Formula 1 News: Hamilton wins Chinese GP Sprint Race

Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton led from pole to checkered to win the 2025 Chinese GP Sprint race at the Shanghai International Circuit over Oscar Piastri and Max Verstappen.

–by Mark Cipolloni–

In clean air out front, Hamilton managed his medium Pirelli tires to perfection and eased away to a 6.9s win over Oscar Piastri and take his first win for Ferrari.

“I woke up feeling great today, the weather is beautiful and we have this amazing crowd,” said a happy Hamilton. “The [Sprint] was difficult, I think people underestimate the steep climb is it to get into a new team, understand a new team.

“So it is great to come here and feel more comfortable in the car as in Melbourne, I really didn’t feel comfortable in the car.

“It felt great today, I got a good start. I don’t feel the pressure, I know the team wants to win and it means everything to them. Rome wasn’t built in a day, so one day at a time.”

Verstappen’s front tires were graining badly and after running 2nd for over half the race, fell back to third, 9.8s behind Hamilton.

“I think it is positive, I tried to give it a go but unfortunately, the last eight laps we just didn’t have the pace to the others,” said Verstappen. “Just trying to survive out there, I’ll take P3 as the others were catching up.

“It’s okay, we’ll try to make it better, look into the data but in general, we just lack some overall pace.”

George Russell was 4th for Mercedes, 11.6s behind Hamilton.

Charles Leclerc rounded out the top-5 in the 2nd Ferrari, 12-seconds behind teammate Hamilton.

Yuki Tsunoda in the Racing Bulls was 6th, just holding off Kimi Antonelli in 7th. Yuki deserves to be in Liam Lawson’s seat. Red Bull should swap Tsunoda and Lawson.

Points leader Lando Norris took the final point in 8th place. He now leads Max Verstappen 26 points to 24 with George Russell in 3rd with 20 points.

Jack Doohan limped home with some damage – he tipped Bortoleto into a spin on the final lap.

“It was all about tire management today, and it is much easier when you are out in front,” said Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur. He must be pleased though to see his new signing delivering at such an early stage? Not exactly – he’s more focussed on the here and now.

“It is important to have a good quali this afternoon for the race tomorrow. As soon as you are in the dirty air, you struggle to overtake so quali will be crucial.”

The Sprint has highlighted how crucial Qualifying will be. You can overtake here, but the tire degradation and track temperatures mean following in the dirty air is asking for trouble.

As such, track position is everything. So a few teams may opt for a set-up more attuned to Qualifying than normal, as the cars can now be tweaked again.

2025 Chinese GP Sprint Race Results – 19 Laps