Lewis Hamilton: third consecutive race win a dream

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Lewis Hamilton said it was a "dream" to have won three consecutive races with Mercedes this season.

Hamilton dominated the Chinese Grand Prix to finish ahead of team-mate Nico Rosberg and Ferrari's Fernando Alonso.

Hamilton said: "It felt amazing. I can't describe the feeling. The car felt great. I'm just forever grateful.

"I couldn't be happier. What an incredible job the team has done. It's a dream to be winning races. Let's keep pushing. I can do better."

Hamilton is in his second season with Mercedes after deciding to leave McLaren at the end of 2012. He made the move as he felt Mercedes would be in a better position to exploit the new rules that have been introduced this year, which focus on turbo hybrid engines and fuel efficiency.

"I always believed in my decision when I moved here, and I could never have imagined it would be as good as it is," he said.

"The team have done such an incredible job that I'm really able to exploit my abilities. I can't remember when I've had such a good car that I'm able to put the car where I want to put it.

"It's different from race to race, win to win. Today, just pulling away was obviously the plan, and it worked out that way. I'm driving the best I've driven but the team have produced an incredible car."

Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,

Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg have won all of the races this season between them.

Although Hamilton has won three races this season to Rosberg's one, the Englishman is still trailing his team-mate in the championship by four points.

That's because Hamilton retired from the first race of the season, whereas Rosberg has finished second in Hamilton's three subsequent victories.

"Three wins is incredible. I'm sure it's a little bit of a statement," Hamilton said.

"There is a long, long way to go. The deal we have with the team is we want to race each other and I've never asked or demanded to be a number one. I just let my results speak for themselves.

"In this racing business it's all psychological, it's all about positive energy, a psychological battle you're having with yourself and the people you're competing with.

"Nico's very, very fast but I'm grateful I've been able to put some really good performances in, but I owe it to the team."

Rosberg had to battle back up to second after falling to sixth from fourth on the grid on the opening lap following a bad start caused by a telemetry failure.

The German said he was confident he could take the fight to Hamilton at the next race in Spain on 9-11 May.

"The tide is just in terms of results on his side, it's not in terms of pace. So from that point of view I look forward to Barcelona," Rosberg said.

"I am very confident about Barcelona, pace-wise. I need to get a good discussion with the team and nail the weekend, make sure more things go right than wrong."

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