Britain's Lewis Hamilton eased to a third consecutive grand prix win in China on Sunday to reduce Nico Rosberg's championship lead to four points.
The Mercedes driver produced a master class in wet conditions to take pole on Saturday and was in a class of his own once again at the Shanghai International Circuit as he took the chequered flag 18.6 seconds ahead of teammate Rosberg.
MORE: Which NASCAR drivers could succeed in Formula One?
After winning in Malaysia and Bahrain, Hamilton set the pace once again in China to claim a third win in a row for the first time in his Formula One career.
Mercedes' dominance continued as Rosberg finished second for the third consecutive race to maintain a slender lead in the overall standings over Hamilton.
Fernando Alonso claimed Ferrari's first podium finish of the season as he took third place at the end of a turbulent week in which his close friend Stefano Domenicali was replaced by Marco Mattiacci as team principal.
There was more frustration for reigning champion Sebastian Vettel, who was not impressed with team orders to allow Daniel Ricciardo to pass him before finishing fifth, with his Australian team-mate taking fourth place.
Hamilton overtook Rosberg at Turn One in Bahrain after his team-mate had claimed his first pole of the season, but the German was unable to pull off a similar maneuver on Sunday and soon found himself back in seventh place after a collision with Valtteri Bottas.
Alonso was also involved in a clash with former team-mate Felipe Massa at the first corner, but the Spaniard was still able to move up to third after starting fifth on the grid.
Hamilton never looked back after a great start as he stretched his advantage and Rosberg recovered to move into third place on lap 22 when he passed Vettel.
The German then set about catching Alonso, who had spoken on Saturday of his optimism that the Italian team is now capable of competing with Red Bull.
Alonso also stated that there was no stopping Mercedes in dry conditions and that was evident when Rosberg moved ahead of him into second with 14 laps remaining.
Vettel suffered the humiliation of being ordered to allow Ricciardo to pass him for the second race in a row on lap 23.
The disgruntled German responded by asking what tyres his team-mate was on, then replied by saying "tough luck" on the radio after being informed that the Australian was on the same tires but had entered the pits later.
Ricciardo did pass the world champion on lap 26 and finished ahead of him once again, but there was no such drama out in front as Hamilton coasted to victory.
The 29-year-old's landmark 25th grand prix win moved him level with Niki Lauda and Jim Clark in terms of career victories and on this evidence, he will not have long to wait to surpass that illustrious duo.