One year after Lewis Hamilton took his first and only victory for Ferrari in the Shanghai Sprint, the Scuderia returns to China looking to break a winless streak dating back to early 2024.
After a promising season opener in Melbourne, where Charles Leclerc and Hamilton finished 3rd and 4th, the Italian team has emerged as the primary threat to the dominant Mercedes duo of George Russell and Kimi Antonelli.
“We have a fight on our hands with Ferrari,” admitted Mercedes boss Toto Wolff. While Russell remains the favorite, Hamilton is optimistic after his podium-less 2025 season.
As the first Sprint weekend of F1’s new engine and chassis era, teams have only one hour of practice to master the technical “revolution.”
Unlike the high-frequency energy deployment in Melbourne, Shanghai’s massive straights will force a different approach to battery management.
While McLaren looks fast, Red Bull is reeling from a double-retirement in Australia, and Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso admits even finishing the race may be “optimistic” due to powertrain issues.
In a city where the color red symbolizes good fortune, Hamilton, the most successful driver in China with six previous wins, aims to turn optimism into a long-awaited Grand Prix trophy.
