Daniel Ricciardo's season-first after avoiding Renault scare

Australian Daniel Ricciardo earned his first points of the season as Formula One title holder Lewis Hamilton snatched the championship lead from his Mercedes teammate by winning the Chinese Grand Prix.

Imperious Mercedes recorded their third one-two in three season races in Shanghai while rivals Ferrari were never a threat, with Sebastian Vettel a distant third in what was the 1,000th race in the sport.

Briton Hamilton recorded a record-extending sixth Shanghai top spot and the convincing drive was also his 75th overall, and second of the season.

Australian Daniel Ricciardo finished seventh for Renault, earning his first points of the 2019 Formula One season.

Hamilton showed vintage racing two weeks after being gifted first place in Bahrain, when Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc encountered late engine problems.

Having defeated Bottas by 6.552 seconds, Hamilton tops the Formula One standings with 68 points, turning a one-point deficit into a six-point lead.

“It’s not been the most straightforward of weekends but what a fantastic result for the team,” Hamilton said.

“To have a one-two together is really special in the 1,000th GP.

“Valtteri was quick all weekend- the start was where I was able to make the difference. It’s still very close between us all.”

Max Verstappen and Robert Kubica surprisingly spun in the formation lap before Hamilton had a brilliant start to pass Bottas. Ferrari saw the same scenario as Leclerc shot past Vettel into third.

Up front, Leclerc was controversially told to let the only marginally quicker Vettel pass, which happened in lap 11.

However, the deficit on Mercedes increased and soon Leclerc complained he was being held up by his teammate, who made a few small mistakes.

Vettel nevertheless admitted the Ferraris were inferior on the day.

“The objective was to chase Mercedes down but they were just too quick. We’d have loved to be a bit faster,” Vettel said.

“I felt I could go faster (than Leclerc) but it was a bit difficult for me to find a rhythm and locked up, losing the advantage I gained.”

Red Bull’s Verstappen finished fourth and Leclerc fifth, while Red Bull’s Pierre Gasly took the extra point for the fastest lap.

The race was billed as the 1,000th in Formula One history, dating from the first race in 1950 at the Silverstone circuit in England.

The next race is the Azerbaijan GP on April 28 in Baku.

With AP