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F1 Chinese GP: Hamilton dominates for 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.

Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari (Photo by: Greg Baker - AFP - Getty Images)

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

   
1
 - 
5
   
   
1
 - 
2
   
Cla Driver # Laps Time Interval km/h Pits Points Retirement Chassis Engine
1 United Kingdom L. Hamilton Ferrari 44 19

-

      8   Ferrari Ferrari
2 Australia O. Piastri McLaren 81 19

+6.889

6.889

6.889     7   McLaren Mercedes
3 Netherlands M. Verstappen Red Bull Racing 1 19

+9.804

9.804

2.915     6   Red Bull Red Bull
4 United Kingdom G. Russell Mercedes 63 19

+11.592

11.592

1.788     5   Mercedes Mercedes
5 Monaco C. Leclerc Ferrari 16 19

+12.190

12.190

0.598     4   Ferrari Ferrari
6 Japan Y. Tsunoda RB 22 19

+22.288

22.288

10.098     3   RB Honda
7 Italy A. Antonelli Mercedes 12 19

+23.038

23.038

0.750     2   Mercedes Mercedes
8 United Kingdom L. Norris McLaren 4 19

+23.471

23.471

0.433     1   McLaren Mercedes
9 Canada L. Stroll Aston Martin Racing 18 19

+24.916

24.916

1.445         Aston Martin Mercedes
10 Spain F. Alonso Aston Martin Racing 14 19

+38.218

38.218

13.302         Aston Martin Mercedes
11 Thailand A. Albon Williams 23 19

+39.292

39.292

1.074         Williams Mercedes
12 France P. Gasly Alpine 10 19

+39.649

39.649

0.357         Alpine Renault
13 France I. Hadjar RB 6 19

+42.400

42.400

2.751         RB Honda
14 New Zealand L. Lawson Red Bull Racing 30 19

+44.904

44.904

2.504         Red Bull Red Bull
15 United Kingdom O. Bearman Haas F1 Team 87 19

+45.649

45.649

0.745         Haas Ferrari
16 France E. Ocon Haas F1 Team 31 19

+46.182

46.182

0.533         Haas Ferrari
17 Spain C. Sainz Williams 55 19

+51.376

51.376

5.194   1     Williams Mercedes
18 Brazil G. Bortoleto Sauber 5 19

+53.940

53.940

2.564         Sauber Ferrari
19 Germany N. Hulkenberg Sauber 27 19

+56.682

56.682

2.742         Sauber Ferrari
20 Australia J. Doohan Alpine 7 19

+1'00.212

1'00.212

3.530         Alpine Renault
In this article
Mark Mann-Bryans
Formula 1
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