Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton dominated the 2025 Chinese Sprint to take his first victory for the Scuderia.

Hamilton led from lights-to-flag after he survived a mid-race challenge from Max Verstappen who lost second to Oscar Piastri on Lap 15.

Mercedes’ George Russell made an opening lap pass on Charles Leclerc to finish fourth ahead of the Monegasque driver whilst Yuki Tsunoda, Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Lando Norris rounded out the top eight.

Norris’ championship lead was reduced to two points by Verstappen after the Brit’s lowly finish, whilst Russell sat six points off his British compatriot in third.

At lights out, Hamilton led Verstappen, Piastri and Leclerc whilst Russell battled to hold onto fifth against Lando Norris, until the latter got on the dirt at Turn 6 which dropped him from sixth to ninth as Tsunoda, Antonelli and Stroll moved past the Brit.

Russell soon afterwards cleared Leclerc at the Turn 14 hairpin for fourth as the pair soon settled into their positions to the checkered flag.

Further back, Red Bull’s Liam Lawson banged wheels with Alpine’s Jack Doohan as he made a lap-four pass for 18th position on the exit of the Turn 14 hairpin, before he then cleared Haas’ Esteban Ocon two laps later.

Up front, Hamilton built a consistent one-second gap to Verstappen until the reigning four-time champion closed to within DRS range on Lap 8, as both drivers began to struggle with their medium-tyre wear whilst Piastri strategically dropped back to protect his tyres.

That decision proved wise as Verstappen soon fell back into the Aussie’s grasp and Piastri cleared him for second on the inside of Turn 14 on Lap 15.

Norris meanwhile quietly bided his time and cleared Stroll for eighth and the final point on Lap 17 at Turn 14 to protect his title lead slightly.

Hamilton up front cruised to a first sprint win which marked his first race victory for Ferrari who too hadn’t won a sprint race yet since its introduction, whilst Piastri and Verstappen rounded out the podium.

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