Lewis Hamilton delivered the first win of his Ferrari career after converting his pole position into an impressive victory in today’s sprint race in China.
Hamilton said he was gobsmacked to land his maiden pole in Ferrari colours in only his second appearance for the Italian giants.
And the 40-year-old rolled back the years to lead every lap at the Shanghai International Circuit in a commanding win which kick-starts his life in red.
Although it is only the sprint race, and not Sunday’s main event, Hamilton will take huge confidence from the victory following his blockbuster transfer from Mercedes.
McLaren’s Oscar Piastri crossed the line 6.8 seconds behind Hamilton with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in third and George Russell fourth. Lando Norris started sixth and finished eighth on a poor morning for the British driver.
Verstappen is now only two points behind Norris in the championship standings.
Hamilton appeared impressively calm before the lights went out and on the stampede down to the opening bend he moved to his right to keep Verstappen at bay.
Further back, Norris, who started a disappointing sixth, then lost three positions after he ran onto the gravel on the entrance to Turn 6.
The mistake left Norris tucked up behind Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll before Russell moved ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc by slinging his Mercedes underneath the Monegasque’s Ferrari at the penultimate corner on the first lap.
Hamilton looked at ease at the head of the field and by the start of the third lap the seven-time world champion was out of DRS range with Verstappen now more than a second behind.
Norris, who won the season-opening race in Australia, was failing to make any impression on Stroll.
“How is everyone else’s front (tyres) because mine is f*****,” said Norris over the radio. “I need some help because I am driving so slow I am killing the tyre.”
Norris’ race engineer, Will Joseph, was back on the radio. “How can we help?” he asked. “Do you have any pace?” Norris replied: “No, I am flat-out.”
Up front, Verstappen moved to within a few tenths of Hamilton but his pressure lasted for only a couple of laps with the Ferrari driver extending his lead and the Red Bull man then having to turn his attention to keeping Piastri behind.
On lap 14, Verstappen held Piastri off on the run down to the first corner, with the former complaining his tyres were “dead”. But on the next lap, Piastri got his man as he dived past Verstappen with the gap to Hamilton 2.7 sec.
But Hamilton managed to pull out a bigger advantage on Piastri in a brilliant win for the seven-time world champion, which marked his first in Formula One’s sprint format in 19 attempts.
Norris nipped past Stroll on the last but one lap to take a single point but the McLaren man will be keen to erase his performance ahead of qualifying which determines the grid for Sunday’s Grand Prix later on Saturday.
“Great job, guys,” said Hamilton over the radio. “Yes, well done, mate, a masterclass in tyre management,” replied his race engineer, Riccardo Adami.
