Lewis Hamilton achieved his first victory for Scuderia Ferrari by taking the chequered flag in P1 at the sprint race at the Chinese Grand Prix.
Oscar Piastri passed Max Verstappen to finish in P2 for mcLaren while the Red Bull driver was already thinking about the championship by not being aggressive in defending and took P3 at the finish.
In a 19-lap race where tyre wear became the main talking point, Hamilton benefitted from driving in clear air to convert sprint pole into a win to add to his six Grand Prix successes in Shanghai.
Championship leader Lando Norris endured a tricky 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 positions as a result.
George Russell edged past Charles Leclerc by the end of the first lap to go up to fourth as Norris was unable 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, 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.
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 fighting and was almost five seconds clear heading into the final two laps.
The seven-time champion took in the adulation from the Chinese fans after taking the chequered flag, while his Ferrari teammate Leclerc was 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.
So not the most thrilling sprint race and yet a feel good story for Formula 1 with the most successful driver in the sport winning in red. Congratulations to Lewis Hamilton in taking victory for Scuderia Ferrari. Okay, this is not the main race but a win is a win. Hopefully the first of many.
Chinese Grand Prix, sprint race results:
1 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 30:39.965
2 Oscar Piastri McLaren +6.889s
3 Max Verstappen Red Bull +9.804s
4 George Russell Mercedes +11.592s
5 Charles Leclerc Ferrari +12.190s
6 Yuki Tsunoda Racing Bulls +22.288s
7 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes +23.038s
8 Lando Norris McLaren +23.471s
9 Lance Stroll Aston Martin +24.916s
10 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin +38.218s
11 Alexander Albon Williams +39.292s
12 Pierre Gasly Alpine +39.649s
13 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls +42.400s
14 Liam Lawson Red Bull +44.904s
15 Oliver Bearman Haas +45.649s
16 Esteban Ocon Haas +46.182s
17 Carlos Sainz Williams +51.376s
18 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber +53.940s
19 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber +56.682s
20 Jack Doohan Alpine +60.212s
Lewis Hamilton has claimed victory in the first Sprint of the 2025 season at the Chinese Grand Prix, the Ferrari driver putting in an assured drive to add to his tally of wins in Shanghai and claim his debut P1 for the Scuderia.
After a strong start when the lights went out, Hamilton went on to build a commanding lead and – while it was not entirely smooth sailing, his SF-25 experiencing graining on the tyres at one stage – the seven-time World Champion looked in stunning form across the 19-lap event.
Max Verstappen spent much of the Sprint running in second but lost out to McLaren’s Oscar Piastri with a few laps to spare, putting the Red Bull in third, while Mercedes’ George Russell held onto fourth despite a late-race battle with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, the latter having to settle for fifth.
Yuki Tsunoda was an impressive sixth for Racing Bulls, ahead of Mercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli adding to the points he gained in Melbourne with two more in seventh. Lando Norris, meanwhile, ended the event in eighth after a wide moment early on cost him places, with the McLaren running out of the points for some time before snatching the position in the closing stages.
After just one practice session on Friday, Sprint Qualifying had decided the grid for the first 100km dash of the season, a format that awards points to the top eight finishers from a maximum of eight for P1 down to one for P8.
not quite pay off for the reigning Teams’ Champions, with Piastri and Norris ending the session in P3 and P6 respectively.
Hamilton, meanwhile, stormed to a surprise pole in the Ferrari, while Verstappen – who took victory in the Shanghai Sprint back in 2024 – was only 0.018s away in second place.
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/hamilton-storms-to-sprint-victory-and-first-ferrari-win-in-china-ahead-of.2VzfSIOQeFC6y2Kskxkpz9
Lewis Hamilton may have claimed his first win behind the wheel of Ferrari machinery at the Chinese sprint race, but Oscar Piastri’s impressive drive to second place has given McLaren plenty of data to learn from as they head into qualifying later today and Sunday’s Grand Prix. After overtaking Max Verstappen, the Australian driver hopes to qualify in a better position to take advantage of the clean air available at the front of the pack.
After qualifying third for the sprint race behind Hamilton and Verstappen, the Papaya driver delivered a composed performance, taking second for the 19-lap campaign.
“I think it was a really productive sprint, obviously. Finishing second is always a great result and I think I really learned a lot in that one,” Piastri reflected after the race. “As much as the result is nice, I think the way I got the result is an encouraging thing.”
His performance sits in stark contrast to that of team-mate Lando Norris, who started in sixth after a difficult qualifying session and dropped to eighth as he tackled tyre degradation in traffic. After a dominant showing in Melbourne, this result will be a surprise for the driver.
