Hamilton looking to get back on track

Lewis Hamilton will start the Chinese Grand Prix with an improbable dream; to win every Formula One race from here until the last round in Abu Dhabi.

Nineteen victories from 19 starts? Even for Hamilton that is beyond the bounds of possibility, but his Shanghai statement of intent demonstrates a need to get his derailed title defence firmly back on track.

Hamilton’s chief championship protagonist Sebastian Vettel boasts a perfect record from the opening two rubbers, and holds a 17-point lead over the Briton.

No driver can match Hamilton’s record of five wins in Shanghai and no team can match Mercedes’ four-year dominance in which they have won every race staged since 2014. It has also been six seasons since a non-mercedes car last started from pole position.

Lewis Hamilton completed a practice double yesterday.

But Hamilton’s slim advantage over Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen at an overcast Shanghai International Circuit suggests the Mercedes driver may not have it all his own way this weekend.

While defending champion Hamilton was a third of a second clear of Raikkonen in the day’s opening running, the margin at the conclusion of the second session stood at only seven-thousandths.

Hamilton’s Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas, under pressure following a middling display in Bahrain a week ago, was third, just 0.033 sec off the pace, while Sebastian Vettel was also only one-tenth down.

As both Mercedes and Ferrari cars seemingly teed up a shoot-out for pole position today, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen finished fifth in the order.

Lewis Hamilton is looking to make up ground on Sebastian Vettel in Shanghai. Picture: Getty.