Lewis Hamilton ‘bullied’ Lando Norris in the F1 Sprint at the Chinese Grand Prix, says Sam Bird

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Sam Bird has praised Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton for his “feisty” start to the F1 Sprint at the 2026 Chinese Grand Prix, which saw him fight Lando Norris and George Russell.

Hamilton made immediate use of a rapid start from fourth place on the grid at the Shanghai International Circuit this Saturday to do battle with his fellow Britons from the off. Mercedes ace Andrea Kimi Antonelli had qualified P2 for the Sprint but a poor start dropped him to P9.

In the end, Hamilton’s early battles came back to bite him, as the 41-year-old fell behind his Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc after his medium C3 Pirelli tyres started to fade. Ferrari pit both of their drivers under a late safety car to cement P2 and P3, with Leclerc 1.880s ahead.

Mercedes star Russell converted pole to win the Sprint in China by only 0.674s over Leclerc, thanks to the safety car on Lap 13 of 19 to recover Nico Hulkenberg’s Audi. Russell had built a five-second lead over Leclerc prior to the safety car, after surviving his fight with Hamilton.

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Lewis Hamilton ‘bullied’ Lando Norris for P2 at the start of the F1 Sprint in China

Hamilton was up for a fight the moment that the lights went out in the Sprint at the Chinese GP on Saturday. The record 105-time Grand Prix winner quickly got his elbows out to force a move on McLaren racer Norris through Turn 2, before diving down Russell’s inside at Turn 9.

READ MORE: How to watch the 2026 Chinese GP, including Grand Prix start time

Former Mercedes F1 test driver Bird even claimed Hamilton “bullied” Norris with his pass at Turn 2, as the Ferrari star sent his SF-26 down the 2025 champion’s inside and ran him wide on the exit. Hamilton left Norris with no choice other than to back out and sit in third place.

Bird continued to sing Hamilton’s praises later on the opening lap, as well, when the “feisty” Ferrari driver sent his SF-26 down Russell’s inside at Turn 9 for the lead of the Sprint. Russell tried to fight back at Turn 14, but they continued to exchange the lead of the Sprint until L5.

“Flying start from Lewis Hamilton, and then bullied Lando Norris,” Bird said on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra. He added: “A feisty Lewis Hamilton! He’s woken up, he’s had his Weetabix this morning. What an opening lap from Lewis!”

Lewis Hamilton’s Shanghai Sprint fight with George Russell was all about energy management

Norris had the chance to cover Hamilton through Turn 2, yet he chose to stay on the outside line to avoid getting any disturbance sat right behind Russell’s Mercedes in the right-hander. It left the door ajar for Hamilton, who then immediately moved left to make Norris back out.

Russell had no defence for Hamilton’s move for the lead at Turn 9, either, after his fellow Brit pulled to his left-hand side on the exit of the high-speed Turn 8 to take the inside line for the following bend. It then became a game of managing your battery for the former teammates.

Hamilton could not defend from Russell into the Turn 14 hairpin at the end of the first lap, as the Mercedes W17 has shown itself to be a fast package on the straights and also has strong energy management. But Hamilton used his battery to fire back instantly at Turn 1 on Lap 2.

Lap 3 saw a repeat, with Russell blasting past on the back straight when Hamilton started to charge his battery only to exchange the lead again into Turn 1 as the Ferrari ace flew around the outside. Russell tried to do the same on Lap 4, but Hamilton kept to the inside at Turn 2.

Eventually, Russell made a move on Hamilton for the lead of the F1 Sprint at the Chinese GP stick into Turn 14 on Lap 5, which put Leclerc on his teammate’s rear. Leclerc took advantage of Hamilton destroying his tyres in the Sprint in China to eventually take P2 from his partner.