Hamilton takes first Ferrari win in China sprint

Lewis Hamilton won the Chinese Grand Prix’ sprint race with a dominant victory, his first victory for Ferrari and only his second appearance for the team.

Max Verstappen, a seven-time champion, fought back from the start and won the race from there.

After a few laps, Verstappen retreated from the Ferrari and fell into the clutches of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, who had just five more to go before passing the world champion.

Lando Norris of McLaren passed Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin with two laps to go, saving a point after a challenging race.

After making a disappointing Ferrari debut at the season-opening race in Australia last weekend, Hamilton qualified eighth and placed 10th overall. With that, he made a resounding recovery.

On the slowing-down lap following his victory, Riccardo Adami, the engineer who had been working on the day, thanked him for his “masterclass in tyre management.”

After leaving his car on the pit straight away, Hamilton enjoyed the cheers from the crowded grandstands.

He said, “I felt great when I woke up today.” “The first race was challenging, and I really think a lot of people underestimated how difficult it is to join a new team with communication, understanding, and a lot of things.”

“The number of people I heard yapping away may be due to their lack of experience and lack of doing it.

“The engineers and mechanics have done a great job tuning the car,” said the owner. It still felt great today. Everyone struggled, in my opinion, because this new tarmac is so crowded.

Verstappen appeared to be able to challenge Hamilton in the opening stages, but after about eight laps the Dutchman retreated into Piastri’s clutches.

The Australian made a quick pass into Turn 14 on lap 14 after a few laps of getting closer to the back of the Red Bull.

According to Piastri, “it was a really productive sprint.” I learned a lot from finishing second, which always yields a great result. The outcome was the most encouraging aspect, in my opinion.

We didn’t quite have Lewis’ outburst pace, but we have some ideas and will see if things can improve.

Verstappen stated, “I tried it a go, but unfortunately, the last eight laps just didn’t have the pace of the others, so I was just trudging it out there, so I definitely take the P3. The tire management was challenging.

You have to push a little harder, which kills your tires, because generally, we just lack a little bit of overall pace.

Norris, the Melbourne champion, retreated from the grid to ninth place on the first lap after making an error at Turn Six, running wide after apparently erring after braking too far behind Russell to lose three spots.

Norris fought back as Stroll himself got in trouble in the closing stages, complaining that he had no grip on his front tires and was unable to accelerate much of the race.

Verstappen now trails Norris by two points in the championship standings as a result.

“I went in a little hot (into Turn Six),” said Norris. on me . After that, I struggled. I had no rhythm at all. In these circumstances, I have a lot of trouble with the front graining. My worst nightmare is here.

George Russell of Mercedes surpassed Charles Leclerc of Ferrari for fourth place after diving down the inside of the hairpin at the end of the long back straight on the first lap.

In the final moments, Leclerc retreated toward Russell, but the Briton was able to stop him.