Three-time world champion Lewis Hamilton has predicted that his fight with Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel at the Bahrain Grand Prix will be 'one of the closest'.
Hamilton on Sunday drove a masterful race to win the Chinese Grand Prix at the Shanghai International Circuit.
The Brit never let anyone get close to him as he motored towards his first win of 2017 ahead of Vettel.
Vettel recovered from a mishap-filled start to finish in second place, 6.2 seconds behind the Mercedes driver.
After his win in Shanghai, the Briton said, "It is very, very close. There were times when Sebastian put laps in and it was hard to match it. Then there were other times in the race when I was quicker."
"It's going to be one of the closest if not the closest fight I've experienced," Sport24 quoted him as saying.
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Now with each Hamilton and Vettel winning a grand prix in 2017, one can expect a fierce battle between the two at the third race of the season to be held this weekend in Bahrain.
The analysis however shows that Ferrari is better in warmer conditions while the Mercedes prefers the cold.
"The cold helped us here," said Hamilton after his win in China.
But his boss Toto Wolff insisted that he doesn't see "pattern so far".