Category: Motor Racing

Defending Formula 1 world champion Lewis Hamilton achieved his 86th career pole position in the sport with a fine qualifying result at Circuit Paul Ricard.

Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas had the edge initially after setting the timesheets in both Q1 and Q2, but Hamilton stepped up a gear with a run to the top spot on the first runs in Q3 with a lap of one minute, 28.448 seconds.

Hamilton then improved to a one minute, 28.319 seconds on his second lap to secure pole position, and set the fastest times of all in each of the three sectors across his two laps.

Bottas had a scruffy lap and was unable to improve on his first run pace, meaning he ended up 0.286 seconds behind Hamilton.

Charles Leclerc was the lead Ferrari, 0.646 seconds off the pace in third and yet well ahead of fourth-placed Max Verstappen.

The Red Bull driver struggled during qualifying, ending up more than four tenths slower than Leclerc and only 0.009 seconds quicker than the McLaren of Lando Norris.

Carlos Sainz Jr was sixth fastest, just over a tenth slower than his teammate, to signal McLaren’s strong performance throughout practice and qualifying.

This was a fine qualifying performance for McLaren. Two drivers in the top 6. Kudos to Norris and Sainz with this excellent result.

Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel was only seventh, 1.480 seconds off the pace, having abandoned his first qualifying run.

Vettel reported a missed upshift gear change, and also had a moment at Turn 1 and a later off-track excursion on his first run, then was not able to string together a strong lap on his second set of soft tyres.

This was a disappointing result for the four-time champion. Seems Vettel is not in the right frame of mind considering the controversial moment in Canada and the constant media pressure.

Renault driver Daniel Ricciardo was eighth, just over a tenth slower than Vettel and ahead of Pierre Gasly.

Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi was P10, although his one attempt in Q3 did not go well after his late lap in Q2 allowed him to make the final stage of qualifying.

Eight of the top ten will start the race on mediums having used that tyre to set their Q2 times, the exceptions being Giovinazzi and Gasly – who both used softs.

Toro Rosso driver Alex Albon was bumped down to P11 at the end of Q2 by Gasly, who nicked the final Q3 slot by just four-hundredths of a second.

Kimi Raikkonen was unable to match teammate Giovinazzi’s late-session pace and ended up P12, just ahead of Nico Hulkenberg – who attempted to make it through to the top ten shootout using mediums on his second run.

Racing Point’s Sergio Perez was P14, seven-tenths faster than the Haas of Kevin Magnussen.

Daniil Kvyat, who must start at the back thanks to grid penalties for taking Honda’s ‘Spec 3’ turbocharger and V6 – on top of other engine component offences – was fastest of those eliminated in Q1.

Kvyat was bumped in the final moments of the session by Toro Rosso teammate Albon, who is not running the latest-spec components.

Haas driver Romain Grosjean was knocked into the dropzone by improvements from Perez and Ricciardo, with his attempt to escape by the rear stepping out in the chicane and spitting him off track.

Lance Stroll continued this season’s run of Q1 eliminations in P18 place having jumped back ahead of the Williams of George Russell on his final attempt.

Russell is carrying two 10-place grid penalties after the Williams team was forced to change his Mercedes control electronics and energy store following an electrical power loss that restricted him to four laps in final practice.

He qualified P19 after moving onto his third control electronics and energy store of the season, having already changed both following his bizarre drain strike during Azerbaijan Grand Prix practice.

Russell outpaced team-mate Robert Kubica by 0.416 seconds in the battle for P19, but Kubica is set to start P18 thanks to penalties for others.

So congratulations to Lewis Hamilton with the French Grand Prix qualifying result. Another Mercedes front row with Valtteri Bottas joining his Silver Arrows colleague at the front. Going to be fascinating race in terms of the championship.

French Grand Prix qualifying results:
1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1m28.319s
2 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1m28.605s
3 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1m28.965s
4 Max Verstappen Red Bull-Honda 1m29.409s
5 Lando Norris McLaren-Renault 1m29.418s
6 Carlos Sainz Jr. McLaren-Renault 1m29.522s
7 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1m29.799s
8 Daniel Ricciardo Renault 1m29.918s
9 Pierre Gasly Red Bull-Honda 1m30.184s
10 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo-Ferrari 1m33.420s
11 Alexander Albon Toro Rosso-Honda 1m30.461s
12 Kimi Raikkonen Alfa Romeo-Ferrari 1m30.533s
13 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 1m30.544s
14 Sergio Perez Racing Point-Mercedes 1m30.738s
15 Kevin Magnussen Haas-Ferrari 1m31.440s
16 Romain Grosjean Haas-Ferrari 1m31.626s
17 Lance Stroll Racing Point-Mercedes 1m31.726s
18 George Russell Williams-Mercedes 1m32.789s
19 Robert Kubica Williams-Mercedes 1m33.205s
20 Daniil Kvyat Toro RossopHonda 1m31.564s

Sebastian Vettel and Ferrari were denied a first victory of the 2019 Formula 1 season following a five-second time penalty for forcing a driver off track. This handed the Canadian Grand Prix victory to rival Lewis Hamilton.

Vettel led the majority of the race at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve but was demoted to second position by a penalty picked up after running wide at the first chicane and almost colliding with Hamilton as he rejoined.

That handed Hamilton his fifth win of the season and maintained Mercedes’ perfect winning record after seven races.

Vettel had a big enough advantage to hold on to second position, as Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc completed the podium.

Ferrari was in contention to end its winless start to the season after Vettel kept Hamilton at bay through the opening stint, then came under increasing pressure in the second half of the race.

Hamilton dropped to almost five seconds behind Vettel of extending his first stint by a couple of laps, but had stronger pace on the hard tyres and quickly caught the Ferrari.

In nine laps he reduced Vettel’s lead and moved within DRS range, then briefly fell out of it again after a lock-up at the hairpin.

But the two started lap 48 of the 70 Hamilton was closer to Vettel again, and Vettel took to the grass at the first chicane after briefly losing the rear of his car on corner entry.

Vettel took a trip over the grass and rejoined just as Hamilton tried to move into the gap between the scrambling Ferrari and the wall on the exit of the corner.

Hamilton backed out to avoid a collision and Vettel maintained his lead, but was punished after a lengthy investigation by the race stewards.

Vettel never came close to building a big enough gap to cancel out the penalty and complained over the race that the officials were “stealing the race” from Ferrari.

Hamilton finished 1.4 seconds behind at the flag, which became a 3.6 seconds winning margin and extended his points lead to 29 points – after a pre-race scare when his team rushed to replace his car’s hydraulics system.

Leclerc ended up one second behind Vettel in the final race results, with Ferrari’s first double podium finish of the season scant consolation for the Italian team.

