Formula One: Alonso triumphs in China

The Spaniard finished 10 seconds ahead of Kimi Raikkonen, who was in second place while Lewis Hamilton, who started on pole, had to settle for third spot on the podium.

Alonso gave a faultless performance here after he crashed out in the previous race in Malaysia as he made up for lost points.

Reigning champion Sebastian Vettel mounted a late charge on Hamilton but had to settle for fourth spot in the end, while McLaren’s Jenson Button was in fifth.

Alonso said: "It was a fantastic race for us, from the start to the end.

"After Malaysia we had pressure to finish the race — the start of this 2013 campaign is looking very good so we are very optimistic.

"You always push, it's impossible not to push when you are thinking about the state of the tyres. We hope we can push on in Bahrain."

Hamilton added: "I'm really happy with the result and happy with the points.

"Unfortunately we didn't have quite the pace that these two had, but I'm very happy to be on the podium again."

Source: thesun.co.uk / by BEN HUNT