It was not quite the snoozefest of yore when Mercedes dominated, but it was a mostly uneventful race as Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes led start to finish in the 2017 Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai, ending the race a comfortable 6.25 seconds ahead of Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel in second. After that, it was 39 more seconds until Red Bull’s Max Verstappen crossed the finish line to claim the third and final podium position.
There were a few early incidents involving lesser cars and drivers which brought out some appearances of both the real and virtual safety car, but mostly the race was Hamilton’s to lose as he bolted to an early lead over Vettel and then held on to the time and placing advantage through pit stops. Verstappen started in 16th and wormed his way up to third – barely edging out his Red Bull teammate, Daniel Ricciardo, for the final podium position.
Hamilton and Vettel now sit tied atop the Formula One driver standings with 44 points apiece while Valtteri Bottas is a distant third with 23 points.
