Lewis Hamilton wins Chinese Grand Prix

By Sports Network

The Sports Network

Lewis Hamilton took a huge step towards claiming his first World Championship with a dominating victory in Sunday's Chinese Grand Prix. The McLaren driver started on the pole and led every lap except those when he pitted.

The victory was Hamilton's fifth of the season and the ninth of his Formula One career. It was his first win, however, since taking the German Grand Prix in July.

Hamilton also increased his championship lead to seven points over Felipe Massa, who finished second, heading into the season-finale November 2nd in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

"This weekend has been on our side, and the team has done a phenomenal job preparing the car," Hamilton said. "Coming here, the car felt fantastic...It was a fantastic team effort this weekend."

Unlike his dreadful start in last week's Japanese Grand Prix, Hamilton quickly jumped ahead of the field in the Chinese GP when he reached the first bend on the opening lap.

"I managed to get everything right on the formation lap, perfectly on my position at the start," he said. "It was probably one of the best starts we've had this year, which was needed. I got into turn one quite clear, and I took it easy the first three corners. Then I started to bridge the gap."

Jarno Trulli spun off the track when Trulli and Sebastien Bourdais made contact on the first lap. Trulli suffered damage to the nose of his car and had to pit. He rejoined the race, but quickly pitted again and became the first driver to retire from competition.

On Lap 14, Massa and Alonso were the first to pit, while Adrian Sutil suffered engine failure as he stalled on the side of the track of the last corner. Hamilton handed the lead over to his teammate Heikki Kovalainen when he came in for his stop the following lap.

Kovalainen pitted on Lap 18, allowing Hamilton to return to the head of the field.

After starting 11th, Robert Kubica climbed his way up to third on Lap 22. Kubica, who entered the race as one of the three remaining championship contenders, had yet to make his first pit stop until Lap 26. The BMW Sauber driver returned to the field in ninth.

Hamilton held a 6.8-second lead over Kimi Raikkonen at the half-way point. However, Giancarlo Fisichella held up Raikkonen in traffic, allowing Hamilton to increase his advantage to eight seconds on Lap 30.

A lap before his second scheduled stop, Kovalainen cut a right-front tire as he limped back to pit lane. Kovalainen was able to rejoin the race, but fell one lap behind. He later suffered brake problems and became the third driver to retire from competition as he finished 18th.

Hamilton and Raikkonen made their final stops on Lap 38. Both drivers changed to softer tires. Hamilton retained the lead when he exited the pits, while Heidfeld, running second at the time, came in for his stop.

Hamilton built a 12.5-second lead over Raikkonen on Lap 40. Massa ran less than two seconds behind his Ferrari teammate in the third position.

However, Massa moved around Raikkonen to grab the second spot with seven laps remaining. Massa never had a chance to catch Hamilton as he finished 14.9 seconds behind.

"I tried on the driver's championship, but it was not possible today," Massa said.

Raikkonen, Alonso and Heidfeld completed the top-five.

Kubica finished sixth and was officially eliminated from title contention.