Max Verstappen overcame early electrical gremlins to blast from fourth on the grid to an emphatic victory in the Chinese Grand Prix sprint race on Saturday, 13 seconds ahead of Lewis Hamilton.

The Dutchman charged past the seven-time world champion Hamilton's Mercedes on lap nine of the 19-lap dash.

Red Bull team mate Sergio Perez was third after a thrilling battle with the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, and the Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso.

"The first few laps were hectic," said Verstappen after claiming the eight points on offer for the winner of the first sprint of the season at the Shanghai International Circuit.

"The wind is changing a lot which makes it difficult to drive.

"Once we sorted (the battery) out we were OK," Verstappen added as he extended his championship lead to 25 points over Perez.

Leclerc and Sainz ended up fourth and fifth after swapping places numerous times in the dramatic tussle for the minor places with Perez and Alonso.

Aston Martin's Alonso came out worst as he went wheel-to-wheel with the Ferraris, having to retire his car on lap 18 with a puncture suffered in the skirmish.

On the first Chinese Grand Prix weekend since 2019, huge crowds turned out to see Shanghai native Zhou Guanyu, China's first Formula One driver, make his home debut in his third season in the premier racing class.

Tickets for Sunday's main race sold out in minutes and fans had plenty to cheer Friday when Zhou propelled his Sauber into the top 10 in a wet sprint qualifying session.

He started from 10th and in dry conditions for the race and moved up one place after the opening skirmishes.

Zhou agonisingly finished just out of the points in ninth after being passed late on by Russell, who started down in 11th on the grid but made the most of starting on quicker soft tyres. (AFP)