The Ferraris of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc put up a very good fight, particularly in the first part of the race again, but Russell's pace advantage on the straights was clear, particularly after a Safety Car restart.

Mercedes could have picked up more points if not for Kimi Antonelli's second slow race start of the season, and the young Italian also received a ten-second penalty after a collision with Isack Hadjar, and finished P5 from a P2 starting position.

Speaking of Hadjar and Red Bull, it was another torrid day for the Milton Keynes team, as Verstappen had a slow race start and just missed out on the points in P9, while his teammate fell to P15 from tenth.

The Sprint race in Shanghai kicked off in a similar manner to the Australian Grand Prix, with the Scuderia Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc recording another strong start at lights out.

Despite trading the lead with Russell in the first part of the race, the Mercedes driver blasted away after the intra-Ferrari battle, with the Briton's straight line pace a clear advantage on the rest of the field.

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