Mercedes’ George Russell secured victory in the Chinese Grand Prix sprint race following a hard-fought battle in the opening laps.
The race saw Russell and Lewis Hamilton trading places multiple times, with the Ferraris of Hamilton and Charles Leclerc close behind.
Early Laps See Intense Battles
The initial laps of the sprint race provided plenty of entertainment as Russell and Hamilton exchanged the lead. Hamilton moved up from fourth on the grid to slip by Lando Norris around the inside of Turn One, before making an opportunistic move down the inside of Turn Nine to grab the lead.
Russell easily passed him back down the straight to the hairpin of Turn 14 before Hamilton attacked and passed him around the outside of Turn One at the start of the second lap. Russell passed the Ferrari back on the straight on lap three, before Hamilton took back the lead into Turn One on lap four, only for the Mercedes to claim the place for good a lap later.
In the first five laps alone, Russell and Hamilton swapped positions five times. Russell, who also won the season opening Australian GP, ultimately pulled away to a comfortable victory.
Ferrari Challenge and Safety Car Disruption
Hamilton then had to fend off Leclerc, with the two Ferraris battling for three laps before Leclerc took the place into Turn One on lap eight. Hamilton fought back to challenge Leclerc into Turn One at the start of the following lap and Leclerc had to defend all the way to Turn Six before consolidating his position.
A safety car period in the second half of the race bunched the field up and caused a slight reshuffle. Hulkenberg’s retirement brought out a rare sprint race safety car.
That triggered pit stops for fresh, soft tyres for the leading cars and Hamilton and Piastri lost out a little as they had to s.
Antonelli’s Race of Incidents
Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli finished fifth after a difficult race. Antonelli dropped to eighth after a slow start and then served a 10-second penalty for causing a collision with Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar on the opening lap.
The Italian was passed by McLaren’s Oscar Piastri at the restart after there safety car but the Australian was asked by his team to give the place back because he had overtaken before the start line. Piastri took the place after Antonelli made a mistake and ran wide at the final corner as the race was restarted.
McLaren chose to ask him to let the Mercedes back past rather than argue his case with the stewards.
The real smiles, however, appear to be being saved for the full grand prix on Sunday.