168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Lewis Hamilton has hailed Mercedes’ “huge improvement” after he secured second in the China sprint race - his best result of the 2024 F1 season.

Hamilton took the race lead on the opening lap of the sprint away from 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Lando Norris after an aggressive start which saw 🌟the McLaren driver go wide.

The seven-time world champion controlled the race from the front, extending his lead over 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Fernando Alonso to over two seconds.

Inevitably, 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Max Verstappen cut his way through, before♚ overtaking Hamilton on Lap 9.

Hamilton’s pace was still🐈 good enough from that point onw൩ards to secure second - adding seven points to his championship tally.

“That’s the best result🌟 I’ve had in a long time,” he said after the sprint. “Of course, I am super, super happy, and grateful. We could༺n’t fight the Red Bulls today. This is a huge step.

“A huge improvement. At least, with the rain, that really helped naturally. The race was tough. If I was further back I would have struggled pe🌜rhaps to progress. I found out a lot about the car through this short stint for the race. I am excited for tomorrow.”

For the first time in F1 hi🌳story, the drivers will take to the track again for qualifying - just three hours after racing in the sprint.

With the forecast set to be dry, Hamilton isn’t hopeful of replicating his sprint qualifying heroics, conceding a number of teams are simply quicker ovꦅer one lap.

“I still think we’re sti🔥ll not as quick on a single lap as the Ferraris, Red Bulls,” he added. “I think the McLarens are ah🅺ead of us for sure and possibly the Astons. We’re probably close to the Astons but we will see today. I don’t anticipate we will be fighting for the front row.

“The fortunate thing is that we can make some adjustments so hopefully I can improve the carꦜ in the next three hours a🦄nd have a better qualifying session than we have had in the past.”