Lewis Hamilton tasted victory for the first time as a Ferrari driver by winning the sprint race at the Chinese Grand Prix in the early hours of Saturday morning. It was a noteworthy moment for the Brit as his first triumph with the storied Italian team in only his second race. Hamilton secured pole position for the sprint in an unexpected turn of events and surprised himself. His initial Ferrari debut last Sunday at the Australian Grand Prix was less than stellar, seeing him struggle to find speed and crossing the finish line in 10th place.

Yet, under the bright Shanghai skies, Hamilton thrived. After fending off initial pressure from Max Verstappen, he never looked back. Mastering his tyre strategy on the demanding track surface, Hamilton sailed to a win that resonated warmly with the local fans. Verstappen found himself nudged down to third after McLaren driver Oscar Piastri's late surge, by which point Hamilton had already blazed nearly seven seconds ahead.

Hamilton said after his win: "The first race was difficult and I really do feel a lot of people underestimated the steep climb it is to get into a new team, to become acclimatise within the team, understanding, communication, all sorts of things.

"The amount of critics and people I've heard yapping along the way just clearly not understanding maybe because they've never had the experience, or just unaware. So it felt great to come here and feel more comfortable in the car because in Melbourne I really didn't feel comfortable in the car.

"From lap one here this weekend, I really felt on it. The engineers have done a great job, the mechanics have done a great job to fine-tune the car, and it felt great. I got a good start and there's so much grip on this new tarmac. It's really hard to look after these new tyres, but I think everyone was struggling the same."

Hamilton is tempering expectations while also expressing satisfaction at his improved performance. He stressed the importance of maintaining "calm" amidst the rising anticipation for more wins.

"I don't feel the pressure," he continued. "I know the Tifosi, I know the fans, I know the team want to win, and it means everything to them. But I said the other day, Rome wasn't built in one day, one step at a time and we're not going to get ahead of ourselves. We cannot.

"We're going to continue to push, be diligent, just remain focused, stay calm - most importantly stay calm - because these moments get us all excited. But we'll be back at our desks after this, focused on qualifying. It's a long, long way. It's a marathon, not a sprint, so we've just got to take our time."

Drivers' Championship leader Lando Norris scored one point after finishing eighth in the sprint. He started sixth but dropped three places on the opening lap, only recovering one of those before the end.

This story originally appeared on the Mirror