Lewis Hamilton demands immediate Ferrari action after sprint qualifying

Lewis Hamilton has called on Ferrari to take action following Sprint qualifying at the Chinese Grand Prix.

Hamilton, 41, finished fourth last weekend at the Australian Grand Prix, behind Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc and Mercedes duo Kimi Antonelli and George Russell.

This weekend, the seven-time Formula 1 world champion is looking to secure back-to-back Chinese Grand Prix Sprint victories, having won around the Shanghai International Circuit last year.

However, Hamilton will have to do some overtaking as he only managed to put his SF-26 fourth, behind Lando Norris, Antonelli and Russell.

Speaking after the session, Hamilton urged the team to do more to close the gap to the dominant Mercedes.

According to CRASH, Hamilton told Sky Sports F1: "Yeah, really pleased with the session. My team did a really great job. My engineers did a fantastic job to turn the car around, because in P1 it was a tricky session with that spin.

"The car generally felt great. It’s just I think we’re losing on the straights - it’s a lot of time to be losing."

Lewis Hamilton on track in Shanghai. Image: Getty

He continued: "So, yeah, we have a lot of work to do. We really have to push so hard back in Maranello to improve on power. It’s something that we were conscious of last year, we thought Mercedes started earlier than us or the rest, which they did last time as well [in 2014].

"So, they’ve done a fantastic job. We’ve got to step up and push to be able to close that gap. I think car-wise, the car feels great and I think we can compete with them through corners. But when you’re down on power, it’s just the way it is."

Meanwhile, pole sitter Russell said: "The car has been feeling amazing. We knew after Melbourne we had a really good car, the engine is performing really well, and today it was a real joy to drive.

"I'm intrigued to know what the lap times are compared to last year because it felt very quick, really cool, and very different to Melbourne."