How an early arrival with Angela Cullen helped Lewis Hamilton to F1 sprint win

Lewis Hamilton has revealed that arriving on the grid ahead of the F1 sprint race in China with Angela Cullen proved to be a blessing in disguise as he clinched his first victory in Ferrari colours.

Hamilton dominated the F1 sprint race at the Shanghai International Circuit, winning by over six seconds.

The seven-time world champion controlled the race from the front, managing the gap to Max Verstappen behind.

Hamilton slowly increased his lead over Verstappen before building up a six-second lead over Oscar Piastri, who managed to get by the reigning F1 world champion.

This has been a remarkable improvement for Hamilton compared to seven days ago.

Speaking after the sprint in the FIA press conference, Hamilton admitted he and Cullen - his physiotherapist - arrived on the grid ahead of the race too early.

While Hamilton conceded that Cullen is “still getting used to things” after being away from F1 since 2023, he highlighted the positives of how being on the grid early actually had a clear benefit.

“Well, I felt unusually calm in myself. I would say definitely more so than usual,” Hamilton said. “I'm generally a relatively calm person, but I think today there was a stillness in me that I haven't felt for a long time. I didn't know if that was going to be a good or bad thing – if I'm dormant or just ready.

“But also, I've got… Ange and I, it's her first... you know, Ange is still getting used to things. This is her first Sprint for ages, so even for her, we came to the grid and we happened to be there a little bit early... You know, like, shoot, we were earlier than normal. Yeah, just the timing, I was like, I'm going to get in the car. And it actually worked really nice.

“I got time to spend talking to the engineers from the car. I think really from the moment – the good start that I had, I was really happy with the start – and then a couple laps in, I felt that I was managing. So I felt like I had the car beneath me. But of course, the two behind were pushing quite hard, and I could see Max was getting close in certain places, so I didn't know.”

Lewis Hamilton bounces back from Australia setback

Hamilton will be buoyed by his performance in the sprint race, especially after a disappointing weekend in Australia.

The 40-year-old was out-paced by teammate Charles Leclerc throughout the weekend at Albert Park.

Hamilton spent the majority of the race behind Alex Albon before a poor strategy call by Ferrari cost him a chance at a big points haul.

Hamilton would finish 10th in Australia - the worst finish by a Ferrari driver on debut since Luca Badoer in 2009.

A week later, Hamilton took pole in the sprint before dominating the race.