Speaking of Vettel, who scored his fifth China podium, Hamilton is now level pegging with the German at the top of the drivers’ standings – the first time two drivers have been tied since 2012 when Vettel and Fernando Alonso were locked together on 61 points following the Spanish Grand Prix.

Max Verstappen had an extraordinary race from 16th on the grid to third, ensuring a Mercedes-Ferrari-Red Bull top three for the second year in a row (in fact, the order of teams in the top five was the same as 2016, with Daniel Ricciardo finishing fourth again for Red Bull and Kimi Raikkonen scoring another fifth for Ferrari).