Shanghai: Ferrari's Fernando Alonso pipped out Kimi Raikkonen of Lotus by 10 seconds to win the Chinese Grand Prix on Sunday. Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes finished third, just two tenths of a second ahead world champion Sebastian Vettel.
Red Bull's Vettel retains the championship lead after three of 19 races, but his advantage is now just three points over Raikkonen, with Alonso moving up to third, ahead of Hamilton.
Fernando Alonso said after winning the race that things couldn’t have gone better for him. “I hadn’t won since Germany and this has a special feeling because it was a tricky race full of action. Along with the second place I got in Australia, this result shows that the car is competitive and that we are working in the right direction to always be in the fight for the podium. For that, I have to thank the team for the huge efforts it has made both here and back in the factory,” said Alonsoadding that qualifying third gave them the possibility of fighting for the top places.
“With no one dominating the Championship, it makes it extremely interesting, even if we are aware this is only the third race. We are under no illusions and we must continue to concentrate and do all we can to improve still further,” added Alonso.
The victory was Alonso's 31st career win, moving him equal with Nigel Mansell on the all-time list, behind only Michael Schumacher, Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna.
By ISN
