Daniel Ricciardo wins as Lewis Hamilton finds himself “in no-man’s land” at the Chinese Grand Prix.
Hamilton finished fourth as Valtteri Bottas won the second place and Kimi Raikkonen found himself third on podium.
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen collided with Sebastian Vettel, which reduces the difference by 8 points between Mercedes and Ferrari.
The British driver was more concerned about not having enough fire in his machine to be in the game rather than acing the pole position.
He expressed his concerns, “I just didn’t have the pace. I have to figure out what it is. I can’t have disaster weekends like this.”
Mercedes has been in the spot light for the title. In last two races, title defender had been out performed by his Finnish team mate Bottas.
“I was in no-man’s land, I had no pace. I was trying to hold on for whatever I had,” said the British driver who struggled to retain the best possible position.
Hamilton expressed his displeasure with his team over their inefficient response to the situation generated by the safety car for the second time this season. Safety car deployment in mid-race provided Red Bull with an opportunity to change tyres.
Both Verstappen and Ricciardo returned on track with fresh pieces, while Hamilton remained on track with the old tyres. Ricciardo made his way from sixth position to top after multiple chases.
Hamilton said, “It is a tough battle ahead of us. From my side and also the team, we have been underperforming.
“Yesterday and today have been a disaster on my side. I have to try to rectify that and get myself back in normal performance mode or more points will be lost.
“[I’m] thankful for a couple of incidents ahead, otherwise more valuable points would be lost. That kind of kept us in the battle.
Toto Wolff, Mercedes F1 Executive Director, said: “The whole weekend we were not good enough. We just need to get our act together.
“He was, like the car, maybe not in the best place this weekend. He is the best driver in my opinion. But also the best ones have days where it is just not 100% and if underneath you have a car that is not performing as expected and tyres not doing what you think they should and the strategy goes against you, then everything just goes in the wrong direction.”