Valtteri Bottas was left a distant fourth place as a Mercedes driver finished off the podium for the first time in 2019.

Bottas only qualified sixth and fell behind the second Renault of Nico Hulkenberg on lap one, then struggled to make progress on medium tyres with his immediate rivals on softs.

He eventually worked his way through to fourth and picked up a bonus point for fastest lap after building up a big enough gap for a free second pitstop near the end.

Max Verstappen recovered to fifth place after starting ninth, running a long first stint on hard tyres before passing the Renaults of Daniel Ricciardo and Hulkenberg after switching to mediums at the end.

Ricciardo withstood a late assault from Hulkenberg to finish sixth, with Pierre Gasly only eighth for Red Bull despite starting fifth – having lost ground in traffic after an early pitstop.

Lance Stroll fought through to ninth and banked two points in his home grand prix, despite his Racing Point being fitted with an older-spec engine after a fiery failure in final practice.

Daniil Kvyat completed the point scorers for Toro Rosso.

Despite an ultra-hot day that prompted major braking and temperature problems for the teams, there were only two retirements.

Lando Norris was first to stop, suffering a peculiar failure after eight laps that left his McLaren on three wheels, while Alex Albon – who picked up wing damage at the start – retired 11 laps from the finish.

So a controversial Canadian Grand Prix, with the deserved winner was denied race victory. Sebastian Vettel feels angry with the race stewards’ decision and just heartbroken that the sport of racing has been ruined.

As for Lewis Hamilton, congratulations in winning the race for the seventh time. The Mercedes driver is now the most successful Canadian Grand Prix winner.

Canadian Grand Prix, race results:
1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 70 1h29m07.084s
2 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 70 3.658s
3 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 70 4.696s
4 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 70 51.043s
5 Max Verstappen Red Bull-Honda 70 57.655s
6 Daniel Ricciardo Renault 69 1 Lap
7 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 69 1 Lap
8 Pierre Gasly Red Bull-Honda 69 1 Lap
9 Lance Stroll Racing Point-Mercedes 69 1 Lap
10 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso-Honda 69 1 Lap
11 Carlos Sainz Jr. McLaren-Renault 69 1 Lap
12 Sergio Perez Racing Point-Mercedes 69 1 Lap
13 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo-Ferrari 69 1 Lap
14 Romain Grosjean Haas-Ferrari 69 1 Lap
15 Kimi Raikkonen Alfa Romeo-Ferrari 69 1 Lap
16 George Russell Williams-Mercedes 68 2 Laps
17 Kevin Magnussen Haas-Ferrari 68 2 Laps
18 Robert Kubica Williams-Mercedes 67 3 Laps
– Alexander Albon Toro Rosso-Honda 59 Retirement
– Lando Norris McLaren-Renault 8 Brakes

Drivers’ standings:
1 Lewis Hamilton 162
2 Valtteri Bottas 133
3 Sebastian Vettel 100
4 Max Verstappen 88
5 Charles Leclerc 72
6 Pierre Gasly 36
7 Carlos Sainz Jr. 18
8 Daniel Ricciardo 16
9 Kevin Magnussen 14
10 Sergio Perez 13
11 Kimi Raikkonen 13
12 Lando Norris 12
13 Nico Hulkenberg 12
14 Daniil Kvyat 10
15 Alexander Albon 7
16 Lance Stroll 6
17 Romain Grosjean 2
18 Antonio Giovinazzi 0
19 George Russell 0
20 Robert Kubica 0

Constructors’ standings:
1 Mercedes 295
2 Ferrari 172
3 Red Bull-Honda 124
4 McLaren-Renault 30
5 Renault 28
6 Racing Point-Mercedes 19
7 Toro Rosso-Honda 17
8 Haas-Ferrari 16
9 Alfa Romeo-Ferrari 13
10 Williams-Mercedes 0

Sebastian Vettel achieved his first pole position of the 2019 Formula 1 season in qualifying for the Canadian Grand Prix by snatching the top spot in the final moments of Q3.

The Scuderia Ferrari driver was second fastest after the first runs in Q3, but put in a superb lap to jump ahead of title rival Lewis Hamilton and take pole by 0.206 seconds.

Hamilton did improve on his second run, but only by 0.047 seconds, which was more than enough to ensure he retained a front-row starting position.

As for Charles Leclerc, he had a slow run in the final sector on his final lap and ended up almost four tenths slower than Hamilton in third position.

The Ferrari driver faces an investigation after the session for rejoining the track at Turn 8/9 after driving on the wrong side of the marker bollard earlier in qualifying.

All of the top three will start on medium-compound Pirellis having used that tyre spec in Q2, as will Valtteri Bottas.

Renault driver Daniel Ricciardo claimed an impressive fourth on the grid, beating Red Bull’s Pierre Gasly by just 0.008 seconds.

Bottas abandoned his first run in Q3 after spinning exiting Turn 2 and had a difficult lap on his second set of tyres. The Mercedes driver suffered several lock-ups and ended up down in sixth, 0.861 seconds off the pace.

Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg was seventh ahead of the McLaren duo of Lando Norris and Carlos Sainz.

Sainz was 2.1 seconds slower than Norris after aborting his final lap having had to run on a used set of softs to set his time on the first run.

Sainz will be investigated after the qualifying session for impeding Toro Rosso driver Alex Albon in Turn 2 during Q1.

Kevin Magnussen was tenth but was unable to take part in Q3 following a crash on the exit of the final corner on his final push lap in Q2 and bringing a premature end to the session.

The Haas driver lost the rear out of the final part of the chicane and tagged the wall before spinning heavily into the pitwall on the inside of the track.

Magnussen’s crash led to the elimination of Red Bull driver Max Verstappen in Q2 in P11, as he was on a lap on soft Pirellis at the time that would have got him comfortably into the top ten shootout.

Verstappen had used mediums for his first run in Q2 in the hope of being able to start on the more durable tyre, but didn’t hook up a strong enough lap and complained about traffic, forcing him to go again.

Toro Rosso driver Daniil Kvyat only had one set of fresh softs for Q2, putting in a lap good enough for P12 and beating Alfa Romeo driver Antonio Giovinazzi.

Alex Albon was P14 fastest ahead of the Haas of Romain Grosjean and suggested his tyre preparation was compromised by having to rush out at the start of his final run after being delayed by the weighbridge.

Grosjean did not set a time in Q2 thanks to only having one set of fresh softs and then being caught out by Magnussen’s crash ahead of him on his quick lap.

Racing Point driver Sergio Perez didn’t improve by enough as he took the chequered flag in Q1 to escape the drop zone.

