Lewis Hamilton conquered second place in the Sprint race of the 2024 Chinese Grand Prix. Hamilton had a turbulent weekend at the event. He had a successful finish in the sprint session, finishing in P2, but things took a turn for the worse when he was eliminated from the Q1 qualifying session. Despite this setback, Hamilton managed to secure a ninth place using the W15 medium chassis. As a result, the seven-time world champion stated that the Sprint race gave him a confidence boost.
Hamilton had high hopes of potentially winning the Sprint race at the Chinese Grand Prix. He led several laps from turn 1, but couldn’t resist his dominant competitor in the following laps. The 39-year-old driver stated that the positive result of the Sprint race boosted his self-confidence. According to Hamilton, this is part of life and he expects better results in the upcoming sessions.
Furthermore, Hamilton emphasized that good days like this lift his spirits and motivate him to continue racing in Formula 1. He acknowledged that the rainy conditions during the sprint qualifying made for unique circumstances. However, Hamilton had to work hard to deliver a strong lap and secure a front-row start for the Sprint race of the Chinese GP.
It has been a long time since Hamilton led laps on the track. Therefore, the Sprint race reminded him of the feeling of being on the front row of the grid and competing for victory. Hamilton had not experienced this feeling in the sport for a considerable period of time, reigniting his love for racing at the pinnacle of motorsport.
Hamilton recognized that Mercedes had to make a tremendous effort to achieve such good results. He did not challenge the current world champion, Max Verstappen, due to the impressive pace of Verstappen’s RB20 car. Mercedes made some improvements during the Sprint race weekend of the Chinese Grand Prix. The team plans to introduce more updates throughout the season to maximize the potential of their car. The goal of the Brackley-based team is to achieve better results in the upcoming races and reduce the gap between them and the leading rival teams.
