On 9 April 2017, Lewis Hamilton produced one of those weekends that leave very little room for debate. At the Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai, he started from pole, led every lap, set the fastest lap and won, completing a full Grand Slam while also drawing level with Alain Prost on 106 Formula 1 podiums. In a sport that rarely allows total control, Hamilton made it look almost tidy.
The race itself was not especially calm. The track began in tricky, damp conditions, the opening phase was shaped by tyre calls and safety-car interruptions, and plenty was happening behind him. None of it really touched Hamilton. He led away cleanly, stayed in command as the circuit dried, and never looked under serious threat on his way to a fifth win in China.
This was not merely another Hamilton win, and by 2017 there were already quite a few of those. It was the complete set: pole on Saturday, fastest lap on Sunday, every lap led, victory at the flag. Formula 1 officially marked it as the third Grand Slam of his career, a measure of dominance that sounds slightly old-fashioned and remains brutally hard to achieve.
The extra weight came from the number attached to the podium. By finishing first, Hamilton reached his 106th rostrum in Formula 1 and moved level with Alain Prost on the all-time list. For a driver still in the thick of his career, that was a reminder that he was no longer just building a record of his own. He was steadily walking into the sport’s older furniture and rearranging it.
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