He jumped up to P16, 0.033 seconds faster than Alfa Romeo driver Kimi Raikkonen – who had been bumped by teammate Antonio Giovinazzi a few seconds earlier.

Lance Stroll continued his run of Q1 exits in P18, although he switched to his early-season engine after suffering a failure of his new ‘Phase 2’ Mercedes in Saturday’s practice session and lapped just 0.069 seconds slower than teammate Perez.

As usual, the Williams drivers battled it out for last place with George Russell P19 and 1.351 seconds behind Stroll.

While the 2008 Canadian Grand Prix winner Robert Kubica will start last after lapping 0.776 seconds slower than his teammate.

So a fantastic pole position for Sebastian Vettel and Ferrari. This is what Formula 1 needed after the dominance of Mercedes. Fingers crossed the fight back by the Scuderia begins, for the sake of the championship.

Canadian Grand Prix, qualifying positions:
1 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1m10.240s
2 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1m10.446s
3 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1m10.920s
4 Daniel Ricciardo Renault 1m11.071s
5 Pierre Gasly Red Bull-Honda 1m11.079s
6 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1m11.101s
7 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 1m11.324s
8 Lando Norris McLaren-Renault 1m11.863s
9 Carlos Sainz Jr. McLaren-Renault 1m13.981s
10 Kevin Magnussen Haas-Ferrari –
11 Max Verstappen Red Bull-Honda 1m11.800s
12 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso-Honda 1m11.921s
13 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo-Ferrari 1m12.136s
14 Alexander Albon Toro Rosso-Honda 1m12.193s
15 Romain Grosjean Haas-Ferrari –
16 Sergio Perez Racing Point-Mercedes 1m12.197s
17 Kimi Raikkonen Alfa Romeo-Ferrari 1m12.230s
18 Lance Stroll Racing Point-Mercedes 1m12.266s
19 George Russell Williams-Mercedes 1m13.617s
20 Robert Kubica Williams-Mercedes 1m14.393s

Defending world champion Lewis Hamilton resisted huge pressure and a late contact with Max Verstappen to take victory in Formula 1’s most glamorous race, the Monaco Grand Prix.

The Mercedes driver kept focus despite tyre graining. Lewis resisted more than 60 laps of pressure from Max to hold on to win despite having to manage softer tyres than his pursuers.

As Verstappen was not able to get past the Mercedes and edge clear – despite a late dive at the chicane two laps from the end – he fell from second to fourth at the flag because of a five-second time penalty.

Verstappen picked that up for an unsafe release in the pits that had got him ahead of Bottas, who he made light contact with and forced into the wall.

Verstappen fell behind both Sebastian Vettel’s Ferrari and Bottas, who completed the podium despite needing to make a second pitstop under the safety car after his brush with the wall caused a puncture.

Poleman Hamilton retained his advantage at the start ahead of Bottas, despite Verstappen having a look inside Bottas the Sainte Devote on the first lap.

The leaders held station for the opening stint, which was cut short by a safety car after Charles Leclerc – who started in P15 following Ferrari’s qualifying error – littered the track with debris from a dramatic puncture.

Leclerc hit the inside wall at Rascasse and half-spun after trying to pass Nico Hulkenberg for P11.

He tried to continue but picked up a puncture and scattered a large amount of debris as the rubber fell apart around the rest of the lap.

Mercedes opted to pit both its cars under the safety car period and Bottas dropped back behind Hamilton to try to give enough of a gap to avoid losing time.

When they stopped, Verstappen was released just as Bottas was coming past, and though Verstappen was a nose ahead a small amount of contact forced Bottas to kiss the wall on the right-hand side.

The incident damaged Bottas’s wheel rim and caused a slow puncture, but with the safety car still deployed he only dropped behind Vettel to fourth – and eventually Verstappen was awarded a five-second penalty for the unsafe release.

Once the race resumed, Verstappen hounded Hamilton for more than 60 laps, but only got close enough to start attacking the five-time world champion in the final ten.

He had a brief look to the outside of the hairpin on lap 70 but was not close enough on the exit of Portier to get a proper run at Hamilton into the chicane.

On lap 76 he lunged Hamilton, but Hamilton moved across. Verstappen locked up and they made minor wheel-to-wheel contact – Verstappen’s right-front to Hamilton’s left-rear – and Hamilton took to the escape road, but both continued without damage.

Hamilton’s win extended his championship lead over Bottas to 17 points, while Vettel and Bottas were slightly adrift but within five seconds, significent enough to drop Verstappen down to fourth.

Verstappen’s Red Bull teammate Pierre Gasly finished in fifth, his best result since his move to the senior team, and earned fastest lap after building enough of a gap to make a late, free pitstop for fresh tyres.

Behind, Carlos Sainz earned his best result for McLaren in sixth place after opting not to pit under the early safety car.

That strategy was replicated by Daniil Kvyat and Alex Albon, who used it to great effect to finish seventh and eighth for Toro Rosso.

Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo finished ninth, the lead midfield runner who did pit under the safety car.

Romain Grosjean, who opted for the same strategy as Sainz/Kvyat/Albon, completed the points scorers for Haas.

Leclerc was the only retirement from the Monaco Grand Prix. A big shame for the home hero.

There was a separate Rascasse incident shortly after the safety car, when Antonio Giovinazzi hit Robert Kubica and spun the Williams.

The track was briefly blocked, holding up a few cars, but Kubica was able to reverse and get out of the way quickly, which avoided anything worse than localised yellow flags.

So an entertaining Monaco Grand Prix with Lewis Hamilton relieved to take the chequered flag after big pressure from Max Verstappen and graining tyres. Unfortunate for Charles Leclerc. A poor weekend for the Ferrari driver in his home race. Better luck next year.

Monaco Grand Prix, race results:
1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 78 1h43m28.437s
2 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 78 2.602s
3 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 78 3.162s
4 Max Verstappen Red Bull-Honda 78 5.537s
5 Pierre Gasly Red Bull-Honda 78 9.946s
6 Carlos Sainz Jr. McLaren-Renault 78 53.454s
7 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso-Honda 78 54.574s
8 Alexander Albon Toro Rosso-Honda 78 55.200s
9 Daniel Ricciardo Renault 78 1m00.894s
10 Romain Grosjean Haas-Ferrari 78 1m01.034s
11 Lando Norris McLaren-Renault 78 1m06.801s
12 Kevin Magnussen Haas-Ferrari 77 1 Lap
13 Sergio Perez Racing Point-Mercedes 77 1 Lap
14 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 77 1 Lap
15 George Russell Williams-Mercedes 77 1 Lap
16 Lance Stroll Racing Point-Mercedes 77 1 Lap
17 Kimi Raikkonen Alfa Romeo-Ferrari 77 1 Lap
18 Robert Kubica Williams-Mercedes 77 1 Lap
19 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo-Ferrari 76 2 Laps
– Charles Leclerc Ferrari 16 Accident damage

