His Shanghai victory means he is poised to grab the world championship title in Brazil in two weeks’ time. Trackside’s Keith Collantine explains.

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Last year Lewis Hamilton’s championship campaign began to fall apart in China when an infamous botched pit stop call left him stuck in a gravel trap.

But on his second visit to the Shanghai International Circuit, Hamilton routed the opposition in a demonstration of total superiority.

He had arrived at the circuit under a cloud following a poor performance in the Japanese Grand Prix. A controversial penalty for a first-corner run-in with Kimi Raikkonen had ruined his race.

Hamilton dominates

But from the moment practice began in China on Friday, Hamilton was on top form. He was comfortably fastest in both practice sessions.

The only time during the weekend Hamilton’s name was not at the top of the time sheets was when a late flying lap from BMW’s Nick Heidfeld bumped Hamilton down to second in final practice on Saturday.

Later that day Hamilton claimed the 13th pole position of his career after being fastest in all three parts of qualifying.

The Ferraris of Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa lined up behind him. Fernando Alonso claimed fourth – having earlier declared his desire to help Massa beat Hamilton to the title.

The prospects of another edgy first-lap duel between Hamilton and the Ferraris vanished as soon as the race began. Hamilton got off to a flier, and while Raikkonen gave chase Massa couldn’t even keep up with his team mate.

Ferrari swap

This gave Ferrari something of a dilemma late in the race as Raikkonen extended his lead over Massa to eight seconds. Yet the Italian team needed Massa ahead to score maximum points as Raikkonen was no longer in the hunt for the title.

Raikkonen therefore spent much of the second stint backing off so Massa could catch up, and eventually allowed the Brazilian driver to pass him.

Hamilton won the race with ease, setting fastest lap on the way. It gave him only the second ‘treble’ – pole position, fastest lap and victory – of his career.

More importantly, it puts him in control heading into the final round. A fifth place finish at Brazil will make him F1’s youngest ever world champion.