Lewis Hamilton has seemingly hit out at people who were "yapping away" after he secured victory in Saturday's Chinese GP Sprint race.
On the back of a 10th-placed finish in Australia last week, Hamilton felt downbeat about the battle that he had in his new Ferrari, yet that was quickly forgotten as he earned pole on Friday ahead of the 19-lap Sprint.
With rival Max Verstappen on the front row alongside him, success certainly was not assured, but the 40-year-old would lead from start to finish to secure what will feel like one of the most fulfilling wins of his decorated career.
While only an eight-point haul in terms of the Drivers Championship, it was a statement performance from Hamilton, and he revelled in the win after the race as he seemingly took aim at any critics.
Hamilton said: "I woke up feeling great today. 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, with communication and understanding and a whole lot of things.
"The amount of people I heard yapping away maybe because they haven't done it and don't have the experience.
"I came here and the engineers and mechanics have done a great job to fine-tune the car and it felt great today. There is so much grip on this new tarmac but I think everyone struggled."
Our top 8 in #F1Sprint 👀#F1 #ChineseGP pic.twitter.com/3rDzqNyVoi
— Formula 1 (@F1) March 22, 2025
How did Hamilton fare in qualifying for Sunday's Grand Prix?
Given the fanfare and emotions that he experienced hours beforehand, Hamilton will be satisfied with earning fifth place on the grid for Sunday's Grand Prix.
However, it was McLaren's Oscar Piastri who took pole, the first time that he has ever achieved that position for a Grand Prix in his Formula 1 career.
Piastri would finish 0.082 seconds ahead of Mercedes driver George Russell with early Championship leader Lando Norris in third in the other McLaren.
Verstappen had to make do with fourth, the defending world champion facing the prospect of a far stiffer test to retain his title this time around.
Performance of the day goes to Isack Hadjar, who qualified seventh fastest in his Racing Bulls car less than a week after crashing out on the formation lap of his Formula 1 debut in Australia.
The starting grid for Sunday's Shanghai showdown 🤩#F1 #ChineseGP pic.twitter.com/UGfZotzl7F
— Formula 1 (@F1) March 22, 2025
Darren Plant