Drivers’ standings:
1 Lewis Hamilton 137
2 Valtteri Bottas 120
3 Sebastian Vettel 82
4 Max Verstappen 78
5 Charles Leclerc 57
6 Pierre Gasly 32
7 Carlos Sainz Jr. 18
8 Kevin Magnussen 14
9 Sergio Perez 13
10 Kimi Raikkonen 13
11 Lando Norris 12
12 Daniil Kvyat 9
13 Daniel Ricciardo 8
14 Alexander Albon 7
15 Nico Hulkenberg 6
16 Lance Stroll 4
17 Romain Grosjean 2
18 Antonio Giovinazzi 0
19 George Russell 0
20 Robert Kubica 0

Constructors’ standings:
1 Mercedes 257
2 Ferrari 139
3 Red Bull-Honda 110
4 McLaren-Renault 30
5 Racing Point-Mercedes 17
6 Haas-Ferrari 16
7 Toro Rosso-Honda 16
8 Renault 14
9 Alfa Romeo-Ferrari 13
10 Williams-Mercedes 0

Defending world champion Lewis Hamilton denied his Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas in the final seconds of qualifying to snatch pole position in the Monaco Grand Prix.

Bottas had the advantage of 0.231 seconds over Hamilton after the first runs in Q3 but was unable to improve on his second set of Pirellis softs.

Hamilton then put in a lap of one minute, 10.166 seconds to outpace Bottas by 0.086 seconds, with his impressive pace through the first sector crucial to sealing the pole.

Bottas held on to second position as Red Bull driver Max Verstappen was also unable to improve and stayed in third postition, 0.475 seconds down.

Sebastian Vettel made a promising start to his lap and looked set to improve, but kissed the wall at the exit of the Tabac right-hander and had to settle for fourth based on his first-run time.

Red Bull driver Pierre Gasly was fifth, 0.875 seconds off the pace, but faces a post-session investigation for impeding Haas driver Romain Grosjean during Q2.

Kevin Magnussen was best of the rest in sixth position and was the only driver outside the top three teams to still have enough tyres for two runs using fresh Pirelli softs.

Having taking sixth position on his first run, he then briefly lost it to Renault driver Daniel Ricciardo, before reclaiming it on the second run.

Toro Rosso driver Daniil Kvyat was eighth fastest, a tenth and a half quicker than McLaren’s Carlos Sainz.

Teammate Alex Albon made Q3 for the first time in his Formula 1 career, but had to settle for tenth and 1.487 seconds off the pace.

Renault driver Nico Hulkenberg was bumped out of the top ten in the final moments of Q2 when Magnussen, who had struggled on his first run after locking up and clipping the inside wall at Mirabeau, improved.

Lando Norris was half-a-tenth behind Hulkenberg in P12 and 0.3 seconds quicker than Grosjean – who complained about traffic over the radio at the end of the session after being impeded by Gasly.

Alfa Romeo pairing Kimi Raikkonen and Antonio Giovinazzi were P14 and P15 respectively, with just 0.070 seconds separating the pair.

Leclerc was the quickest of those to fall in Q1 in P16 after completing just one single run and failing to make the top 15 by 0.052 seconds despite being only 0.715 seconds off the pace in the session.

Leclerc had posted a best time of one minute, 12.149 seconds but was not sent back out despite picking up a flat spot on his soft Pirellis during that run as Ferrari felt he was safe to get through.

Leclerc also initially missed the weighbridge when he returned after his run, although was pushed back by the Ferrari team before entering the garage and confirmed he had enough fuel and time to have completed a second run after the time lost to this.

However, the end result was that Ferrari screwed up the situation and the home race hero Leclerc will start the race in P16.

Albon, Hulkenberg and teammate Vettel then ahead of him on their final laps of Q1 to ensure he didn’t make the cut.

Vettel himself had not set a strong enough time on his first run having abandoned the final quick lap on his first run after kissing the wall at the exit of the first left/right at Swimming Pool.

This meant he was among those at risk of elimination before improving on the only fast lap he had time for on his second set of tyres.

Racing Point duo Sergio Perez and Lance Stroll were P17 and P18, with 0.613 seconds separating the pair.

George Russell prevailed in the battle of the Williams drivers to take P19, with Robert Kubica bringing up the back end after lapping 0.274 seconds slower.

So a dramatic and exciting Monaco Grand Prix qualifying session. Lewis Hamilton in a happy mood after scoring that all-important pole from his teammate. As overtaking is near impossible on this street circuit, Hamilton is looking strong for the race victory.

As for Charles Leclerc, this was a disappointing result to get knocked out in the first segment of qualifying. Fingers crossed Ferrari can devise a strategy in helping Leclerc to move up the order and score a championship point in the race.

Monaco Grand Prix, qualifying results:
1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1m10.166s
2 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1m10.252s
3 Max Verstappen Red Bull-Honda 1m10.641s
4 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1m10.947s
5 Pierre Gasly Red Bull-Honda 1m11.041s
6 Kevin Magnussen Haas-Ferrari 1m11.109s
7 Daniel Ricciardo Renault 1m11.218s
8 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso-Honda 1m11.271s
9 Carlos Sainz Jr. McLaren-Renault 1m11.417s
10 Alexander Albon Toro Rosso-Honda 1m11.653s
11 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 1m11.670s
12 Lando Norris McLaren-Renault 1m11.724s
13 Romain Grosjean Haas-Ferrari 1m12.027s
14 Kimi Raikkonen Alfa Romeo-Ferrari 1m12.115s
15 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo-Ferrari 1m12.185s
16 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1m12.149s
17 Sergio Perez Racing Point-Mercedes 1m12.233s
18 Lance Stroll Racing Point-Mercedes 1m12.846s
19 George Russell Williams-Mercedes 1m13.477s
20 Robert Kubica Williams-Mercedes 1m13.751s

Defending Formula 1 world champion Lewis Hamilton recorded his third successive Spanish Grand Prix victory with a commanding drive, sealing a fifth 1-2 finish for Mercedes.

Hamilton’s victory ahead of Valtteri Bottas clinched the team’s fifth perfect one-two result in a row and put Lewis seven points clear of his teammate in the world championship.

Max Verstappen earned a second podium of the season for Red Bull Racing and Honda in third place, after Ferrari’s challenge faded early and never recovered.

Hamilton started second on the grid but crucially got ahead of poleman Bottas by winning a three-way duel into the first corner that also featured Sebastian Vettel.

Hamilton and Vettel swarmed Bottas on the run to Turn 1, with Hamilton moving to the inside of his team-mate and Vettel almost edging ahead of both on the outside.

