George Russell triumphed in a dramatic Chinese GP sprint, holding off both Ferraris after a late safety car to extend his championship lead.
SHANGHAI: George Russell described his victory in Saturday’s Chinese Grand Prix sprint race as “a pretty fun” battle. The Mercedes driver extended his early-season dominance by leading home both Ferraris to stretch his world championship lead.
Russell enjoyed a fierce opening-lap duel with teammate Lewis Hamilton, with the pair trading the lead multiple times. He later had to fend off the charging Ferrari of Charles Leclerc after a late safety car intervention.
“It was pretty fun in the end, lots of strategy at play on how to do the overtakes,” said Russell, who also won last weekend’s Australian Grand Prix. He added that he hoped it was “a fun race to watch” as “usually the sprint races are pretty boring.”
The safety car on lap 13 of 19 prompted the entire field to pit for fresh tyres. Russell emerged still in the lead, while Mercedes teammate Kimi Antonelli, who was third, served a 10-second penalty for causing an earlier collision.
Leclerc finished second, expressing happiness with Ferrari’s race pace. “It’s good to see our race pace is more similar to the Mercedes than our qualifying pace,” the Monegasque driver said.
Hamilton, who started fourth, secured the final podium spot after a brilliant launch. “It was a close battle at the beginning,” said the seven-time champion. “I put up a good fight but killed my front tyre.”
World champion Lando Norris finished fourth for McLaren, with Antonelli fifth and Oscar Piastri sixth. Liam Lawson (RB) and Oliver Bearman (Haas) completed the points scorers in seventh and eighth.
The session was another disaster for Red Bull’s Max Verstappen. The four-time champion slumped from eighth on the grid to finish a frustrated ninth and out of the points.
“I have not a lot of words at the moment,” said an angry Verstappen. “To be honest, everything that could go wrong went wrong.”
Russell now leads the standings with 33 points, 11 clear of Antonelli. Qualifying for the Chinese Grand Prix takes place later on Saturday.
