Hamilton has crossed the line for his first win in red! Granted, it was a short Sprint race, but nonetheless this will give not only Hamilton but Ferrari the confidence boost they need following the disappointing weekend in Australia. Oscar Piastri managed to pass Max Verstappen to come home in second, while his teammate Lando didn’t have the smoothest Sprint. Here are all the highlights from the first Sprint race of the season.
- Hamilton’s Impressive Drive
- The seven-time world champion had a lovely Sprint race today, with a clean start of the line to keep Max Verstappen, an old rival, behind him. These shorter races also bring about a lot of tire management, which Hamilton handled with ease. After all, they don’t call him a tire-whisperer for nothing!
- Lando’s Tough Pace
- Norris was admittedly having some troubles with the car during qualifying, where he only qualified sixth of the grid. However, the race seemed to only bring more difficulties. He held his position for the first handful of the corners before a mistake caused him to lose two places, and Stroll passed him soon after. From there his front left seemed to be graining even more than the other drivers and he dropped away from Stroll’s Aston Martin. At this point Norris had fell out of the points position, with only the top eight earning anything. However, with 2 laps to go, Lando managed to pass Stroll to at least earn him one point in the Championship. It is still concerning to see the McLaren of Norris off the pace before the Grand Prix.
- Lawson Getting his Elbows Out
- The young Red Bull driver didn’t have the best weekend in Australia, nor did Sprint Qualifying go his way either. Liam Lawson was probably anxious to prove himself during the Sprint race, so he wasn’t scared his bump wheels with the drivers. Particularly the wheels of Jack Doohan’s Alpine. Luckily, neither driver has major damage, however Lawson wasn’t done with the daring passes. While making a lunge on Gabriel Bortoleto, part of his Red Bull flew off and he couldn’t get the job done. However many places Lawson gained, it still seems that there is a significant gap between him and his teammate, Max Verstappen.
- Last Lap Bumper Cars with Doohan
- Most of the front runners had already finished the race before Jack Doohan tried a pass on Gabriel Bortoleto that led to the two making contact and causing many drivers behind to swerve around. Bortoleto managed to get his Sauber moving again quickly, but Doohan sat in the middle of the track for a second before gently persuading his Alpine to finish the race.
With the Sprint race wrapped up, the drivers all have their sights set on qualifying for the Grand Prix.
