Lewis Hamilton claimed his first victory as a Ferrari driver in the Chinese Grand Prix sprint race, outpacing old rival Max Verstappen by 6.8 seconds at the checkered flag. The seven-time champion secured his win despite struggling with the new team’s car and facing criticism from some quarters.
Hamilton started strongly and maintained a gap over Verstappen for the first 10 laps before the Red Bull driver began to struggle with front tire issues. Meanwhile, Oscar Piastri passed Verstappen for second place on Lap 15 but ultimately finished behind Hamilton.
The win marks Hamilton’s first victory in F1’s sprint format since its introduction in 2021 and provides renewed hope for a championship battle after Ferrari struggled at the opening round in Australia. The team is set to face off against McLaren, which dominated the Melbourne event.
Hamilton praised his engineers and mechanics for fine-tuning the car, saying he had felt comfortable from Lap 1. He also acknowledged that adapting to a new team would be challenging, citing criticism and misconceptions about his experience as a reason for feeling underappreciated.
In other results, Lando Norris finished eighth for McLaren, scoring one point despite starting sixth in qualifying and making mistakes early in the race. George Russell secured fourth place for Mercedes after passing Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari at Turn 14 on the opening lap.
Source: https://www.espn.com/f1/story/_/id/44315860/dominant-lewis-hamilton-wins-sprint