Vettel locked up his front right tyre and ran deep into the corner, while Bottas backed out of it in the middle and give up the lead to Hamilton.

Bottas survived a big slide to hold second as Vettel rejoined the track having taken slightly to the run-off, which sent the Ferrari wide through the second corner.

That blocked Vettel’s team-mate Charles Leclerc and allowed Verstappen into third.

As Hamilton sprinted clear of Bottas into a commanding lead, Vettel fell further back in fourth as the flat spot he picked up at the first corner proved a “pain in the arse”.

He eventually let Leclerc into fourth on lap 12 of 66, and the top five held position for most of the rest of the Spanish Grand Prix.

The major differences at this stage were Hamilton, Bottas and Leclerc committing to a one-stop strategy but Red Bull putting Verstappen on a two-stop and an early change of tyres for Vettel giving him a second stop to make as well.

In the second half of the race Vettel – on medium compound – found himself bottled up behind Leclerc, who had switched to fresh hard tyres.

Ferrari deployed team orders again, this time in reverse, to briefly free up Vettel until he made his second stop with 25 laps to go.

That put him back to sixth, behind Pierre Gasly, but he made short work of the second Red Bull to regain fifth.

Verstappen’s own second pitstop dropped him to fourth but he was catching Leclerc and poised to retake third on fresh tyres when the safety car was deployed on lap 46.

Lando Norris tried to pass Lance Stroll on the outside into Turn 1, ran slightly deep and was still tight to the inside as the track went left for Turn 2 when Stroll turned in.

They made contact, pitching Stroll into the barriers across the gravel and leaving Norris’s McLaren with big damage to continue.

Hamilton, Bottas and Leclerc all took the option to make a safe second pitstop under the safety car, which dropped Leclerc behind both Verstappen and Vettel again.

It took until lap 54 for racing to resume, with Hamilton keeping Bottas behind at the restart with ease and going on to win by four seconds.

Behind, Gasly attacked Leclerc for fifth positions as the two Haas drivers made light contact into Turn 1 just behind them.

Gasly failed to pass Leclerc and then came under attack from Kevin Magnussen, who had got ahead of teammate Romain Grosjean by virtue of their minor collision, but just retained the place.

Magnussen went on to finish seventh, although he was fortunate to be in position to make the overtake on his teammate at the restart.

K-Mag dropped behind Daniil Kvyat in the second stint but regained the place when Toro Rosso had a horrible double-pitstop under the safety car.

Toro Rosso appeared not to have Kvyat’s tyres ready which meant his stop was slow and held up the second car of Alex Albon, dropping him out of the points as he waited for his teammate’s stop to end.

Kvyat fell to P10 but made it back up to ninth by the finish as Grosjean’s race worsened.

After the contact with Magnussen, Grosjean came under attack from Sainz and took to the Turn 1 run-off following a wheel-to-wheel hit.

With Sainz then into ninth, Albon sniffed an opportunity to haul himself back into the points and put Grosjean under pressure in the final laps, but could not steal P10.

So the perfect result for Mercedes with Lewis Hamilton winning from Valtteri Bottas. Ferrari’s race strategy comes into question again and it going to be fascinating if the Scuderia can fight back after five defeats. For the sake of the championship, please make this happen Ferrari.

Spanish Grand Prix, race results:
1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 66 1h35m50.443s
2 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 66 4.074s
3 Max Verstappen Red Bull-Honda 66 7.679s
4 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 66 9.167s
5 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 66 13.361s
6 Pierre Gasly Red Bull-Honda 66 19.576s
7 Kevin Magnussen Haas-Ferrari 66 28.159s
8 Carlos Sainz Jr. McLaren-Renault 66 32.342s
9 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso-Honda 66 33.056s
10 Romain Grosjean Haas-Ferrari 66 34.641s
11 Alexander Albon Toro Rosso-Honda 66 35.445s
12 Daniel Ricciardo Renault 66 36.758s
13 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 66 39.241s
14 Kimi Raikkonen Alfa Romeo-Ferrari 66 41.803s
15 Sergio Perez Racing Point-Mercedes 66 46.877s
16 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo-Ferrari 66 47.691s
17 George Russell Williams-Mercedes 65 1 Lap
18 Robert Kubica Williams-Mercedes 65 1 Lap
– Lando Norris McLaren-Renault 44 Collision
– Lance Stroll Racing Point-Mercedes 44 Collision

Drivers’ standings:
1 Lewis Hamilton 112
2 Valtteri Bottas 105
3 Max Verstappen 66
4 Sebastian Vettel 64
5 Charles Leclerc 57
6 Pierre Gasly 21
7 Kevin Magnussen 14
8 Sergio Perez 13
9 Kimi Raikkonen 13
10 Lando Norris 12
11 Carlos Sainz Jr. 10
12 Daniel Ricciardo 6
13 Nico Hulkenberg 6
14 Lance Stroll 4
15 Alexander Albon 3
16 Daniil Kvyat 3
17 Romain Grosjean 1
18 Antonio Giovinazzi 0
19 George Russell 0
20 Robert Kubica 0

Constructors’ standings:
1 Mercedes 217
2 Ferrari 121
3 Red Bull-Honda 87
4 McLaren-Renault 22
5 Racing Point-Mercedes 17
6 Haas-Ferrari 15
7 Alfa Romeo-Ferrari 13
8 Renault 12
9 Toro Rosso-Honda 6
10 Williams-Mercedes 0

Valtteri Bottas achieved a hat-trick of Formula 1 pole positions with a solid qualifying session at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

The championship leader had the edge on his Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton throughout qualifying, ending up a massive 0.634 seconds quicker.

None of the top four were able to improve their lap times on their second runs on soft Pirelli compound in Q3, meaning Mercedes kept hold of the front-row lockout it had taken earlier in the final segment.

Sebastian Vettel was third and 0.866 seconds off the pace, less than a tenth quicker than fourth-best Max Verstappen’s Red Bull.

Charles Leclerc only had a single run in Q3 thanks to having to use two sets of soft Pirellis in Q2 after compromising his first run by running wide at Campsa – picking up some minor floor damage.

He put in two attempts on his one set of tyres, but ended up third and over two tenths slower than Verstappen – but ahead of the second Red Bull of Pierre Gasly.

Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen made good on the promise the upgraded Haas showed in practice by taking seventh and eighth positions, with Toro Rosso driver Daniil Kvyat ninth.

Daniel Ricciardo was slowest of those in Q3 with P10, although he must serve a three-place grid penalty for reversing into Kvyat in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

Lando Norris was the best of those who didn’t reach Q3 in P11 after being bumped down a position by Leclerc’s late improvement in Q2.

