vettel passed me and the two Renaults as well," said Verstappen.

"So they f***** up my entire build up. There is an unwritten rule that you just follow each other. From now on in qualifying, I'm going to f*** them up as well."

13 April 2019

Bottas on pole

Lewis Hamilton was beaten to pole position for Formula One's 1,000th race by Valtteri Bottas.

In a nail-biting session, Bottas saw off the five-time world champion by just 0.023 seconds at the Shanghai International Circuit.

Getty

The form guide indicated that Ferrari might be the team to beat here, but after they were off the pace at the last round in Bahrain, Mercedes returned to their all-conquering best.

Sebastian Vettel was a third of a second down on Bottas' Silver Arrows, with team-mate Charles Leclerc fourth. Red Bull's Max Verstappen finished fifth.

13 April 2019

Welcome to Standard Sport's LIVE coverage of the Chinese Grand Prix.

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