Vettel had been out-qualified for pole position by Ferrari team-mate Kimi Raikkonen, who led the first phase of the race up until the pitstops.

It was here that Vettel pounced, delivering a string of quick laps to leapfrog Raikkonen during their pitstops. The German was unchallenged from there.

Daniel Ricciardo took what was an excellent third place. To get there he had to jump ahead of both Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas and his own team-mate Max Verstappen, the Australian delivering the required quick laps to get the job done.

Ricciardo was fortunate to escape damage in the final charge to the flag when he hit the fence while fending off Bottas and Verstappen. It was the Ricciardo's second podium result in as many races.

Bottas held on for fourth ahead of Verstappen, who was unable to find a way by the Mercedes despite enjoying much fresher tyres.

Hamilton salvaged seventh place on a weekend to forget for the Mercedes ace. The Briton was never comfortable all weekend, and a combination of a lack of pace and crash-shortened Q2 qualifying session saw him start the race 13th.

On a circuit noted for the extreme difficulty it presents for overtaking, Hamilton was lucky simply to scrape into a points-paying result.

Victory for Vettel marks the Ferrari driver’s third win in the six races held so far. Remarkably, he has not finished lower than second place so far in 2017.

The Formula 1 teams head to Montreal in two weeks for the Canadian Grand Prix.