Toro Rosso driver Alex Albon, like his teammate, only had one run on fresh softs in Q2 and ended up P12 after running wide at Turn 5.

Carlos Sainz made an error on what should have been his quickest lap and ended up P13 ahead of the lead Alfa Romeo of Kimi Raikkonen and Racing Point’s Sergio Perez.

Nico Hulkenberg was the fastest of those eliminated in Q1 in P16, 19 thousandths slower than teammate Ricciardo.

Hulkenberg crashed at the Turn 4 right hander on his first run before he set a time, but was able to recover to the pits despite damaging his front wing.

The Hulk returned to the track in the closing stages and briefly lifted himself out of the drop zone with his first flying lap on the second set of options – although his pace was hindered by having switched to an older-spec front wing.

But Raikkonen then improved to push him down to P16, with Hulkenberg finding two-tenths on his second flying lap but not quite enough to escape.

Racing Point’s Lance Stroll was eliminated for the fifth time in five 2019 races in P17, two tenths faster than P18 quickest Antonio Giovinazzi’s Alfa Romeo.

George Russell won the intra-Williams battle for P19 despite a spin at the chicane on his first run, outpacing Robert Kubica by 1.2 seconds after Kubica failed to improve on his second run.

So congratulations to Valtteri Bottas on scoring another pole position for Mercedes. It’s going to be a fascinating battle royale in the main event as Lewis Hamilton aims to be more ruthless to his teammate in achieving race victories. Bring on the race!

Spanish Grand Prix, qualifying positions:
1 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1m15.406s
2 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1m16.040s
3 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1m16.272s
4 Max Verstappen Red Bull-Honda 1m16.357s
5 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1m16.588s
6 Pierre Gasly Red Bull-Honda 1m16.708s
7 Romain Grosjean Haas-Ferrari 1m16.911s
8 Kevin Magnussen Haas-Ferrari 1m16.922s
9 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso-Honda 1m17.573s
10 Lando Norris McLaren-Renault 1m17.338s
11 Alexander Albon Toro Rosso-Honda 1m17.445s
12 Carlos Sainz Jr. McLaren-Renault 1m17.599s
13 Daniel Ricciardo Renault 1m18.106s
14 Kimi Raikkonen Alfa Romeo-Ferrari 1m17.788s
15 Sergio Perez Racing Point-Mercedes 1m17.886s
16 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 1m18.404s
17 Lance Stroll Racing Point-Mercedes 1m18.471s
18 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo-Ferrari 1m18.664s
19 Robert Kubica Williams-Mercedes 1m20.254s
20 George Russell Williams/Mercedes 1m19.072s

Valtteri Bottas scored his second victory of the Formula 1 season and resisted the late charge from Lewis Hamilton to win the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

What a difference 12 months make for Bottas, as he was about to win last year’s race but suffered a late puncture. This time, no issues and held his nerve under pressure to lead Hamilton home and regain the lead of the world championship.

As Mercedes clinched its fourth one-two in four races at the start of the 2019 season, Sebastian Vettel could only finish third again for Ferrari.

Vettel’s teammate Charles Leclerc recovered to fifth position, behind Max Verstappen’s Red Bull, after the qualifying crash that left him ninth on the starting grid.

Hamilton got the better start from the front row but Bottas held on around the outside of the first two corners and then built a strong margin through the rest of the opening lap.

Bottas kept Hamilton at bay until pitting on lap 12, one lap after Vettel and one lap before Hamilton.

That meant Bottas resumed in the race lead, but stopping two laps earlier than Hamilton drew Vettel closer to the other Mercedes.

The pace of the medium compound tyre was stronger than the soft, as demonstrated by Leclerc – who fell to tenth on the first lap but had charged to fourth by lap 10.

Leclerc, on new mediums following his crash in qualifying, assumed the lead when the top three pitted to get rid of their soft Pirelli.

He led the middle portion of the race, managing his pace effectively to stay ahead until Bottas finally got into DRS range and cleared the Ferrari into the first corner on lap 32 of 51.

Hamilton took another lap to get ahead of Leclerc, which gave Bottas more breathing space after Hamilton had reduced the advantage down to almost nothing.

Bottas had a two-second lead to protect once the Mercedes one-two was restored, and Hamilton’s attempts to cut into that were hit when Pierre Gasly ground to a halt and caused a virtual safety car.

Gasly had charged from the pitlane up to a comfortable sixth but his Red Bull, fitted with an upgraded Honda engine for this Baku weekend, had to be parked up on lap 39.

The two-lap VSC also helped Bottas by giving him an extra one second over his pursuers, presumably as it ended in a favourable position for the leader.

Hamilton chipped away at that margin and with three laps to go got within DRS range of his teammate.

Just as Hamilton looked like he might be about to launch a last-lap pass, Bottas picked up DRS himself down the start-finish straight as he lapped the Williams of George Russell.

That top-speed boost put Bottas 1.4 seconds clear as he started the final lap, and he finished it 1.5 seconds ahead to clinch his second win of the season.

Vettel ended up a lonely third, never quite close enough to attack a Mercedes but equally not under threat from Verstappen at the end.

Verstappen had a quietly effective race and looked like he could mount an attack on Vettel but fell away once the VSC period ended.

Leclerc finished almost a minute adrift of Verstappen after a second pitstop for another set of fresh soft tyres, which let him steal the fastest lap bonus point from Bottas.

Sergio Perez earned best-of-the-rest honours for Racing Point, finishing sixth to continue his fine record in Baku.

Though a third Azerbaijan podium was never on the cards, Perez was the class of the midfield after clearing early sixth-place runner Daniil Kvyat and never looked like being challenge.

Carlos Sainz finally scored some points for McLaren with seventh position, but only after twice overhauling teammate Lando Norris.

McLaren celebrated its first double points finish of the season as Norris came home eighth, while Racing Point also got two drivers in the top ten as Lance Stroll clinched ninth.

Kimi Raikkonen scored an unlikely point to keep his record of finishing in the top ten every race this season, despite starting from the pitlane after his Alfa Romeo failed a front wing deflection test.

Among the four retirements were Kvyat and Daniel Ricciardo, who have been summoned to the stewards over a bizarre incident in which Ricciardo reversed into Kvyat trying to get back on track after a failed overtaking attempt at Turn 3.

So congratulations to Valtteri Bottas in winning the race and retaking the championship lead. Super impressed by Mercedes taking another 1-2 finish. That’s four out of four. May that success continue.

