SHANGHAI Lewis Hamilton raced from the pole to win Saturdays Sprint Race for the Chinese Grand Prix at the Shanghai Intl Circuit.

It was Hamiltons first victory since joining Ferrari during the offseason.

After a strong start when the lights went out, Hamilton went on to build a commanding lead and while it was not entirely smooth sailing, the seven-time world champion looked in stunning form across the 19-lap event.

From Lap 1 here this weekend, really feeling on it, Hamilton said. Weve done a great job the engineers have done a great job, mechanics have done a great job to really finetune the car and it felt great today.

I got a good start and then theres so much grip on this new tarmac. Its really hard to look after these tires but I think everyone was struggling the same.

Max Verstappen spent much of the Sprint running in second but lost out to McLarens Oscar Piastri with a few laps to spare, putting the Red Bull in third, while Mercedes George Russell held onto fourth despite a late-race battle with Ferraris Charles Leclerc, the latter having to settle for fifth.