Lewis Hamilton grabbed his third straight win of the season Sunday at the Formula One Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai, Xinhua reports.
Hamilton, pole-sitter, won the race comfortably and never had been challenged in a time of one hour, 36 minutes and 52.810 seconds, 18.6 seconds better off his German teammate Rosberg, who was followed by Ferrari's Fernando Alonso, who had his first podium finish the season.
Rosberg, who started from the fourth place, fell to sixth at the beginning, but caught back to third after 13 laps after four-time defending champion Sebastian Vettel had his first pit stop.
Hamilton took first pit stop in lap 18 with a lead of more than 30 seconds over second-placed Alonso, who was the first to take pit among top five.
Rosberg overtook Vettel in lap 23 to reach the third place after Alonso, who still maintained six-second advantage over the German.
Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo slipped past his teammate Vettel in lap 26 to have fourth place and never let it away. Vettel also extended the fifth place to the end.
British tax-exile Hamilton was helped to the win by an embarrassing blunder after a steward waved the chequered flag two laps early.
Kamui Kobayashi was demoted to 18th place after his late pass on Jules Bianchi was cancelled and finishing times and race distance were revised to account for the official's cock-up.
Sunday's win saw Hamilton become the first driver to win the crown three times in Shanghai. The race was watched by around 185,000 fans.
[Image via Shanghai Daily]
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