In his Mercedes FO108v-powered McLaren MP4-23, Lewis Hamilton took a huge step in becoming the 2008 Formula 1 World Champion by racing away to a lights to flag victory in the 2008 Formula 1 Sinopec Chinese Grand Prix at the 3.387-mile, 16-turn Shanghai International Circuit. Placing second and third, respectively, in their Ferrari F2008's were team mates Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen. The Finn and current World Champion was able to keep Massa behind him for the majority of the 56 lap race, however with seven laps remaining, he waved Massa by to help keep Massa in the title hunt. With only the Brazilian Grand Prix remaining, Hamilton now enjoys a seven-point lead over the Brazilian.

Right from the onset, it was clear to see Hamilton had the fastest car on the grid, the Briton immediately building a lead over the hard charging Raikkonen. Massa was well back in third. In fact at his first pit stop on lap number 14, Massa was already 14 seconds adrift of Hamilton and Raikkonen. As the race continued on and the final pit stops were complete, Hamilton was nine seconds ahead of Raikkonen and 14 seconds ahead of Massa and as he neared the finish, Hamilton was upwards of 16 seconds clear of the off-song Ferrari's.

"It was quite straightforward,” Hamilton said after climbing form the McLaren’s cockpit.. “It was a great start, one of the best we have had this year. I got into Turn 1 clear, took it easy the first few corners and then I started to build the gap.

"Fortunately we were very consistent, every lap was faster,” he added. “I was able to create a gap and from there it was pretty smooth sailing."

In his RS27-powered Renault R28, former champion Fernando Alonso finished a distant fourth. McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen ran with Alonso for a time, but a punctured tire ruined his outing, the Finn eventually retiring from the race. BMW-Sauber drivers Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica wound up fifth and sixth. A clever one-stop pit strategy allowed Timo Glock to race his Toyota TF108 to seventh overall, one spot ahead of Renault's Nelson Piquet.

With only the 71-lap Brazilian Grand Prix at the 2.677-mile Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace in Sao Paulo, Brazil remaining on the 2008 F1 calendar, Hamilton is now seven points clear of Massa. Even though things look dire for Massa, Anything can still happen. Lewis Hamilton lost the title at the very same circuit last year, but will be hoping for a trouble free race in two weeks time.

"We saw Lewis was a bit stronger in the beginning of the race, I mean he was stronger the whole weekend,” said Massa in China. “He started to pulling away in the beginning, maybe two or three tenths per lap, and this for sure made his race much more comfortable and for us we were completely driving on the limit trying to reduce the gap, but it was not possible. We tried to push, as Kimi was trying to push, to get closer to Lewis, but today unfortunately, Lewis had a better car for the whole weekend."

Eric Johnson