Hamilton hits back at 'yapping critics' after sprint victory

Lewis Hamilton claimed his first victory for Ferrari in Saturday's Chinese Grand Prix sprint race, and took the chance to hit back at his critics.

Hamilton beat McLaren’s Oscar Piastri to the finish line by 6.889 seconds to deliver a first win for his new team ahead of Sunday’s main race in Shanghai.

The 40-year-old faced criticism for his performance at the Australian Grand Prix, having finished 10th in Melbourne.

However, Hamilton shrugged off those comments, saying after his success in Shanghai: "People just love to be negative at any opportunity. Even with the smallest things, they’ll just be negative about it.

YUP pic.twitter.com/1KCKPforBG

— Lewis Hamilton (@LewisHamilton) March 21, 2025

"The amount of critics and people I’ve heard yapping along the way just clearly not understanding. Maybe because they never had the experience or are just unaware."

Hamilton followed his sprint success up by qualifying in fifth place for the main event and remains optimistic of a positive result.

"It’s hard to put into words what it feels like. Obviously, it’s a sprint race. It’s not the main race. But even just to get that is a good stepping stone to where I’m working towards," he said.

"I felt unusually calm in myself. I would say definitely more so than usual. I’m generally a relatively calm person, but I think today there was a stillness in me that I haven’t felt in a long time.

"I feel optimistic for tomorrow, I would like to get a good start and jump at least one car. And then slowly work my way up. Tonight I will make a masterplan and then I have to try and execute it."

Hamilton has joined Ferrari after 12 seasons with Mercedes. The seven-time world champion, who has won the Chinese Grand Prix on six occasions, will be seeking to extend his record of 105 race wins on Sunday.

Piastri topped qualifying, ahead of George Russell and Lando Norris. Hamilton's long-time rival Max Verstappen qualified in fourth.