F1 Sprint Race Results: Lewis Hamilton survives safety car chaos to secure podium at Chinese GP

George Russell continued his 100% record in the 2026 F1 season on Saturday with a win in the Chinese Grand Prix sprint race, but he was made to work harder than expected.

Lewis Hamilton burst forward from fourth on the grid to take the lead after just a handful of corners, before he and Russell swapped the lead back and forth throughout the first quarter of the race as Charles Leclerc watched on.

QUALIFYING RESULTS: Russell suffers major issues as Antonelli takes record pole

Russell finally created a little distance from Hamilton, with the seven-time world champion sliding back into Leclerc's clutches for a brief, fierce battle which saw the team-mates nearly make contact as they went wheel-to-wheel.

Kimi Antonelli eventually joined the party and passed Hamilton on track, but all of that good work was negated by a ten-second penalty issued to him for a first-lap incident involving Isack Hadjar – an incident indirectly brought about by a dreadful start which dropped the second Mercedes from second to seventh by the first corner.

Nico Hulkenberg retired with a handful of laps to go to bring out a late safety car, which brought the vast majority of cars into the pits for fresh tyres. That means a Ferrari double-stack pit stop, which dropped Hamilton behind Lando Norris

However, he passed the reigning champion shortly after the restart to regain his position and remind the papaya team that Ferrari are very much best of the rest behind Mercedes.

Red Bull's disastrous weekend continued lower down the field, failing to score a single point as Max Verstappen could only finish ninth and Hadjar 15th.

READ MORE: FIA announce Mercedes penalty verdict after Chinese Grand Prix incident

F1 Chinese Grand Prix Sprint Race Results

F1 HEADLINES: George Russell issues ‘selfish’ verdict as FIA decision announced on Max Verstappen incident

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