Hamilton treating F1's 1,000th race like any other

Lewis Hamilton will not treat this weekend's Chinese Grand Prix any differently to any other race, even though it is Formula One's 1,000th.

Formula One will celebrate its 1,000th race at the Chinese Grand Prix this weekend but the milestone means nothing to defending champion Lewis Hamilton.

Hamilton and Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas each have a first and second-place finish from the opening two rounds of the 2019 season, giving them an early advantage over their rivals from Ferrari and Red Bull.

A five-time winner in China, Hamilton is keen to add to that tally on Sunday - though only to continue his impressive start, and not by way of celebrating the sport's landmark.

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"It's not really any different to any other race to me," he said at a media event in Shanghai on Wednesday.

"We are here to do a job and of course it's a milestone for the sport but that's really kind of it."

Bottas expects Ferrari to provide another challenge in China, the Italian team having dominated in Bahrain before Charles Leclerc's engine gave in and Sebastian Vettel made a costly mistake.

"We saw the second race already, it's so competitive now, Ferrari's super-strong," said the Finn.

"I think we won the race in Bahrain by reliability, not by speed, but in this sport, you need both. 

"I expect the Chinese Grand Prix to be a tough battle with Ferrari, I think they are super-strong, they are very quick, we are also working hard to improve our package."