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 19: Ferrari are pitting Vettel to cover off Verstappen and it's relatively quick stop at 2.5 seconds.
Verstappen makes his way down the main straight and the Dutchman is behind the four-time world champion but crucially, he's closed the gap there.
Lap 18: We have our first retirement of the day and it looks like a mechanical failure for Nico Hulkenberg yet again.
Meanwhile, Verstappen comes in for a change of tyres and now on the hard compound, that could be an interesting move. Can they get the jump on one or both of the Ferraris?
Lap 16: Have Ferrari made a costly mistake here by letting Vettel through? Leclerc is clearly the faster driver and he's making his feelings known over the radio - bold from the 21-year-old.
Verstappen is closing in and it's quite clear now that the Scuderia are racing Red Bull now, not Mercedes.
Lap 14: Well, we've not had the same level of excitement so far as the Bahrain Grand Prix but this could be a case of strategy rather than overtaking today.
How will Mercedes plan to pit their drivers, given they're comfortably leading this race?
Lap 12: Hulkenberg switches to the hard tyre but Haas have pulled off the undercut as Grosjean breezes past the German coming out of the pits.
However, he could go to the end of the race if he manages those tyres well.
Lap 11: Ferrari tell Leclerc to get a move on with Vettel homing in.
The Monegasque can't escape the German and his race engineer says: "Let Sebastian by". Leclerc pleads with the team, saying he has the pace, but eventually moves out of the way.
Team orders taking priority once again.
Photo: Getty
The field as it stands after Lap 9...
1 Hamilton
2 Bottas
3 Leclerc
4 Vettel
5 Verstappen
6 Gasly
7 Ricciardo
8 Perez
9 Hulkenberg
10 Raikkonen
Lap 8: It's been a great start for Racing Point with both Sergio Perez and Lance Stroll making up places on the first lap.
Perez is now eighth after starting 12th, while Stroll is 13th having started 16th.
Lap 6: Kvyat has been penalised for causing the incident on Lap 1 and has a drive-through penalty to serve now.
The Russian is unfortunately known for his blunders and that was yet another reminder that for all of his decent driving, one mistake can ruin all of his hard work.
Lap 5: Hamilton and Bottas are already pulling away from the two Ferraris, with Leclerc 4.1 seconds off the lead.
Vettel has been on the radio telling Ferrari "I'm faster than him", asking to get past. If that's the case, why doesn't he pass him down the straight, rather than relying on team orders?
Photo: Reuters