An embarrassing blunder gifted Lewis Hamilton a hat-trick of wins at the F1 Chinese Grand Prix Sunday after a steward brought out the chequered flag two laps early.
Kamui Kobayashi was demoted to 18th place and his late pass on Jules Bianchi was cancelled after the mistake forced a hasty revision of finishing times and race distance.
Hamilton led from start to finish and secured his third-straight victory after successes in Malaysia and Bahrain. He also became the first driver to win the crown three times in Shanghai.
