Chinese Grand Prix result: Lewis Hamilton leads home Mercedes one-two as Ferrari struggle again
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.
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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.
Lap 3: Hamilton has been on the radio claiming he's gone over debris and he sounds a little concerned, having taken the lead from Bottas.
That was a crucial move from the Brit, given the Finn's exemplary drive in Australia from pole.
Lap 2: Virtual safety car
As the debris is cleared from turn one after that collision, the drivers are forced to slow down.
It's a disastrous start for McLaren, who have been forced to pit BOTH of their drivers for new noses.
LIGHTS OUT...AND WE'RE UNDERWAY!
Hamilton gets a great start off the line and passes his team-mate Bottas - he leads after the first turn!
Leclerc has overtaken Vettel and the German is really struggling for grip as the Red Bulls start hunting him down!
There's a collision at the back as Kvyat knocks Norris into the air and the Brit was lucky not to be flipped over there!
Photo: Getty
The formation lap is underway and that was Max Verstappen who had a spin while warming the tyres up!
Now Robert Kubica does a 180-turn! Those tyres clearly haven't warmed up enough yet!
There's been 69 seasons, 33 different Championship winners and now, it's the 1,000th race in the history of F1.
Let's hope it can live up to the occasion.
A view of the packed grid ahead of the race start in five minutes' time.
Photo: Reuters
Lewis Hamilton in good spirits ahead of the Grand Prix and he's got every reason to be smiling.
The five-time world champion loves racing in Shanghai; he's triumphed five times here and that's the most of any driver since the first race in 2004.
Can he leapfrog Bottas off the line?
Photo: Getty
The Max Verstappen clan, as always, are here to support the flying Dutchman.
Photo: Getty
It's time for the Chinese national anthem and that means it's 15 minutes until lights out!
Rookie watch
With two young Brits, Lando Norris and George Russel on the grid and the first Thai driver since the 1950s in Alexander Albon, there's a lot fresh talent coming through.
Photo: Getty
Undoubtedly though, it's Norris who has shown his real promise so far, with McLaren finally producing a competitive car. He managed a mightily impressive sixth in Bahrain to finish as 'the best of the rest'.
Things haven't been quite as straightforward for Russell as Williams continue to lag behind at the back of the pack, but the highly-rated Mercedes test driver has shown his ability and has finished ahead of experienced team-mate Robert Kubica in every qualifying session so far this season.
Albon had made a decent start in the Toro Rosso before his crash in practice this weekend. Can the youngster prove he is no walking disaster?