Formula One F1 - Chinese Grand Prix - Shanghai International Circuit, Shanghai, China - March 22, 2025 Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton during qualifying Pool via REUTERS/Alex Plavevski
SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Lewis Hamilton said his first Formula One sprint race win for Ferrari on Saturday felt "mega" and hoped for more after qualifying fifth for Sunday's Chinese Grand Prix.
The seven-times world champion led from start to finish in the sprint, only his second race for Ferrari, in a stunning response to critics after his disappointing 10th in last weekend's Melbourne season-opener.
The 40-year-old Briton managed his tyres superbly to take the chequered flag ahead of McLaren's Oscar Piastri and Red Bull's Max Verstappen in the 100km race.
It was the first time Hamilton, who joined from Mercedes in January, and Ferrari had won a sprint race since the shortened format was introduced in 2021.
"Starting from pole. Starting from first in a Ferrari, and winning in a Ferrari, is next level, man. It's mega," the six-times Chinese Grand Prix winner said.
"And I definitely didn't expect to have it at the second race."
Hamilton said he and Ferrari would not be getting ahead of themselves: "I know the tifosi (fans), the team wants to win and it means everything, but Rome wasn't built in a day."
The Briton felt his qualifying lap for Sunday was not the cleanest and he could have been a couple of tenths quicker.
"Tonight I'm just going to make a master plan about the win. And then I'm going to try and execute it," he said. "That's where my mindset is at."
Hamilton's teammate Charles Leclerc finished fifth and said he had set up his car slightly differently to the 105-times race winner on the other side of the garage.
"I wouldn't really blame the car, as Lewis is doing a great job," the Monegasque said.
"I really struggle with this track historically, and there's no exception this weekend. But it's not an excuse, and I need to react, and qualifying will be a good start to turn things around."
Team boss Fred Vasseur pinned the difference in their performances on how they were able to manage the tyres, noting it is easier to do so from the front rather than in the pack, where Leclerc was battling to get back past the Mercedes of George Russell.
"As soon as you are in the dirty air, you struggle to overtake," Vasseur said. "It's much more difficult to manage."
(Reporting by Joe Cash/Alan Baldwin; Editing by Peter Rutherford and Ed Osmond)
