Mercedes’ George Russell won the sprint race at the Chinese Grand Prix after a frantic scrap in the early laps with Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari.
Russell also won the season opening Australian GP.
Russell and Hamilton swapped places five times in the first five laps before the winner of the first race of the season eased away to a comfortable victory.
Ferrari Challenge
Hamilton lost out to team-mate Charles Leclerc three laps after Russell finally passed him for the lead as the Ferraris took second and third.
The early laps of the race provided plenty of entertainment as Russell and Hamilton swapped the lead.
Hamilton moved up from fourth on the grid to slip by Norris around the inside of Turn One, before making an opportunistic and improvisational 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.
Hamilton was then left to fend off Leclerc and the two Ferraris battled for three laps before the Monegasque 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.
And the competitive Ferraris also traded places later on, with Leclerc coming out on top.
Safety Car Period
A safety car in the second half of the race closed the field up and shuffled the pack a little, briefly dropping Hamilton behind McLaren’s Lando Norris.
But the seven-time champion reclaimed the lead around the outside of Turn One a lap after the restart.
Hulkenberg’s retirement brought out a rare sprint race safety car.
Audi’s Nico Hulkenberg stopped in the run-off area at Turn One with a technical failure to bring out the 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 Penalty and Piastri’s Place
Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli took fifth after dropping to eight following a slow start and then serving 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.
It certainly looked like racing at the start as Russell and Hamilton traded positions.
The real smiles, however, appear to be being saved for the full grand prix on Sunday.