Max Verstappen overtakes Lewis Hamilton to take China sprint race win

Max Verstappen claimed a dominant sprint race victory at the Shanghai International Circuit, overtaking Lewis Hamilton in the process.

Starting from fourth on the grid, Verstappen seemed to bide his time behind Hamilton - who got ahead of Lando Norris, who made a mistake into Turn 2 - and Fernando Alonso.

By Lap 9, Verstappen had claimed the race lead after Hamilton made a mistake at the hairpin on the previous lap, reducing the advantage the Mercedes driver had built up.

From then on, Verstappen’s pace was frightening, building up a 13s lead over Hamilton.

Hamilton secured his best result of the year in second, but there’s tonnes of action behind.

Alonso and Carlos Sainz’s battle got heated, opening the door for Sergio Perez to get past.

Alonso picked up a puncture following contact with Sainz, forcing the Aston Martin driver into the pit lane before retiring from the sprint race.

Sainz then lost out to Charles Leclerc for fourth after running his Ferrari teammate off the road.

Things settled down in the final couple of laps as Verstappen romped away to another victory ahead of Hamilton and Perez.

Leclerc secured fourth ahead of Sainz, who fended off Norris.

Norris apologised to McLaren over the team radio, owning up to his blunder in the opening sequence of corners when battling Hamilton.

Oscar Piastri and George Russell rounded out the top eight - and the points-paying positions.