Lewis Hamilton has his first Formula 1 victory under his belt with Ferrari.
Hamilton, in only his second weekend driving for Ferrari, qualified on the pole and won the 19-lap sprint race on Saturday morning ahead of qualifying for Sunday’s Chinese Grand Prix.
“From Lap 1 here this weekend, I’ve been feeling on it,” Hamilton told ESPN. “The engineers have done a great job, the mechanics have done a great job to really fine-tune the car — it felt great today, I got a good start, there’s so much grip on this new tarmac it’s hard to look after these new tires, and I think everyone was struggling out there the same.”
Hamilton gained eight points for the sprint race victory, providing new hope for Ferrari’s championship aspirations following some opening-round struggles in Australia.
“The first race was difficult and obviously, I think I really do feel a lot of people underestimated the steep climb it is to get into a new team, to become acclimatized within the team and understanding communication and all sorts of things,” he said.
Oscar Piastri finished in second place, just 6.889 seconds behind Hamilton, and ahead of Max Verstappen.
George Russell, finished in fourth place for Mercedes, followed by Charles Leclerc of Ferrari in fifth and Racing Bulls’ Yuki Tsunoda in sixth.
Lando Norris, who was the victor in the season’s first race in Australia, finished Saturday’s sprint in eighth position after dropping three places at the start with a mistake in Turn 6. Norris, who earned only one point for his efforts, said, “At the minute in the race, I just feel dreadful.”
–Field Level Media
