SHANGHAI — Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton captured his third straight Formula One race with ease Sunday, leading from start to finish to win the Chinese Grand Prix. Mercedes showed again that it's in a different class from its rivals, with Hamilton's teammate Nico Rosberg taking second place — the third time in four races this season the pair have finished one-two. “This is a team on a roll, that's for sure,” Hamilton said. “I'm going to be working hard, we're going to keep working hard because obviously the others are pushing to catch us.” Ferrari's Fernando Alonso held off fast-charging Red Bull driver Daniel Ricciardo to finish third and give his team its first podium finish of the year, with new team principal Marco Mattiacci watching from the garage. Ricciardo was fourth, finishing one place ahead of teammate Sebastian Vettel after the four-time defending world champion was asked by his team to allow the faster Ricciardo to pass for the second race in a row. Hamilton's win gave him his first career hat trick following his victories in Malaysia and Bahrain. The Briton may have even had a fourth win this season but was forced to retire in the season-opener in Australia after starting from pole position due to engine trouble. Hamilton, who moved one ahead of Jim Clark for most poles by a British driver with the 34th of his career in Shanghai, was cruising so comfortably at the end of Sunday's race that he actually lost track of how many laps he had left. An embarrassing blunder forced the GP to be shortened by two laps after a steward mistakenly showed the checkered flag early to race winner Hamilton. Race sources said the “experienced” steward was distraught after unfurling the flag and showing it momentarily to Hamilton, before realizing he was a lap too early. Under FIA rules, if the flag is shown early the race is deemed to have finished when the leading car last crossed the line, in this case after lap 54. The mishap was not announced until after the race, meaning the last two laps of the 56 were effectively null and void and the finishing times and race distance had to be hastily revised. The only race position to be changed affected Kamui Kobayashi, whose hapless season continued when his late pass on Jules Bianchi was canceled and he was demoted to 18th place. With the win, Hamilton inched closer to his teammate's lead in the drivers' championship with 75 points, just four behind Rosberg. Hamilton was so far ahead for much of the race, his rivals were left to battle for second best. Rosberg, expected to challenge Hamilton in Shanghai after the pair's incredibly tight duel in Bahrain, started fourth on the grid and was forced to play catch-up after a slow start immediately dropped him back to seventh. The German methodically tracked down the two Red Bulls and finally passed Alonso on the back straight of the 43rd lap, the Ferrari unable to match the speed of the Mercedes. Rosberg then set his sights on Hamilton but he was by that point too far ahead, finishing nearly 19 seconds clear of the German. Vettel started third on the grid and briefly moved to second before beginning to fade as his tires wore out. After Rosberg passed him, he was asked to give way to Ricciardo on the 25th lap — a repeat of what happened two weeks ago at the Bahrain GP. Instead of acceding, however, Vettel asked his team what tires Ricciardo was using and when told they were both on mediums, the German responded, “Tough luck.” At the start of the next lap, though, Vettel did make way and finished a distant 24 seconds behind his teammate. Red Bull team principal Christian Horner explained afterward that the team had different tire strategies for the drivers, planning a two-stop race for Ricciardo and a three-stop race for Vettel. “As soon as (Vettel) understood that, he immediately let him through,” he said. Force India had both its drivers finish in the points with Nico Hulkenberg finishing sixth and Sergio Perez taking ninth. Williams driver Valtteri Bottas was seventh, Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen was eighth, and Toro Rosso's Daniil Kyvat finished in 10th, another impressive showing by the 19-year-old debutant. — AP
