Lewis Hamilton managed to handle immense pressure from Max Verstappen to secure his maiden win with Ferrari, taking home the victory at the Chinese GP Sprint race.

After passing Verstappen on lap 15, Oscar Piastri secured second place. Meanwhile, deeper in the pack, the Formula One newcomers injected plenty of intrigue into the Sprint race with their aggressive driving.

Lewis Hamilton is a champion of the Ferrari Sprint.

For the first time in F1 2025, yet likely not the last, Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen secured the front row on the starting grid. The rivals from the 2021 championship sprinted to claim the top two spots during the qualifying round for the Chinese Grand Prix.

One balmy summer morning in Shanghai,
Hamilton
managed to hold back Verstappen at Turn 1 despite the Dutchman closely challenging him for the top spot. As Oscar Piastri attempted to overtake Verstappen, he faltered, leaving himself open to an attack from Leclerc. Meanwhile, Lando Norris saw his position drop significantly; starting eighth, he fell all the way to tenth when his tires made contact with the unpaved section of track.

George Russell overtook Leclerc for fourth place as Yuki Tsunoda moved up to sixth position, followed closely by Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Lance Stroll, and Norris.

Oliver Bearman was the top rookie after him in 12th position, while new drivers ranging from Gabriel Bortoleto to Liam Lawson were positioned between 15th and 19th spots, with Esteban Ocon also part of this group.

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Hamilton set the quickest lap to move out of Verstappen’s DRS range, but the Dutch driver narrowed the lead back down to 0.9 seconds. This sparked an ongoing battle between them, both staying roughly a second ahead of Piastri throughout.

Lawson collided with Jack Doohan during their race, allowing him to secure the 18th position. The officials observed this but decided not to take additional measures. Following this, Lawson passed Ocon for another advance. Meanwhile, both Bortoleto and Isack Hadjar engaged in aggressive maneuvers amidst the newcomers’ competition.

Norris couldn’t overtake Stroll and informed McLaren that his front tires were “ ****ed.” Similarly, Hamilton started facing issues with his tires showing signs of graininess.

After ten out of the 19 laps in the Sprint race, the Ferrari driver was in the lead, followed by Verstappen and Piastri, with just 2.5 seconds between them. An incident involving Verstappen at the hairpin allowed Hamilton some respite and provided Piastri an opportunity to close in.

The fierce battle at the rear persisted as Carlos Sainz in 14th place was pursued closely by Hadjar, Lawson, Bortoleto, Ocon, and Doohan, all of whom were side-by-side. Both Hadjar and Lawson managed to pass Sainz after he received instructions via radio to “pit, pit” for fresh tires.

Hamilton’s lead stretched up to two seconds with only six laps remaining; however, Verstappen faced increasing pressure from Piastri who was right behind him. On lap 15, Piastri seized control of the position going into the hairpin turn, using the inside line to overtake the Red Bull racer. At this point, Hamilton maintained a 2.6-second advantage.

The Ferrari driver increased his speed to create more space between himself and Piastri, with the Australian losing ground to Verstappen. Meanwhile, Russell faced pressure from Leclerc, and Antonelli closed in on Tsunoda for the sixth position.

Hamilton crossed the finish line seven seconds before Piastri, with Verstappen maintaining his position in third, followed by Russell and Leclerc.

Tsunoda, Antonelli, and Norris secured the points, with the McLaren driver snatching a position from Stroll right at the end to grab a point.

On the last lap, Doohan collided with Bortoleto; as the Alpine driver attempted an inside pass, he ended up spinning out of control.

Doohan received a 10-second time penalty along with two points being added to his super licence.

Chinese GP Sprint Result

1 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari

2 Oscar Piastri McLaren +6.889

3 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing +9.804.SECONDS

4 George Russell Mercedes +11.592

5 Charles Leclerc Ferrari +12.190

6 Yuki Tsunoda Racing Bulls +22.288

7 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes +23.038

8 Lando Norris McLaren +23.471.SECONDS

9 Lance Stroll Aston Martin +24.916

10 Fernando Alonso with an Aston Martin finishing at +38.218

11 Alexander Albon Williams +39.292

12 Pierre Gasly Alpine +39.649

13 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls +42.400

14 Liam Lawson Red Bull Racing +44.904

15 Oliver Bearman with Haas F1 Team +45.649

16 Esteban Ocon with Haas F1 Team +46.182

17 Carlos Sainz from Williams finished with a time of +51.376 behind the leader.

18 Gabriel Bortoleto Kicks Sauber +53.940

19 Nico Hulkenberg Passed Sauber +56.682

20 Jack Doohan Alpine +60.048

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