Lewis Hamilton has finished ahead of Sebastian Vettel at the Chinese Grand Prix to move level with the Ferrari driver at the top of the championship standings.

Vettel came out on top in Australia a fortnight ago but there was to be no stopping Hamilton in the Far East, as he dominated proceedings and finished more than six seconds ahead of his closest challenger.

The Mercedes ace navigated the wet and smoggy circuit well, controlling the race from the front throughout and getting over the line in a comfortable manner for his first triumph of 2017.

Red Bull's Max Verstappen produced another promising display, meanwhile, challenging the race leader early on and then successfully managing to hold off teammate Daniel Ricciardo late on to finish in third place.

Hamilton's Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas did not fare as well, with a slow start seeing him drop to 12th before recovering somewhat to claim sixth behind Kimi Raikkonen.

Fernando Alonso of McLaren was one of five drivers not to finish, having encountered a problem with his driveshaft when looking good value to finish in his position at the time of seventh place.

1. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
2. Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari)
3. Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
4. Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull)
5. Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari)
6. Valtteri Bottas (Williams)
7. Carlos Sainz (Toro Rosso)
8. Kevin Magnussen (Haas)
9. Sergio Perez (Force India)
10. Esteban Ocon (Force India)
11. Romain Grosjean (Haas)
12. Nico Hulkenberg (Renault)
13. Jolyon Palmer (Renault)
14. Felipe Massa (Williams)
15. Marcus Ericsson (Sauber)
DNF. Fernando Alonso (McLaren)
DNF. Daniil Kvyat (Toro Rosso)
DNF. Stoffel Vandoorne (McLaren)
DNF. Antonio Giovinazzi (Sauber)
DNF. Lance Stroll (Williams)