Dubai: Lewis Hamilton knocked Sebastian Vettel off the top step of the podium for the first time this season with a brilliant display in China.
In a fitting climax to a scintillating, Hamilton used a three-stop strategy to overhaul his two-stopping Red Bull rival and snatch the lead with four-and-a-half laps remaining.
Contrasting tyre strategies and overtaking galore were the twin elements of a race that was never less than enthralling.
After initially making no real headway from 18th on the grid, Vettel's teammate Mark Webber drove like a man possessed from his first pit stop onwards and gobbled up a succession of cars in the closing laps to snatch a brilliant third place.
Jenson Button led the opening stages and for much of the afternoon looked the more likely McLaren driver to contend for the win, but he couldn't match Hamilton's pace and overtaking prowess when it came to the crunch and had to yield third place to the charging Webber on the penultimate lap.
Results
- 1. Lewis Hamilton (McLaren) 1h 36m 58.226s
- 2. Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull) +5.1s
- 3. Mark Webber (Red Bull) +7.5s
Turkish Grand Prix
Red Bull earned their first one-two of a dominant season as Sebastian Vettel coasted to victory and Mark Webber won an exciting battle to take second place.
Vettel left his squabbling rivals in his wake to increase his early drivers' championship lead to 34 points, while teammate Webber eventually edged a battle with an impressive Fernando Alonso to finish a season-best second.
The German claimed the final place back from Jenson Button late on as the McLaren man's gamble on three stops compared to the leaders' four failed to pay dividends.
