SHANGHAI (AP) — Max Verstappen, continuing his dominance in Formula 1, took Saturday’s first sprint race of the season — the prelude to the full-blown Chinese Grand Prix on Sunday.

Verstappen passed Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes on the ninth of 19 laps and stretched out his lead to win by 13 seconds ahead of Hamilton. Sergio Perez of Red Bull was third and Charles Leclerc of Ferrari was fourth.

“The first few laps were quite hectic,” Verstappen said. “Once I got in the lead the car was handling pretty well.”

It was his eighth victory in an F1 sprint.

Red Bull’s Verstappen is the three-time defending F1 champion and is almost unbeatable in any format.

He now has 85 points to lead of the overall season standings. Perez is second with 70 followed by Leclerc with 64 and Carlos Sainz of Ferrari with 59.

Second place was like a consolation victory for Hamilton. The seven-time champion has not been a factor the last several seasons. His last GP win was in 2021 in Saudi Arabia in the second-last race of the season.