Shanghai, Mar 22: 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.

While McLaren had looked strong throughout the session, opting for a strategy of two push laps in SQ3 did 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.

One change had been confirmed to the grid ahead of the Sprint, as Nico Hulkenberg would start from the pit lane after his Kick Sauber was modified under parc ferme conditions. When the tyre blankets came off prior to the formation lap, it was revealed that all 20 cars had bolted on used medium tyres.

As the lights went out for the 19-lap encounter, Hamilton smoothly held the lead into the first corner while Piastri attempted to challenge Verstappen and Norris went side-by-side with Russell. This did not pay off for the championship leader, however, with a lock-up dropping Norris down to P9.

Russell and Tsunoda had both made gains by Lap 2, the Mercedes having taken P4 from Leclerc while Tsunoda had made up two places from his P8 grid slot to be running in P6 for Racing Bulls. Up at the front, meanwhile Hamilton was looking comfortable, stretching out a gap of 1.1s on Verstappen.

While Verstappen looked to close the gap to his former title rival, replays showed his Red Bull teammate Liam Lawson going wheel-to-wheel with Alpine’s Jack Doohan in a scrap for P18, the New Zealander clearly in fighting mode following a disappointing Sprint Qualifying on Friday.

By Lap 6, Hamilton was still over a second clear of Verstappen – but the Dutchman had Piastri chasing him down in the McLaren, with the gap standing at around 0.7s. Behind them, the other drivers running in points-paying positions were Russell, Leclerc, Tsunoda, Antonelli and Lance Stroll.

Out of those positions was Norris, the McLaren driver having tyre issues as he struggled to close in on the Aston Martin in Stroll. Also facing concerns with their tyres was Hamilton, the seven-time World Champion suffering graining on his front left – allowing Verstappen to edge closer to the Ferrari.

(IANS)

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