Lewis Hamilton set alight his Ferrari career by securing his first victory in red with a pole-to-flag victory in the sprint race in China.
It was emphatic, too, nearly seven seconds ahead of second-placed Oscar Piastri of McLaren, and greeted by hue cheers in the sun-baked stands.
The seven-time world champion, racing for the Italian giants for only the second time, was a picture of composure as he ransacked the best memories of his past to hold off his arch-nemesis Max Verstappen, starting second, at the start. He moved slightly right to cover the onrushing Red Bull, and the win looked on from that point.
He then opened up enough of a lead to stay ahead of Verstappen when DRS was enabled on lap three. It was touch and go, right around the one-second margin. Verstappen never lets up and Hamilton was kept honest throughout.
At the mid-point, Verstappen got within six-tenths of the leader, who looked vulnerable but kept his nerve to claim his first sprint victory in 19 attempts.
This was just the tonic Hamilton needed to kickstart his £60million-a-year Ferrari adventure, not least after Melbourne last weekend, when he finished 10th on his debut on a disappointing foray for driver and team.
Lewis Hamilton claimed his first victory for Ferrari in the Chinese Grand Prix on Saturday
The British driver held off Max Verstappen in the first laps and opening stages of the racce
Lando Norris, meanwhile, scored just one point as he finished eighth following an opening-lap erroe
Verstappen was passed by McLaren’s Piastri with four of the 19 laps to go. Could he catch Hamilton? No, Hamilton surged further ahead, no problems at all, as if staging an exhibition.
Hamilton’s response in the cockpit was low-key. He has bigger fish to fry. ‘Great job,’ he said, letting out a sigh of relief. ‘A masterclass in tyre management,’ purred race engineer Riccardo Adami.
‘Today I woke up feeling great,’ said Hamilton. ‘The first race was difficult but people underestimated the steep climb to acclimatise to a new team.
‘The amount of critics I have heard yapping along the way, maybe because they don’t have the experience or they are just unaware. It felt great to come here and feel more comfortable in the car. From lap one, I get on it and felt great. I got a good start.
‘I don’t feel the pressure. I know the tifosi and the team want to win and it means everything, but it is one step at a time. Rome was not built in a day.
‘We are not going to get ahead of us. We will push, be diligent, be focused, but we must stay calm in these moments and not get too excited. We will go back to our desk and focus on qualifying. It is a marathon not a sprint, so we have to take our time.’
Verstappen finished third, 2.9sec further back than Piastri. George Russell was fourth for Williams and the second Ferrari of Charles Leclerc fifth. Hamilton leads his Monegasque team-mate by a point, but that matters little for now.
Even in his muted celebrations, he stood on his scarlet car and raised both fists above him, and then hugged his new Ferrari foot soldiers.
The seven-time world champion Hamilton bounced back in his second race for Ferrari following his nightmare debut earlier in the Australia Grand Prix
Mercedes’ George Russell finished in fourth position as he held off Hamilton’s team-mate Charles Leclerc since the first lap
It was a poor day for early championship leader Lando Norris finished a dismal eighth. He started sixth after an error-punctured qualifying session and then tumbled down three places after running into the gravel on Turn Six of the opening lap.
He complained of his front tyres being ‘f*****’. He added: ‘I need some help because am driving so slow, I am killing my tyres.’
Strangely, the McLaren that carried the day so decisively in Melbourne was stuck nearly three seconds back from Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll and out of the points for a long while. Norris finally passed the Canadian to score a point.
Verstappen’s second place took him within two points behind Norris at the top of the drivers’ standings ahead of today’s qualifying session for tomorrow’s Chinese Grand Prix for real.
