Hamilton wins in Chinaposted in F117 | 04 | 2011
McLAREN'S LEWIS HAMILTON finally ended Sebastian Vettel's winning run when he stormed to a stunning victory in the China Grand Prix. The Shanghai race also ended another run when Scot Paul di Resta finished 11th and out of the points for the first time this season in his Force India.
But while the Bathgate racer struggled with degrading tyres, Hamilton (pictured) was back to his imperious best as he hunted down the Red Bull of longtime leader Vettel, whose team-mate Mark Webber charged through the field from 18th on the grid to finish third.
Hamilton came within 35 seconds of starting the race from the pitlane after his car was found to have an engine problem which forced his crew to work frantically to repair it to allow him to leave his garage.
Once the race started though, the McLarens of Hamilton and team-mate Button swept passed Vettel, winner of the opening two grands prix in Australia and Melbourne, who struggled to get away from the line. The main part of the race was dominated by a frenetic pace and ever-evolving race strategies which saw Vettel undertake two tyre changes, while McLaren opted for three.
It was this decision which ultimately allowed Hamilton to close a 4.6sec gap behind Vettel with just 11 laps remaining, before finally sweeping past the current world champ four laps from the chequered flag.
"I am absolutely overwhelmed," a clearly emotional Hamilton said after claiming his first win of the season. "It feels like a long time since I was sitting here. I am proud and grateful for all the hard work I have put in. I will continue to push and looking forward to many more like this.
"I think today the strategy that we came up with going in to qualifying definitely helped. Our new option tyres seemed to last a bit longer than the guys in front. It was quite a few things that came together. The pitstops were fantastic, the guys were pushing to improve, the car felt great.
"I was trying to nurse my tyres and trying to pick up the pace. The guys in front of me had to do a lot of overtaking. Thumbs up to the guys back at factory, who put their heart into making the car what it is on the GP weekend. It feels amazing."
And Hamilton reflected on the nerveracking wait he experienced in his garage while his crew worked frantically to repair the fuel leak and get him out on to the grid.
"I don't think the word 'worried' was coming into my thoughts," he smiled. "I'm not sure what went on, but we took a lot of of bodywork off. We knew there was six minutes to go and then with two minutes fortunately everything came together very quickly.
"But of course for me it is important to stay as calm as possible as that reflects on the guys in the garage. They got the car out which is the most important thing.
"I think obviously we still have a long road ahead of us. We are working very hard to close the gap. In race pace we are quite similar, but in qualifying we still have a lot of work to do."
CLICK HERE to read our race report on Paul di Resta
CLICK HERE to see today's images of Paul racing in China
China Grand Prix — Result:
1. Hamilton, McLaren-Mercedes 1h36:58.226;
2. Vettel, Red Bull-Renault +5.198;
3. Webber, Red Bull-Renault +7.555;
4. Button, McLaren-Mercedes +10.000;
5. Rosberg, Mercedes +13.448;
6. Massa, Ferrari +15.840;
7. Alonso, Ferrari +30.622;
8. Schumacher, Mercedes +31.206;
9. Petrov, Renault +57.404;
10. Kobayashi, Sauber-Ferrari +1:03.273;
11. Di Resta, Force India-Mercedes +1:08.757;
12. Heidfeld, Renault +1:12.739;
13. Barrichello, Williams-Cosworth +1:30.189;
14. Buemi , Toro Rosso-Ferrari +1:30.671;
15. Sutil, Force India-Mercedes +1 lap;
16. Kovalainen, Lotus-Renault +1 lap;
17. Perez, Sauber-Ferrari + 1 lap;
18. Maldonado, Williams-Cosworth +1 lap;
19. Trulli, Lotus-Renault + 1 lap;
20. D'Ambrosio, Virgin-Cosworth + 2 laps;
21. Glock, Virgin-Cosworth + 2 laps;
22. Karthikeyan, HRT-Cosworth + 2 laps;
23. Liuzzi, HRT-Cosworth +2 laps.
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Jim McGill