SHANGHAI — Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton captured his third straight Formula One race with ease on Sunday, leading from start to finish to win the Chinese Grand Prix.

Mercedes showed again that it’s in a different class from its rivals, with Hamilton’s teammate Nico Rosberg taking second place — the third time in four races this season the pair have finished one-two.

“This is a team on a roll, that’s for sure,” Hamilton said. “I’m going to be working hard, we’re going to keep working hard because obviously the others are pushing to catch us.”

Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso held off fast-charging Red Bull driver Daniel Ricciardo to finish third and give his team its first podium finish of the year, with new team principal Marco Mattiacci watching from the garage.

Hamilton’s win gave him his first career hat trick following his victories in Malaysia and Bahrain.

Hamilton was cruising so comfortably at the end of Sunday’s race that he actually lost track of how many laps he had left.

“That was very strange,” he said. “I was coming across the line expecting to do another lap and, all of a sudden, I looked for a split second and I saw the (checkered) flag.”