Mercedes Gathers What Ferrari Spills

Sebastian Vettel was THE BIGGEST LOSER after he gambled with an early stop for dry tyres during the virtual safety car period. But immediately after, the actual safety car came out, allowing cars ahead of him to change tyres without losing much time. And here is where the Scuderia lost out.

- S. Dipak Ragav

For the first time in four years, Formula One is wit-nessing a multi-con-structor battle. And Lewis Hamilton’s victory at the Shanghai International Circuit puts the Mercedes driver level with Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel on points after two races.

There was rain a few hours before the race and a damp track awaited the drivers. The mixed conditions, however, produced a nice challenge with everyone barring Carlos Sainz starting on intermediate tyres.

In the opening laps, there was a virtual safety car, as drivers rushed into the pits for dry tyres. Immediately after came the actual safety car which shuffled the order a bit. While Hamilton had gained a comfortable lead, Max Verstappen, starting 16th on the grid, produced one of the best opening laps, gaining nine place tomoveup to seventh. The Red Bull Racing driver pulled off two brilliant moves against Kimi Raikkonen of Ferrari and team-mate Daniel Ricciardo.