The 19-lap Sprint race at the Shanghai International Circuit began as the five red lights went out.
All drivers on the grid started the Sprint on medium tyres. Hamilton, starting from pole, got a strong start and maintained his lead into the first corner. Lando Norris, starting from sixth, lost positions at the start and dropped to ninth. After the first five laps, the top three were Hamilton, Verstappen, and Piastri. Meanwhile, Russell overtook Leclerc to move up to fourth place. At the back of the grid, rookies Lawson and Doohan, fighting for 18th place, made contact, and the incident was put under investigation by the stewards.
On lap 7, Hamilton lost around half a second to Verstappen in the middle sector, bringing the gap between them down to under a second. Over the team radio, Hamilton reported an issue with his front left tyre. Meanwhile, there was an exciting battle for 14th place between Gasly and Hadjar, with Gasly overtaking Hadjar from the outside to gain a position.
Around the midpoint of the Sprint, Oscar Piastri found a strong rhythm and got within DRS range of Verstappen, setting himself up nicely for an overtake attempt.
On lap 12, Carlos Sainz, running at the back of the field, was overtaken by several drivers in quick succession and was called into the pits by his team. He rejoined in the last place on a fresh set of medium tyres.
A few laps later, Piastri began attacking Verstappen for second place. Verstappen reported over the team radio that his tyres were completely worn out.
On lap 15, Piastri successfully overtook Verstappen and moved up to second place. By this time, Hamilton was comfortably leading the race with a 2.6-second gap.
Ultimately, it was Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton who secured victory in the 19-lap Sprint race. Oscar Piastri finished second, 6.9 seconds behind Hamilton, while Max Verstappen completed the podium in third.
George Russell finished fourth, Charles Leclerc took fifth, and Yuki Tsunoda claimed sixth place. Completing the top ten were Kimi Antonelli, Lando Norris, Lance Stroll, and Fernando Alonso.
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