Britain’s Lewis Hamilton dramatically ended world champion Sebastian Vettel’s dominant start to the 2011 season when he drove to a spectacular victory in a thrilling Chinese Grand Prix yesterday.

Lewis Hamilton, world champion in 2008, yesterday surged through the field on fresh tyres in the closing stages before brilliantly passing Sebastian Vettel with less than five laps remaining.

The win in Shanghai was the 15th victory of Hamilton’s career and brought Vettel’s recent winning streak to an end.

“I am absolutely overwhelmed,” Hamilton said, after tactically outsmarting the 23-year-old German who had pitted earlier and whose worn-out treads could not keep pace with the Briton.

“It feels like a long time since I was sitting here. I will continue to push and am looking forward to many more (victories) like this.”

Vettel started on pole but lost the lead at the first corner to Hamilton’s McLaren team-mate Jenson Button, who finished an ultimately disappointing fourth.

Vettel admitted that Red Bull’s long-stop strategy had failed but he paid tribute to Hamilton’s ­victory.

“We probably tried too hard staying on two stops,” said Vettel, winner of the season’s opening races in Australia and Malaysia.

“The middle stint should have been longer, but then you find yourself on the hard tyre and I saw Lewis coming closer and closer.

“We made a couple of mistakes and we had some problems, but still we finished second so I am very happy for that.

“Congratulations to Lewis and McLaren.”

Vettel leads the title race with 68 points with Hamilton second on 47 and Button third on 38.

There was also joy for Mark Webber who started a humiliating 18th on the grid but finished third behind his Red Bull team-mate after a near-wondrous final push, before poking fun at his colleague.

“Congratulations to Lewis. It was good that someone finally (beat Vettel),” Webber joked.

Nico Rosberg, one of several drivers who looked a possible winner after leading during the race, brought his Mercedes home in fifth place ahead of Felipe Massa of Ferrari and his team-mate, Fernando Alonso who was seventh.

On a clear day of blue skies and mild temperatures, there was drama for Hamilton before the start when his car failed to fire up in the McLaren garage, forcing it to be rapidly stripped down and repaired. He only made it to the grid with 35 seconds to spare.

But Hamilton remained calm and made a good start from third place on the grid, moving up into second after pole-sitter Vettel struggled to pull away.

Rosberg enjoyed a lead of more than four seconds ahead of Vettel until he pitted again alongside Hamilton, Webber and Button.

All of this chaotic action, Button also pitting at the Red Bull box by mistake, left Vettel out in front leading Massa by three seconds at the half-way mark of the 56-laps race.

Vettel made his second stop after 31 laps to give Massa the lead ahead of Rosberg and then the Brazilian himself pitted after 33 laps and emerged on a set of hard tyres.

But Hamilton clawed his way back and having sped his way through the field he passed Vettel at turn six on lap 52, going on to win.

Result at Shanghai circuit...

1. Lewis Hamilton (McLaren) - 1hr 36mins 58.226secs
2. Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull) at 5.198
3. Mark Webber (Red Bull) at 7.555
4. Jenson Button (McLaren) at 10.000
5. Nico Rosberg (Mercedes GP) at 13.448
6. Felipe Massa (Ferrari) at 15.840
7. Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) at 30.622
8. Michael Schumacher (Mercedes GP) at 31.026
9. Vitaly Petrov (Lotus-Renault) at 57.404
10. Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber) at 1:03.273
11. Paul di Resta (Force India) at 1:08.757
12. Nick Heidfeld (Lotus-Renault) at 1:12.739
13. Rubens Barrichello (Williams F1) at 1:30.189
14. Sebastien Buemi (Toro Rosso) at 1:30.671
15. Adrian Sutil (Force India) at 1 lap
16. Heikki Kovalainen (Lotus) at 1 lap
17. Sergio Perez (Sauber) at 1 lap
18. Pastor Maldonado (Williams F1) at 1 lap
19. Jarno Trulli (Lotus) at 1 lap
20. Jerome d’Ambrosio (Virgin Racing) at 2 laps
21. Timo Glock (Virgin Racing) at 2 laps
22. Narain Karthikeyan (Hispania) at 2 laps
23. Vitantonio Liuzzi (Hispania) at 2 laps

Fastest lap: Mark Webber – 1.38.993. Next race: Turkey GP, May 8.

Overall standings

Drivers
1. Vettel 68 points, 2. Hamilton 47, 3. Button 38, 4. Webber 37, 5. Alonso 26, 6. Massa 24, 7. Petrov 17, 8. Heidfeld 15, 9. Rosberg 10, 10. Kobayashi 7, 11. Schumacher 6, 12. Buemi 4, 13. Sutil 2, 14. Di Resta 2.

Constructors
1. Red Bull 105 points, 2. McLaren 85, 3. Ferrari 50, 4. Lotus-Renault 32, 5. Mercedes GP 16, 6. Sauber 7, 7. Toro Rosso 4, 8. Force India 4.