F1 | Chinese GP | Sprint Race | Hamilton takes his and Ferrari's first Sprint win - Motorsport

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It’s time for the first F1 Sprint Race of the 2025 season in the Chinese GP ! Will Lewis Hamilton manage to snatch his first win with Ferrari after yesterday’s pole position, or will Verstappen prevail?

All drivers will sport medium tyres, saving two sets of hards for the full length race. Nico Hulkenberg will start from the pit lane because of a suspension change.

Early charges

Hamilton holds on to his lead, while is teammate Leclerc lost a position to Piastri and is now in P4, It was the opposite of a good start for Norris, who dropped to P9 because of running wide.

Leclerc was also overtaken by Russell, ending the first lap of the race in P5. The Mercedes driver had a rather swift start. Down the order, Sainz and Gasly fight for P13, with a positive start from the Frenchman as well.

Hamilton signs the fastest lap of the F1 Sprint Race Chinese GP so far on Lap 2, incredibly strong and sufficient to build a gap to Verstappen of over a second, allowing him to not pick up his DRS.

Rookie Bortoleto lost one position to Gasly at the start, and is now running in P15 ahead of Hadjar, completing his first ever F1 race.

Lawson slightly collides with Doohan and takes his P18. The FIA notes the incident. This is the top ten on Lap 6: Hamilton, Verstappen, Piastri, Russell, Leclerc, Tsunoda, Antonelli, Stroll, Norris, Alonso.

Norris, rather distant compared to the Canadian, has severe tyre damage already on his front left tyre. 1.340s separate Hamilton from Verstappen, ahead of Piastri by 0.645s.

On Lap 7 Lawson continues his recovery driver and overtakes Ocon. The reigning F1 champion closes the gap to Hamilton on Lap 8, and is now less than a second away. The seven times World champion sports as well severe graining on his front left.

Rookie watch: Racing Bulls’ Hadjar passes Sauber’s Bortolet for P15. The Frenchman also tried to make a move on Sainz and Gasly next, but was unsuccessful.

The top ten was the same after ten laps. Lawson overtakes Bortoleto as well. On the following lap the situation between Hamilton and Verstappen is now reversed, with the Durch driver within DRS distance of Piastri and 1.2s from Hamilton. He also goes wide at the hairpin to try and cool down his tyres.

Gasly overtakes Sainz for P13. The Williams driver is very slow, and was passed by Hadjar and Lawson at the same corner. Ultimately, the former Ferrari driver returns to the pits to put on fresh mediums.

Piastri closes up on Verstappen

At the straight, Piastri often appears faster than Verstappen, but only a few turns later at the end of Turn 13 he is far away. He attempted an outside move on Lap 14 but was unsuccessful.

Verstappen mentions issues with both his front tyres on the radio. Norris finally is able to get into Stroll’s DRS zone in order to try and take a point.

On Lap 15 the top ten was the same as earlier. Hadjar tries to make a move on Gasly, but the Alpine driver is secure.

Hamilton is 2.5s ahead of Verstappen when the Red Bull driver is finally passed by Piastri at the hairpin. Antonelli gets closer to Tsunoda in P6, who is showing signs of tyre wear.

In the final stages of the F1 Sprint Race in the Chinese GP Leclerc closes the gap to Russell and Gasly overtakes Bearman for P12. With one lap to go Norris manages to get into the points scoring zone, denying Stroll P8.

Ending with a bang

On the final nineteenth lap Leclerc goes wheel to wheel with Russell, but ultimately the Mercedes driver holds on to his P4.

Doohan drops to last place, having suffered contact. Replays show that him and Bortoleto collided, with the Sauber driver spinning but able to keep his car going with a better pace, as the Brazilian ended ahead of his teammate Hulkenberg.

Hamilton takes his and Ferrari’s first ever Sprint Race win on his second race weekend with the Italian Scuderia. Piastri takes P2 ahead of a tyre struggling Verstappen, with championship leader Norris further down the order.

Tune in later for Qualifying!