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03/14 01:58 CDT George Russell of Mercedes wins Chinese GP sprint to continue his early-season dominance George Russell of Mercedes wins Chinese GP sprint to continue his early-season dominance SHANGHAI (AP) --- George Russell of Mercedes held off a strong challenge from Ferrari to win Saturday's sprint race at the Chinese Grand Prix, continuing his early dominance in a new and different season of Formula 1. Charles Leclerc was second with his Ferrari teammate Lewis Hamilton taking third. Russell won the first race of the season in Australia last weekend, and he followed up taking the 19-lap sprint in China. Later Saturday, he aims to make it three pole positions from three attempts in qualifying for Sunday's Chinese Grand Prix.. As last week in Australia, the Ferraris were fast off the line and Russell and Hamilton swapped the lead several times on the first few laps. But Russell began to pull away after the early laps with Hamilton fading as the constant battles took a toll on his tires. "Lewis did an amazing job in the in the early laps," Russell said. "He caught me off guard --- 20 years of experience. So I've still got a bit to learn." "It was pretty fun in the end," Russell added. "A lot of strategy in play and overtakes. It's not easy. I hope it was fun race to watch. Usually the sprint races are pretty boring." Hamilton received loud applause from the Shanghai crowd when he began his on-track interview by saying "N? h?o" --- hello in Chinese. "That speed (of Mercedes) on the straight is just a little bit too much at the moment," said Hamilton, who won last year's sprint in China for his only victory since joining Ferrari. "I think I put up a good fight." Hamilton and Leclerc couldn't renew their challenge late in the race after a safety car period for Audi's Nico Hulkenberg stopping on track. Lando Norris was fourth for McLaren and Russell's teammate Kimi Antonelli fifth after serving a penalty for an early collision with Red Bull's Isack Hadjar. Formula 1 has made massive engine and chassis changes for this season --- the most radical in over a decade --- that feature a 50-50 split between internal combustion and electric power. Russell is one of the new era's biggest cheerleaders and said Saturday's sprint battle felt "like go-kart racing in the past ... I don't ever remember Formula 1 being like that, where you can have three or four cars all fighting for the same position truly on track." Drivers have struggled to handle the trade-off between using power and conserving it, and some have struggled with extra power coming in unexpectedly. Four-time world champion Max Verstappen is no fan of the changes and finished ninth in the sprint race. "Everything that could go wrong, did go wrong," Verstappen said. "We just need to get our stuff together." ___ AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing

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