Hamilton claims first Ferrari win with dominant sprint victory in Shanghai
Lewis Hamilton secured his first victory for Ferrari in commanding fashion on Saturday, winning the sprint race at the Chinese Grand Prix.
The seven-time world champion, who finished 10th on his Ferrari debut in Melbourne, delivered a flawless drive from pole position to take the chequered flag 6.889 seconds ahead of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen finishing third.
“That is a really, really special weekend so far,” Hamilton said. “China and Shanghai have always been really good to me since my first race here back in 2007. It’s a track that I really do love driving on. It’s hard to put into words what it feels like. Obviously, it’s a sprint race, it’s not the main race, but it’s a good stepping stone.”
Hamilton controlled the race expertly, managing tyre wear on the newly resurfaced 5.451km Shanghai International Circuit. Piastri, who overtook Verstappen in the closing laps, highlighted the challenge of tyre degradation.
“Probably one of the more difficult ones in terms of tyre degradation,” Piastri said. “So I knew I had to try and be patient.”
Verstappen, who won both the sprint and main race in China last year, admitted he struggled in the latter stages.
“Unfortunately, the last eight laps we didn’t have the pace of the others, so I was trying to survive out there,” he said.
George Russell finished fourth for Mercedes, while Charles Leclerc secured fifth for Ferrari. Championship leader Lando Norris took eighth, holding a two-point lead over Verstappen.
(Source: AFP)
