F1 Chinese GP: Hamilton delivers first Ferrari win in sprint race

Lewis Hamilton dominated the sprint race at the Chinese Grand Prix, winning from pole to take his first Formula 1 victory for Ferrari.

In a 19-lap race where tyre wear became talk of the town, Hamilton benefitted from driving in clear air to convert sprint pole into a win to add to his six grand prix successes in Shanghai.

Oscar Piastri was a distant second, almost seven seconds further down the road while Max Verstappen rounded out the top three.

Championship leader Lando Norris endured a tough race, having qualified out of position down in sixth and spent almost the entire race trying to get into the points following another mistake on the first lap.

The leading pack all started well and ran in order, other than Norris who ran wide at Turn 6 and lost three places as a result.

George Russell edged past Charles Leclerc by the end of the first lap to go up to fourth as Norris failed to make any headway in regaining places, with Lance Stroll able to keep the Australian Grand Prix winner behind him.

Liam Lawson, trying to recover having started last in the second Red Bull, banged wheels with fellow rookie Jack Doohan to pass the Alpine but was cleared following a stewards’ investigation.

Out front, Hamilton was complaining of graining on the troublesome front-left tyre, with Norris also unhappy with the state of his rubber.

Tyre management took centre stage as Verstappen had a couple of laps putting pressure on Hamilton before dropping off.

That put him into the clutches of Piastri, who was able to mount a longer offence and eventually got through into second at the end of lap 15.

Hamilton, though, had built up a gap while Verstappen and Piastri squabbled and was almost five seconds clear heading into the final two laps.

The 40-year-old soaked in the adulation of the Chinese crowd after taking the chequered flag, with Ferrari team-mate Leclerc unable to fight back ahead of Russell, who finished fourth for Mercedes.

Yuki Tsunoda put in a strong showing to take sixth for Racing Bulls, fending off Andrea Kimi Antonelli as Norris found a way past Stroll to take eighth place and the final sprint race point.

F1 Chinese GP – Sprint race results

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Cla	Driver	#		Laps	Time	Interval	km/h	Pits	Points	Retirement	Chassis	Engine
1	L. HamiltonFerrari	44		19	–				8		Ferrari	Ferrari
2	O. PiastriMcLaren	81		19	+6.889 6.889	6.889			7		McLaren	Mercedes
3	M. VerstappenRed Bull Racing	1		19	+9.804 9.804	2.915			6		Red Bull	Red Bull
4	G. RussellMercedes	63		19	+11.592 11.592	1.788			5		Mercedes	Mercedes
5	C. LeclercFerrari	16		19	+12.190 12.190	0.598			4		Ferrari	Ferrari
6	Y. TsunodaRacing Bulls	22		19	+22.288 22.288	10.098			3		RB	Honda
7	A. AntonelliMercedes	12		19	+23.038 23.038	0.750			2		Mercedes	Mercedes
8	L. NorrisMcLaren	4		19	+23.471 23.471	0.433			1		McLaren	Mercedes
9	L. StrollAston Martin Racing	18		19	+24.916 24.916	1.445					Aston Martin	Mercedes
10	F. AlonsoAston Martin Racing	14		19	+38.218 38.218	13.302					Aston Martin	Mercedes
11	A. AlbonWilliams	23		19	+39.292 39.292	1.074					Williams	Mercedes
12	P. GaslyAlpine	10		19	+39.649 39.649	0.357					Alpine	Renault
13	I. HadjarRacing Bulls	6		19	+42.400 42.400	2.751					RB	Honda
14	L. LawsonRed Bull Racing	30		19	+44.904 44.904	2.504					Red Bull	Red Bull
15	O. BearmanHaas F1 Team	87		19	+45.649 45.649	0.745					Haas	Ferrari
16	E. OconHaas F1 Team	31		19	+46.182 46.182	0.533					Haas	Ferrari
17	C. SainzWilliams	55		19	+51.376 51.376	5.194		1			Williams	Mercedes
18	G. BortoletoSauber	5		19	+53.940 53.940	2.564					Sauber	Ferrari
19	N. HulkenbergSauber	27		19	+56.682 56.682	2.742					Sauber	Ferrari
20	J. DoohanAlpine	7		19	+1’00.212 1’00.212	3.530					Alpine	Renault
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