Shanghai

George Russell of Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team won Saturday’s sprint race at the Chinese Grand Prix, continuing his strong start to the new Formula One season.

Charles Leclerc finished second for Scuderia Ferrari, while his teammate Lewis Hamilton took third place.

Russell had already won the opening race of the season at the Australian Grand Prix last weekend and followed it up by taking the 19-lap sprint race in Shanghai. The main Grand Prix race will take place on Sunday, with qualifying scheduled later on Saturday.

Russell and Hamilton exchanged the lead several times during the opening laps, with both drivers briefly taking control of the race. However, Russell gradually pulled away as the race progressed, while Hamilton began to fall back.

“Lewis did an amazing job 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. There was a lot of strategy in play and overtakes. It’s not easy. I hope it was a fun race to watch. Usually the sprint races are pretty boring,” he added.

Hamilton received loud applause from the Shanghai crowd when he began his on-track interview with “Ni hao,” greeting fans 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 ran under the safety car for several laps midway through before racing resumed for the final three laps.

Russell started the sprint from pole position alongside Mercedes teammate Kimi Antonelli, who finished fifth.

Lando Norris of McLaren finished fourth after starting on the second row alongside Hamilton, who had won the sprint race at the Chinese Grand Prix a year earlier.

Formula One introduced major engine and chassis changes this season, the most significant in a decade, with power units now using a roughly 50-50 split between internal combustion engines and electric power.

Several drivers have struggled to adapt to the new systems, particularly managing the balance between deploying electric power and conserving energy during races.

Among them is four-time world champion Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing, who finished ninth in the sprint race, more than 11 seconds behind Russell.

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“Everything that could go wrong, did go wrong,” Verstappen said. “We just need to get our stuff together.”