Lewis Hamilton achieved a notable second place in the sprint race at the 2024 Chinese Grand Prix, taking place under cloudy skies in Shanghai early Saturday. This result marks a significant improvement and by far his best result in 2024 to date, bolstering his outlook for the upcoming qualifying and Grand Prix.
Hamilton appreciated the local support from his Chinese fans, acknowledging their consistent encouragement every year. He noted the advantage provided by the rain in Sprint Qualifying, which allowed him to better understand his vehicle’s capabilities.
Hamilton led the first 8 laps as he pulled a gap on Fernando Alonso initially. Unfortunately for the Brit, Max Verstappen was coming through like a steam train and passed him on lap 9.
“The race was tough and obviously if I was further back, I would have struggled perhaps to progress. But I found out a lot about the car through this short stint of the race,” he said.
Despite not being able to compete with Red Bull during the sprint, Hamilton commented on the strength of his pace relative to other competitors, such as Alonso, Norris and Ferraris. He observed that while his team’s performance was strong, there remained a gap to the leading teams in qualifying.
“We’re still not as quick on a single lap as the Ferraris, the Red Bulls. I think the McLarens are ahead of us for sure and possibly the Astons,” he noted.
Hamilton remains hopeful about the possibility of further improvements ahead of the main race. He plans to make adjustments to enhance his car’s performance for the upcoming qualifying session and the race.
“So I don’t anticipate we’ll be fighting for the front row. But the fortunate thing is we can make some adjustments. So hopefully I can improve the car in the next three hours and hopefully have a better qualifying session than we have had in the past,” he explained.
With the main race still ahead, Hamilton’s performance and data gained from the sprint session suggests a competitive showing in what promises to be a challenging race in Shanghai.
