Cool Hamilton wins in China as Mercedes restore order

Despite a hot butt Lewis Hamilton kept his cool in the heat of Shanghai to notch up victory in the Chinese Grand Prix, beating teammate Nico Rosberg as Mercedes restored their place at the top of the Formula 1 pecking order.

Hamilton drove a flawless race, sticking to his game plan which included allowing his teammate to within two seconds of the lead, but when it mattered the reigning world champion put the hammer down and was able to keep a comfortable five or six seconds margin over Rosberg throughout the latter half of the race.

Hamilton signalled his intent from the moment he lined his car on the final grid, pointing provocatively towards the inside line and from the moment the red lights went dark he stepped on the gas and basically that was that.

Perhaps the only glitch on an otherwise perfect afternoon for Hamilton was his complaint over the radio that the "seat's getting hot again" as it had during qualifying 24 hours earlier. But as it turned out not hot enough to affect his race.

Rosberg tucked in behind Hamilton and stalked him throughout the first stint, got close in the early stages of the second stint - but that was all part of Hamilton's plan.When required the Briton upped the ante until the safety car emerged after Max Vertappen's Renault engine expired on the home straight, leaving his Toro Rosso stranded with a couple of laps to go.

But Rosberg afterwards accused Hamilton of compromising his race, but the world champion argued that he was only adhering to the game plan as dictated by the Mercedes pit wall. Whatever the case, there is serious issues between the two again. This one is not over by a large margin and there will be a lot more said between now and Bahrain next weekend. And here is the first salvo>>>

The race ended behind the safety car, giving Hamilton his second win of the season, his fourth in Shanghai. Mission accomplished.

On the podium Hamilton said, "First of all a fantastic job by team. It was great to have a smooth weekend. It was about controlling the gap for me and saving tyres for when I needed them. The safety car wasn't helpful as it was an anti-climax but as long as no-one was hurt then that's the important thing."

After two lacklustre weekends in Malaysia and Australia, Rosberg appeared to have raised his game in China but not enough to seriously challenge for the lead and will have to regroup to figure out a way to reel in Hamilton rather sooner than later.

"I gave it everything to close the gap but it didn't pay off because my tyres died off," said Rosberg. "We're happy with the gap to Ferrari. We have beaten them here after they won in Malaysia and it was a good important comeback."

Ferrari pursued gamely with Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen chasing hard all day to finish third and fourth respectively. Credit to the Maranello outfit for trying two different strategies with their drivers. Vettel was tasked with the undercut on two occasions but fell short, as each time he emerged from the pits a second or two behind Rosberg.

Raikkonen's strategy ensured that the Finn had fresher tyres than his teammate for the final stint and was closing in late on in the race, the safety car spoiling a possible Ferrari showdown to the finish, and with that saving the team the need to make uncomfortable calls from the pit gantry.

Vettel summed up his afternoon, "It was a good race. All-in-all we were a bit close on softer tyres to Mercedes. On the harder tyres they were just that bit too quick. I'm very happy. It's been three out of three podiums so it's been good. I feel really happy in the team and, hopefully, we'll get a bit closer to challenging Mercedes."

Williams were next best with Felipe Massa fifth and Valtteri Bottas sixth, the pair running consistently but without an answer to Ferrari's race pace and even less so to Mercedes.

Romain Grosjean finally delivered on the promise shown by Lotus with seventh place, and his first points finish since Monaco last year. His teammate Pastor Maldonado ran strongly early on but the was in the wars, some self inflicted, and in the end was rear-ended by Jenson Button as they dueled for the same piece of tarmac going into Turn 1. Maldonado was forced to retire when points seemed certain.

The Saubers had a good showing once again with Felipe Nasr finishing eighth with teammate Marcus Ericsson claiming the final point in tenth.

Splitting them in ninth was Daniel Ricciardo, who was slow off the line, toiled hard all day in the cumbersome Red Bull, for the reward while all around him Renault engines expired or nearly expired.

First Daniil Kvyat parked his smoking Red Bull, then Carlos sainz seemed to lose power in his Toro Rosso after spinning early on, and finally Verstappen grinding to halt as smoke from his Toro Rosso wafted through the pitlane.

Nevertheless our 'Man of the Match' would be the teenage rookie who showed some ballsy overtaking moves, saw gaps where others would fear to tread, oozed confidence that belied his inexperience at this level, as he slugged his way into what appeared to be point paying position only to be cruelly denied with a couple of laps to go. Verstappen is the real deal and F1 super-stardom beckons.

For the record: it was only the sixth time in the history of the sport that a grand prix race finished behind a safety car.

[highlight ]Chinese Grand Prix, Shanghai International Circuit - Sunday, 12 April 2014[/highlight]

Fastest lap - Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 1m 42.208s (lap 31)