Race results, Baku:
1 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 51 1h31m52.942s
2 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 51 1.524s
3 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 51 11.739s
4 Max Verstappen Red Bull-Honda 51 17.493s
5 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 51 1m09.107s
6 Sergio Perez Racing Point-Mercedes 51 1m16.416s
7 Carlos Sainz Jr. McLaren-Renault 51 1m23.826s
8 Lando Norris McLaren-Renault 51 1m40.268s
9 Lance Stroll Racing Point-Mercedes 51 1m43.816s
10 Kimi Raikkonen Alfa Romeo-Ferrari 50 1 Lap
11 Alexander Albon Toro Rosso-Honda 50 1 Lap
12 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo-Ferrari 50 1 Lap
13 Kevin Magnussen Haas-Ferrari 50 1 Lap
14 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 50 1 Lap
15 George Russell Williams-Mercedes 49 2 Laps
16 Robert Kubica Williams-Mercedes 49 2 Laps
– Romain Grosjean Haas-Ferrari 38 Brakes
– Pierre Gasly Red Bull-Honda 38 Gearbox
– Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso-Honda 33 Accident damage
– Daniel Ricciardo Renault 31 Accident damage

Drivers’ standings:
1 Valtteri Bottas 87
2 Lewis Hamilton 86
3 Sebastian Vettel 52
4 Max Verstappen 51
5 Charles Leclerc 47
6 Sergio Perez 13
7 Pierre Gasly 13
8 Kimi Raikkonen 13
9 Lando Norris 12
10 Kevin Magnussen 8
11 Nico Hulkenberg 6
12 Carlos Sainz Jr. 6
13 Daniel Ricciardo 6
14 Lance Stroll 4
15 Alexander Albon 3
16 Daniil Kvyat 1
17 Antonio Giovinazzi 0
18 Romain Grosjean 0
19 George Russell 0
20 Robert Kubica 0

Constructors’ standings:
1 Mercedes 173
2 Ferrari 99
3 Red Bull-Honda 64
4 McLaren-Renault 18
5 Racing Point-Mercedes 17
6 Alfa Romeo-Ferrari 13
7 Renault 12
8 Haas-Ferrari 8
9 Toro Rosso-Honda 4
10 Williams-Mercedes 0

Valtteri Bottas scored his eighth career pole position in Formula 1 for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix after pre-qualifying favourite Charles Leclerc crashed out in Q2.

The Mercedes driver lapped 0.059 seconds faster than teammate Lewis Hamilton, who was in the tow behind him, on the final runs in Q3 to grab P1, with Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel three tenths down in third position.

Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen only did one single run in Q3 and ended up in fourth, almost three tenths behind Vettel and well clear of fifth fastest Sergio Perez.

Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat ended up sixth ahead of McLaren driver Lando Norris.

Antonio Giovinazzi headed Alfa Romeo teammate Kimi Raikkonen in the battle for eighth position, although the Italian must serve a ten place grid penalty for taking his third power unit control electronics of the season earlier in the weekend.

Leclerc was classified P10 in Q3 as his pace on medium-compound Pirellis before he crashed meant he made the top ten – but he was unable to run.

Leclerc was the faster Ferrari driver in free practice and Q1, but hit the wall at the narrow Turn 8 castle section after locking up the front-left on entry during Q2 – calling the error “stupid” over the radio.

Carlos Sainz was P11 fastest after being pushed into the drop zone by teammate Norris at the end of Q2 – missing out on a place in Q3 after lapping just 0.017 seconds than Giovinazzi.

That put him ahead of Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo, with Alex Albon P13 after clipping the wall with the right-rear of Toro Rosso late on in a Q2 session interrupted by the red flag that followed Leclerc’s crash.

Kevin Magnussen was P14 after locking up and heading up the Turn 3 escape road on his final lap.

Red Bull driver Pierre Gasly, who must start from the pitlane after missing the weighbridge during FP2, was P15 after not running in Q2 – but he did set the fastest time in Q1 with the help of a mighty slipstream from Lance Stroll’s Racing Point.

Stroll was eliminated in Q1 for the fourth time this season after being relegated to P16 by Ricciardo at the end of the session.

Ricciardo positioned himself behind Stroll for his final lap, benefitting from the tow both in the first and last sectors to take the position by a tenth and a half.

Haas driver Romain Grosjean was P17 after not improving by enough on his final lap, although it was enough to beat Nico Hulkenberg, who had briefly jumped ahead of him, by 0.02 seconds.

George Russell was P19 after missing almost all of Friday’s running as a result of hitting a manhole cover early in FP1, forcing the Williams team to rebuild his car around the spare monocoque.

Robert Kubica was slowest after crashing at the Turn 8 left-hander on his final push lap as a result of tagging the inside wall behind the apex.

This brought out the red flag, although little time was lost as the chequered flag had already been thrown.

So congratulations to Mercedes in achieving a front row slot and Valtteri Bottas in scoring pole position. Feel so sorry for Charles Leclerc after setting the pace in every sessions before that big mistake in Q2. Hopefully the Ferrari star can fight back in the main race.

Qualifying positions, Baku:
1 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1m40.495s
2 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1m40.554s
3 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1m40.797s
4 Max Verstappen Red Bull-Honda 1m41.069s
5 Sergio Perez Racing Point-Mercedes 1m41.593s
6 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso-Honda 1m41.681s
7 Lando Norris McLaren-Renault 1m41.886s
8 Kimi Raikkonen Alfa Romeo-Ferrari 1m43.068s
9 Charles Leclerc Ferrari –
10 Carlos Sainz Jr. McLaren-Renault 1m42.398s
11 Daniel Ricciardo Renault 1m42.477s
12 Alexander Albon Toro Rosso-Honda 1m42.494s
13 Kevin Magnussen Haas-Ferrari 1m42.699s
14 Lance Stroll Racing Point-Mercedes 1m42.630s
15 Romain Grosjean Haas-Ferrari 1m43.407s
16 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 1m43.427s
17 George Russell Williams-Mercedes 1m45.062s
18 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo-Ferrari 1m42.424s
19 Robert Kubica Williams-Mercedes 1m45.455s
20 Pierre Gasly Red Bull-Honda –

Defending world champion Lewis Hamilton scored a dominant victory in Formula 1’s historic 1000th Grand Prix event.

Hamilton led from lights to flag to score his second win of the 2019 season. Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas had to settle with second with Sebastian Vettel third for Ferrari.

Hamilton made a clean getaway from the start and got into Turn 1 first ahead of pole sitting Bottas, while Charles Leclerc went by his Ferrari team-mate Sebastian Vettel to claim third position.

As the midfielders squeezed through the Turn 6 hairpin Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat caught a brief rear-end oversteer moment, bouncing off Carlos Sainz Jr’s McLaren and then interlocking wheels with Sainz’s team-mate Lando Norris, who was pitched into the air.

That prompted a brief virtual safety car deployment so that debris – including part of Sainz’s front wing – could be cleared.

