The opening sprint race of the season proved to be a rather welcome reminder of the good old days for Lewis Hamilton in Shanghai.
Days where he fought tooth and nail for race wins, rather than against his own car as he has been in recent seasons with this misfiring Mercedes of his.
The chance to claim the chequered flag for the first time in 868 days was eventually snatched away from him in emphatic fashion by Max Verstappen after the Red Bull driver stormed to victory, adding another eight valuable championship points to his tally.
But for Hamilton a second-place finish and the sorely missed high that comes from challenging at the front of the grid was a timely aide-memoire of why he has dedicated 17 years of his life to the sport.
The smile on his face – one which has made understandably sporadic appearances in recent times – as he acknowledged the crowd was a sight to lift the spirits.
Max Verstappen raced through the field to overtake Lewis Hamilton and claim victory
Verstappen moved to 15 points clear of Sergio Perez at the top of the F1 driver standings
Hamilton claimed his second-placed finish reminded him ‘of why he loves driving in F1’
‘Anytime you have a good result it’s always a confidence boost. That’s the way of life and you have a good day and it lifts your spirits for sure,’ said Hamilton.
‘I think the circumstances are special with the rain yesterday but you still have to put that lap in. At the end of the day, being on the front row, I don’t remember having that view for a long time. It feels like a really long time. I don’t know if we’ve had it in the last couple of years.
‘To be able to fight into turn one for the lead reminds me of why I love what I do and what we do.’
It was vintage Hamilton when the lights went out as the Brit, starting second behind Lando Norris, was sharper off the line than his compatriot and retained the inside line heading into the tight and narrowing bends of turns one and two.
Norris ran wide and ultimately lost not only grip but six places too, all but ending his chances of causing an upset.
Initially Verstappen, who started fourth after struggling to keep his car on the straight and narrow in a wet sprint qualifying session on Friday, struggled to make in-roads from the second row. The Dutchman was heard on the radio asking his team ‘why is my battery flat?’.
But once that issue was resolved he managed to reel in first Fernando Alonso and then Hamilton. And after establishing a lead of more than two seconds ahead of Hamilton within a lap of his overtake, Verstappen never looked back and stormed to a remarkable eighth sprint race win of his career.
‘The first two laps I had to really defend but at the same time also my battery ran ran out. It was not charging basically. So I had to do some changes on the steering wheel,’ said the 26-year-old.
‘Once I had that all under control and then also the peak of the new tyres were gone, I could just rely on on the pace of the car.’
It was a vintage performance from Hamilton, who surpassed Lando Norris in the first lap
It was a frustrating day for polesitter Norris is pictured veering off the track early in the race
The McLaren driver would fall back in the field and finish sixth place after the difficult start
Verstappen’s performance suggests it will take something extraordinary to topple him later today in qualifying for tomorrow’s race, the first held in China since 2019.
Hamilton is under no illusions if how significant a part the rain in qualifying played. With the weather set fair for the rest of the weekend.
Hamilton added: ‘If I’m really honest, we’ve not made a huge step from the last race, the car is exactly the same and we’re battling the same issues that we had in the last race.
‘I think pace-wise we are probably in a similar position. I think today is going to be interesting to see if we can wing it a little bit and try to get as close to top five but we’re currently not top five qualifiers. Just getting to Q3 will be important today.’
