Hamilton wins Chinese Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton drove a near-perfect race in Shanghai today to win the Chinese Grand Prix, bringing himself closer to a first world championship.

Hamilton won by 14.9 seconds from Ferrari's Felipe Massa to move to the brink of the F1 title with only one race remaining. Hamilton claimed his fifth win of the season and ninth of his 34-race career, and goes into the Brazil Grand Prix in two weeks' time with a seven-point lead.

Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen finished third, meaning the Italian team pushed its advantage in the constructors' championship to 11 points.

BMW's Robert Kubica was sixth, ending his championship chances.

Hamilton described his victory as "another step towards my dream". He told a press conference: "This is another step to the championship and towards my dream and towards my team's dream.

"The team deserve it. We've worked really hard."

The control Hamilton showed in Shanghai was in stark contrast to his travails in Fuji last week when he trailed in 12th after a mistake at the first corner.

"Our approach to this race was right," continued Hamilton. "It wasn't to go out and win everything in this race - it was to look at both races and score as many points collectively.

"Going to Brazil, it will be a much different situation to last year. We will be a lot more competitive than we are here. So that's comforting. We know we've got to do a good job. It will be tough, these two (Massa and Raikonnen) will be pushing us hard."

Provisional result of the Chinese Formula One Grand Prix in Shanghai:

1. Lewis Hamilton (Britain) McLaren 1:31:57.403

2. Felipe Massa (Brazil) Ferrari +00:14.925

3. Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) Ferrari 00:16.445

4. Fernando Alonso (Spain) Renault 00:18.370

5. Nick Heidfeld (Germany) BMW Sauber 00:28.923

6. Robert Kubica (Poland) BMW Sauber 00:33.219

7. Timo Glock (Germany) Toyota 00:41.722

8. Nelson Piquet (Brazil) Renault 00:56.645

9. Sebastian Vettel (Germany) Toro Rosso 01:04.339

10. David Coulthard (Britain) Red Bull 01:14.842

11. Rubens Barrichello (Brazil) Honda 01:25.061

12. Kazuki Nakajima (Japan) Williams 01:30.847

13. Sebastien Bourdais (France) Toro Rosso 01:31.457

14. Mark Webber (Australia) Red Bull 01:32.422

15. Nico Rosberg (Germany) Williams 1 lap

16. Jenson Button (Britain) Honda 1 lap

17. Giancarlo Fisichella (Italy) Force India 1 lap

r. Heikki Kovalainen (Finland) McLaren 7 laps

r. Adrian Sutil (Germany) Force India 43 laps

r. Jarno Trulli (Italy) Toyota 54 laps

(rank: r = retired, nc = not classified)

Fastest Lap: Lewis Hamilton, 1:36.325, lap 13.