Hamilton edged away at around half a second a lap in the initial phase of the race while the majority of the frontrunners settled into tyre-conversation mode – all except for Vettel, who was shaping up to pass his team-mate. Leclerc, for his part, was told to push harder or give way.

Ferrari quickly firmed up that team orders into a directive to let Vettel by, and Leclerc reluctantly complied at the beginning of lap 11 of 56.

But despite the position swap Vettel made few inroads into the advantage of Bottas, let alone Hamilton, even though he was clearly pushing his car’s limits – even snatching a front-left brake and running wide at the Turn 14 hairpin on lap 13. Leclerc wasted no time in telling his engineer that he, now, was being held up.

As the Mercedes disappeared into the distance, fifth-placed Max Verstappen joined the hunt for the podium by pitting for hard Pirelli compound on lap 18. That prompted Ferrari to pit Vettel to cover the potential undercut, and indeed when Vettel emerged on his new set of hards he was barely ahead of the Red Bull.

Verstappen made a DRS-assisted pass on the back straight and was ahead into Turn 14, but ran slightly wide and Vettel edged him onto the grass at the exit to reclaim what was now fourth position.

Ferrari was now committed to a long stint for Leclerc since he would inevitably leave the pits behind this battle – and when he did stop for hards, five laps after his team-mate, he was nearly 11-second adrift of Verstappen.

Bottas pitted for hards on lap 22, followed by Hamilton one lap later, and as the world champion departed the pitlane the gap between the two Mercedes had shrunk to 1.5 seconds.

But Hamilton extended his advantage again and strung out the gap beyond five seconds, and within ten laps of pitting his only concern was whether Bottas had set the fastest lap of the race and thereby secured an extra point.

Red Bull moved first to trigger the next rash of stops on lap 36, bringing Verstappen in for fresh mediums. Ferrari responded by pitting Vettel a lap later for similar rubber, and next time round Mercedes brought both Hamilton and Bottas in for mediums as well.

That meant Bottas emerged in third position behind the out-of-sequence Leclerc and had a fight on his hands. For almost two laps Leclerc denied him until Bottas launched a textbook DRS-assisted move into Turn 14.

Once clear, Bottas pulled away as Leclerc fell into the clutches of his own team-mate. Ferrari brought Leclerc in for mediums on lap 42 and he was slow out of the box, leaving the pits in fifth place and over 15-second behind Verstappen.

Though Leclerc tried to chip away at the margin, he reported gearbox issues later in the race – though Ferrari reassured him there was no problem – and Verstappen remained a distant speck.

Sixth-placed Pierre Gasly had a lonely race in the Red Bull, running immediately behind his team-mate in the opening laps, but it was probably too much to expect him to run 19 laps on the softs. By the time he pitted he was well adrift of the battle with the Ferraris.

With two laps to the flag, Gasly was in enough space for Red Bull to swap him onto soft tyres for a tilt at the fastest lap. He set personal bests in the first two sectors and went purple in the last to take the bonus point.

Renault split its strategy by bringing Nico Hulkenberg in early to swap from soft to hard tyres on lap 12 while leaving Daniel Ricciardo out for a long first stint on the softs. The outcome for Hulkenberg was rendered moot when he was forced to retire five laps later.

Ricciardo then had a relatively uneventful run to seventh as the final three points-paying places became the most hotly contested positions in the race.

Sergio Perez combined a strong start – he gained four places on the opening lap – with a 20-lap first stint on mediums to secure eighth place from P12 on the grid. Behind him Kimi Raikkonen also ran a long first stint on mediums, fell behind the early-stopping Haas entries when he did stop, then made the best of fresher rubber to go by both Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean to claim ninth.

Magnussen and Grosjean started ninth and tenth but stopped to get rid of their soft Pirellis early, before the race was ten laps old, and lost track position as a result. After dropping behind Raikkonen, Grosjean ran P10 ahead of Magnussen in the second stint until both cars made early second stops.

This gave the Haas drivers further work to do to overhaul the likes of Lance Stroll and Alexander Albon. Grosjean came close to getting the job done but had to obey blue flags for Leclerc on the final lap, enabling Albon to hold on and secure the final point for Toro Rosso despite starting from the pitlane having changed chassis after his huge practice crash.

So not the best race to celebrate the 1000th Formula 1 event but in terms of the championship, this is looking good for Mercedes. Three races in and three victories. Congratulations to the Brackley-based outfit with this Grand Prix achievement.

Chinese Grand Prix, race results:
1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 56 1:32:06.350
2 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 56 6.552s
3 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 56 13.744s
4 Max Verstappen Red Bull-Honda 56 27.627s
5 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 56 31.276s
6 Pierre Gasly Red Bull-Honda 56 1m29.307s
7 Daniel Ricciardo Renault 55 1 Lap
8 Sergio Perez Racing Point-Mercedes 55 1 Lap
9 Kimi Raikkonen Alfa Romeo-Ferrari 55 1 Lap
10 Alexander Albon Toro Rosso-Honda 55 1 Lap
11 Romain Grosjean Haas-Ferrari 55 1 Lap
12 Lance Stroll Racing Point-Mercedes 55 1 Lap
13 Kevin Magnussen Haas-Ferrari 55 1 Lap
14 Carlos Sainz Jr. McLaren-Renault 55 1 Lap
15 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo-Ferrari 55 1 Lap
16 George Russell Williams-Mercedes 54 2 Laps
17 Robert Kubica Williams-Mercedes 54 2 Laps
18 Lando Norris McLaren-Renault 50 Not running
– Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso-Honda 41 Retirement
– Nico Hulkenberg Renault 16 Retirement

Drivers’ standings:
1 Lewis Hamilton 68
2 Valtteri Bottas 62
3 Max Verstappen 39
4 Sebastian Vettel 37
5 Charles Leclerc 36
6 Pierre Gasly 13
7 Kimi Raikkonen 12
8 Lando Norris 8
9 Kevin Magnussen 8
10 Nico Hulkenberg 6
11 Daniel Ricciardo 6
12 Sergio Perez 5
13 Alexander Albon 3
14 Lance Stroll 2
15 Daniil Kvyat 1
16 Antonio Giovinazzi 0
17 Romain Grosjean 0
18 Carlos Sainz Jr. 0
19 George Russell 0
20 Robert Kubica 0

Constructors’ standings:
1 Mercedes 130
2 Ferrari 73
3 Red Bull-Honda 52
4 Renault 12
5 Alfa Romeo-Ferrari 12
6 Haas-Ferrari 8
7 McLaren-Renault 8
8 Racing Point-Mercedes 7
9 Toro Rosso-Honda 4
10 Williams-Mercedes 0