Hamilton delivers 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.

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.