Daniel Ricciardo wins the 2018 Chinese GP

Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo won the third round of the 2018 Formula 1 championship, which was held in Shanghai, China. The Australian beat Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes) and Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari) to the finish line.

Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari), who started from pole position, was leading the race until the first pit stop. Bottas started from third place on the grid and was able to pass Raikkonen before the first corner. Mercedes brought Bottas into the pits a couple of laps before the leading Ferrari and was able to undercut Vettel, when he pitted around lap 18, pushing him down to second place.

With Bottas in the lead and all the front runners on a one stop strategy, it looked like Mercedes had this race in the bag. However, it all changed when the Torro Rosso cars of Brendan Hartley and Pierre Gasly collided on lap 30. This brought out the safety car. Red Bull reacted quickly brought both its cars into the pits for soft tyres, while the rest of the field continued on medium compound tyres. This saw both the Red Bull cars making their way up the field and challenging the leaders. 

In his eagerness to pass Vettel, Max Verstappen (Red Bull) collided with the Ferrari. Verstappen was handed a 10 second penalty and finished in 5th place behind Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes). Vettel dropped to 7th place and was later passed by Fernando Alonso (McLaren) and Nico Hulkenberg (Renault). The trio finished 8th, 7th and 6th respectively. Carlos Sainz (Renault) finished in 9th place ahead of Kevin Magnussen (Haas).

The next round of the 2018 Formula 1 championship will be held in Azerbaijan on April 29, 2018.

World Drivers' Championship standings:

Sebastian Vettel - 54

Lewis Hamilton - 45

Valtteri Bottas - 40

World Constructors' Championship standings:

Mercedes - 85

Ferrari - 84

Red Bull - 55