F1: Hamilton leads another Mercedes one-two in China

Rounding out the podium was third-place Sebastian Vettel of Scuderia Ferrari.

Hamilton said: “The start was where I made the difference and after that it’s history. The strategy has really been on point over these first three races so we need to keep that up.”

Bottas added: “For me personally it has been a bit disappointing as I was on pole but then lost the race at the start. There’s a white line just outside the starting box and I had some wheel spin when I went over it and lost the position to Lewis.”

Rich Energy Haas F1 Team drivers Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen brought home finishes of 11th and 13th, respectively, at Shanghai International Circuit.

Grosjean, who started from tenth grid position, chased Toro Rosso’s Alexander Albon for the final points-paying position over the closing laps but fell 1.020 seconds short at the checkered flag.

Banbury team-mate Magnussen struggled to maintain pace in the early going from his ninth starting position, falling back to 12th before and dropped a spot just before the finish.

Grosjean said: “The car’s amazing over one lap but as soon as we go two laps on the tyres, we’re not there anymore, we need to understand exactly what happened. I think without the blue flags at the end we’d have scored a point.”

Magnussen added: “Qualifying’s been good all year, so-far, we just need to sort out the race pace – it’s the most important one to be good at.”

Daniel Ricciardo was seventh for the Renault Sport F1 team while Enstone team-mate Nico Hülkenberg failed to finish.