Race report

F1 Chinese GP: George Russell outduels Ferrari drivers on way to sprint win

George Russell survived an early attack from Lewis Hamilton to win the Shanghai sprint

George Russell claimed victory in an eventful Formula 1 sprint race at the Chinese Grand Prix, despite losing the lead to Lewis Hamilton on the opening lap.

As seen in Melbourne, Russell found himself under immediate fire from a fast-starting Ferrari in the opening array of corners; this time, it was Hamilton rather than Charles Leclerc who played the role of aggressor at the start of the lap.

Hamilton duly made his move down the inside of Russell at Turn 9 to pick up the lead, with the hope of converting it into a second consecutive China sprint win. However, Russell put some of his battery charge into retaliating at Turn 14, coming up for air with the lead but ultimately without the tools to defend into Turn 1.

As a result, Hamilton was able to repass his former team-mate; Russell's next attempt was effectively a carbon copy of that on the previous lap, one that the Ferrari driver could again leverage into a return to the lead.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes, Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Formula 1 via Getty Images

Russell eventually made the Turn 14 move work at the end of the fifth lap, and managed to hold it into the first corner of the following lap. Hamilton soon started to lose ground as his tyres were graining, his front left looking particularly fierce, which allowed Leclerc to pick up second place.

Just as it seemed that the action had dwindled, a safety car emerged at the end of lap 13 as Nico Hulkenberg pulled up at Turn 1; the top six all elected to pit, giving Leclerc an opportunity to offer Russell a late challenge. Yet, the Monegasque had a slide out of Turn 14 on the restart, all but converting Russell's lead into victory.

Chinese Grand Prix - Sprint results

SPRINT

All Stats

Cla	Driver	#	Laps	Time	Interval	Pits	Points	Chassis	Engine
1	G. Russell Mercedes	63	19	-		1	8	Mercedes	Mercedes
2	C. Leclerc Ferrari	16	19	+0.674 0.674	0.674	1	7	Ferrari	Ferrari
3	L. Hamilton Ferrari	44	19	+2.554 2.554	1.880	1	6	Ferrari	Ferrari
4	L. Norris McLaren	1	19	+4.433 4.433	1.879	1	5	McLaren	Mercedes
5	A. Antonelli Mercedes	12	19	+5.688 5.688	1.255	1	4	Mercedes	Mercedes
6	O. Piastri McLaren	81	19	+6.809 6.809	1.121	1	3	McLaren	Mercedes
7	L. Lawson Racing Bulls	30	19	+10.900 10.900	4.091		2	RB	Red Bull
8	O. Bearman Haas F1 Team	87	19	+11.271 11.271	0.371		1	Haas	Ferrari
9	M. Verstappen Red Bull Racing	3	19	+11.619 11.619	0.348	1		Red Bull	Red Bull
10	E. Ocon Haas F1 Team	31	19	+13.887 13.887	2.268			Haas	Ferrari
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