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Great rivalries and great seasons often go hand in hand. The rivalry between Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel is shaping up to being one of the best. 

Excited for the rest of the season? You betcha.

On to Bahrain next in just five days' time. See you there.

Focus is always on the race winner but worth noting Sergio Perez's performance. Another great drive from a very talented driver.

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Definitely a bromance.

It's clear to see Lewis Hamilton is enjoying this tussle with Sebastian Vettel but he insisted it is NOT a bromance.

"There's no bromance," he said. "There is a hugely respectful competitiveness and I am looking forward to more battles."

Andrew Benson
Chief F1 writer

There were a number of great performances - Hamilton was sublime in the lead, Vettel excellent in attack-recovery mode, Alonso dragging his recalcitrant McLaren into the points, Carlos Sainz impressive in the Toro Rosso. But it’s hard to look beyond Verstappen - 16th to ninth on the opening lap, the usual plethora of great passes, embarrassing Ricciardo in the early laps, and holding on for a podium in a car with difficult balance because of lack of track time in qualifying.

Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas, who finished sixth:  "We all had a tricky start making the call on the tyres and there as an issue with the pit stop but that was no big drama. 

"Then, behind the safety car, I was trying to keep the heat in the tyres but I made a mistake and spun. After that was tricky to get the tyres back and after that stupid mistake of mine I couldn't make up the time.

"I am glad it's just one week until the next race instead of two."

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Lewis Hamilton says he is expecting this to be the closest title race he's ever been involved in.

Surely not forgetting 2008, Lewis. Last lap? Going to be tough to top that.

Unless you beat Sebastian Vettel by 1000th of a second.

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Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner:  "We made the right strategic calls today. 

"We got ahead of the Ferarris but didn't have the pace to stay there. 

"It was great to see straight racing between the Max and Daniel and it was a fantastic drive from Max to go from 16th to second". 

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A quick word from Christian Horner... 

Jamie Squibbs: Spectacular drive by @LewisHamilton, external Love this new F1! Would rather just a few organic overtakes than many DRS/tyre manipulated ones.

Jerimiah Kariuki: Unlike last season where we had very artificial smiles on the podium, this time around, very natural and warm smiles! 

Denisov Lietnev:  Brilliant race from Verstappen and he's definitely a future world champion.

Here's hoping, Lewis.

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Final word from Lewis Hamilton: "I think this will be one of the closest ones if not the closest I have experienced. 

"Ferrari have done a great job and it is great that we are both pushing."

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Max Verstappen, who finished third:  "It was a very challenging race but I really enjoyed it. I think I overtook nine cars in the opening lap so it was a very good race for me! 

"I didn't have a lot of track time this weekend because didn't do much in qualifying so I wasn't expecting to finish on the podium having started in 16th. 

"I was getting a little frustrated at the end as I wanted clear air to try and push harder but in the end I still finished on the podium so I can't complain!"

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Sebastian Vettel, who finished second: "The safety car came just as I was about to start to feel the dry tyres were a lot quicker but then I had a very exciting race. I was stuck in the train for a little while but then tried to chase down Lewis Hamilton. It was a good match. It was good fun.

"My target was to catch Lewis, I was getting angry behind the train, I felt I could go faster in these conditions so I felt I had to try it on Daniel Ricciardo. On the exit I was a bit compromised, I had my elbows out, he really squeezed me, but good fun."

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Race winner Lewis Hamilton: ""It was incredible. Thanks to all of you. It's such a great crowd here in Shanghai. It was tough for all of us today. But it was a great job by my team and Sebastian and this dude (Verstappen).

"Big thanks to this team - my own staff and the team back in the factory. This race is so real and exciting and we were matching times so if there wasn't safety car as it would have been a lot closer."

Banter between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen.

Hamilton acknowledges Verstappen's stunning drive by saying: "This dude!"

"This guy," says Max. "You always call me this guy."

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Up on the podium, it is Martin Brundle to conduct the interviews.

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