SHANGHAI (AP) — George Russell of Mercedes won Saturday’s sprint race at the Chinese Grand Prix, continuing his early dominance in a new and different season of Formula 1.
Charles Leclerc was second with his Ferrari teammate Lewis Hamilton taking third.
Russell won the first race of the season in Australia last weekend, and he followed up taking the 19-lap sprint in China. The full Formula 1 race is Sunday — qualifying is later Saturday — where Mercedes is also the favorite.
Russell and Hamilton swapped the lead several times on the first few laps, the two taking turns like a yo-yo leading the early race. But Russell began to pull away after the early laps with Hamilton fading.
“Lewis did an amazing job in the in the early laps,” Russell said. “He caught me off guard — 20 years of experience. So I’ve still got a bit to learn.”
“It was pretty fun in the end,” Russell added. “A lot of strategy in play and overtakes. It’s not easy. I hope it was fun race to watch. Usually the sprint races are pretty boring.”
Hamilton received loud applause from the Shanghai crowd when he began his on-track interview by saying “Nǐ hǎo” — hello in Chinese.
“That speed (of Mercedes) on the straight is just a little bit too much at the moment,” Hamilton said. “I think I put up a good fight.”
The race was run under the safety car for several laps in the middle of the race with the safety car pulling off for the last three laps.
Russell and Mercedes teammate Kimi Antonelli started from the pole in the sprint.
Lando Norris of McLaren started on the second row alongside Hamilton of Ferrari, who won this sprint race a year ago. It was Hamilton’s only victory in any race since he joined Ferrari at the start of last season.
Formula 1 has made massive engine and chassis changes for this season — the most radical in a decade — that feature a 50-50 split between internal combustion and electric power.
Drivers have struggled to handle the cars when electric power kicks in and the need to trade off between using power and conserving it.
One of those struggling drivers is four-time world champion Max Verstappen, who is no fan of the changes. He finished ninth in the sprint race Saturday, more than 11 seconds behind Russell.
“Everything that could go wrong, did go wrong,” Verstappen said. “We just need to get our stuff together.”
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