“We didn’t quite have enough pace for Lewis out front, but I think we’ve got some good ideas for this afternoon and tomorrow and see if we can go one spot better,” Piastri continued.
When asked about his confidence for Sunday’s race based on his pace in traffic during the Sprint, Piastri responded with clarity: “Yes, hopefully we don’t have as much traffic though, that’s the plan. So, we’ll see what we can do this afternoon to start a bit higher and go from there.
“I think we’ve got good pace in the car. We’ve clearly got a lot of competition this weekend. The Ferraris look pretty rapid, so we’ve got to be on our best form.”
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/oscar-piastri-mclaren-win-still-possible-with-better-track-position/10705849/
Lewis Hamilton will ‘not get ahead of himself’ after a dominant sprint win at Formula 1’s Chinese Grand Prix, but said the result shut down early critics after a tough Melbourne weekend with Ferrari.
Hamilton recorded his first sprint pole for Ferrari by narrowly edging out world champion Max Verstappen and McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, and made a strong getaway on Saturday morning to fend off Verstappen into Shanghai’s winding Turn 1.
The Ferrari driver appeared to come under early pressure from Verstappen behind, but used the clear air to his advantage as he managed to keep front tyre graining to a minimum while others struggled.
As Red Bull feared, Verstappen started suffering from fading front tyres, and instead of attacking Hamilton the Dutchman came under pressure from Piastri himself, being passed for second with four laps to go.
That fight allowed Hamilton to go over six seconds clear for a dominant first sprint win with Ferrari on his second weekend driving for the Scuderia, which unleashed a strong response from the seven-time world champion.
“In Melbourne, I really didn’t feel comfortable in the car. From lap one here this weekend, I was really feeling on it,” Hamilton said, as numerous fans unfurled banners carrying his logo in the grandstands.
“We’ve done great job with the engineers and the mechanics to really fine tune the car, and it felt great. Today I got a good start, and then there was so much grip on this new tarmac that it’s really hard to look after these tyres, but I think everyone was struggling the same.”
“I really do feel a lot of people underestimated the steep climb it is to get into a new team, to become acclimatised within a team, understanding and communication, all sorts of things,” he added.
“The amount of critics and people I’ve heard yapping along the way just clearly not understanding, maybe because they never had the experience or they’re just unaware. And so it felt great to come here and feel more comfortable in the car.”
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/hamilton-shuts-down-yapping-critics-with-china-f1-sprint-win/10705840/
Four-time Formula 1 champion Max Verstappen has reacted to his third-place finish in the sprint race at Shanghai International Circuit in China, claiming that Red Bull simply doesn’t have the pace.
After starting the race from second behind Lewis Hamilton, the Red Bull driver maintained his position until the 15th lap of the 19-lap race when McLaren’s Oscar Piastri succeeded in an overtake while the Dutchman struggled with excessive tyre degradation. Verstappen confirmed that it was “tough to manage the tyres” and that the RB21 currently “lacks a bit of pace.”
Speaking in the post-race interviews, the Verstappen explained:
“I think it’s positive.
“I tried to give it a go because I had Oscar behind me pushing, so was trying to keep in the DRS, that helps a lot on the back straight.
“But unfortunately, I think the last eight laps, I would say we just didn’t have the pace to the others, so I was just trying to survive out there, so I definitely take that P3.
“Even the cars behind were catching up quite a lot, so it was tough out there to manage the tyres, but it’s OK. We’ll try to do better.”
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/max-verstappen-reacts-to-chinese-sprint-p3-didnt-have-the-pace-trying-to-survive-out-there/10705835/
Having admitted to making a mistake that cost him in sprint qualifying on Friday, Lando Norris again took the blame for a poor outing in Saturday’s Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix sprint race.
An error on his final qualifying run meant the McLaren man started sixth on the grid for the sprint race and he ran onto the grass at Turn 6, losing three places as a result.
The mistake left him in ninth and it took him almost the rest of the 19-lap race to pass the Aston Martin of Lance Stroll to take the final point.
The sprint was dominated by Lewis Hamilton, who won from pole, but almost every other driver struggled with tyre graining – something that Norris bemoaned after the race.
“I just went in a bit hot, that’s on me, but yeah, I just struggled after that. I didn’t really have any pace,” he said about the incident on the opening lap.
“I struggle a lot in these conditions with the front graining. It’s like my worst nightmare. So I have a lot of work to do, but I was struggling a lot out there.”
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/worst-nightmare-for-norris-as-chinese-gp-struggles-continue/10705862/