Verstappen storms to victory in China as Norris finishes second

Verstappen now has a healthy lead in the World Championship. The Dutchman has won at every race on the current calendar except for the Singapore Grand Prix. Verstappen will get another chance in Singapore later in the season, but for now, Verstappen will celebrate adding his 26th different circuit to his winning list. The three-time World Champion was untouchable at the Shanghai International Circuit. 

Norris drove well but still had a deficit of more than ten seconds to Verstappen following the mid-race safety car period. Perez rounded out the podium. Ferrari proved they had good race pace, as both Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz advanced for a top-five finish.

Hamilton had a painful moment of realisation when stuck behind an Alpine. The British driver said on the radio during the race: "I can't even catch him mate. The car is so slow." Hamilton made slow progress on the soft tyre but started to work his way through the field on the medium and then hards. Hamilton recovered from his mistake in Q1 to score points in China.

Equipped with a new chassis, Daniel Ricciardo was very hopeful of kickstarting his 2024 Formula 1 season. But the Visa Cash App RB driver had to retire due to an incident during the safety car that wasn't his fault. The Australian had a better weekend overall but would've wanted to have finished the job. His teammate also retired from the event.

It was the first Chinese Grand Prix since 2019, as the F1 circus couldn't visit during the coronavirus pandemic. This meant Zhou Guanyu took part in his first Chinese Grand Prix and became the first home driver in front of the Shanghai fans. He had a good weekend overall but couldn't get close to the points on Sunday. His teammate, Valtteri Bottas, was the first driver to retire from the race.

 

 

 

 

 

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Alonso advances at the start of the Chinese Grand Prix

Verstappen was the fastest in qualifying and claimed his fifth pole position of the season. The Dutchman was three-tenths quicker than his teammate Perez, who started in second. Fernando Alonso started from third. Mediums were the popular choice on the grid, with only Lance Stroll, Yuki Tsunoda, Hamilton and pit-lane starter Logan Sargeant on the softs. Kevin Magnussen started on the hards.

Alonso made a brilliant start and got ahead of Sergio Perez. The Spanish driver couldn't hunt down leader Verstappen, who had opened up a two-second gap by the start of lap three. Perez regained P2 on lap five with a smart move in the opening sector. Hamilton started in 18th and dropped a place at the start. The Brit then reported his concerns about progress on the soft tyre. 

Alonso overused his tyres in the opening stint, allowing McLaren's Lando Norris to advance into third on lap eight. Red Bull opted for a hard tyre double stack at the start of the 14th lap, temporarily putting Norris, Leclerc and Piastri in the podium places. It meant Verstappen had to do some overtaking, but it didn't hamper his progress.

Double Safety car

Bottas stopped on the track, triggering a virtual safety car on lap 22. Various drivers opted to pit, including Leclerc and Hamilton. The VSC stayed active long enough for Norris to make a pitstop in the same conditions. The marshals couldn't move the car out of the way, so a full safety car was triggered, cutting Verstappen's 20-second advantage over Perez. Red Bull performed another double stack to get some fresh hards. 

The cars bunched up at the final hairpin just before the safety car period ended. As a result, Lance Stroll hit Daniel Ricciardo's rear and received a ten-second penalty. The damage eventually caused Ricciardo to retire. Magnussen then made an aggressive move when racing resumed and tapped Tsunoda, putting the Japanese driver out of the race.

Verstappen survived both restarts with flying colours and maintained the lead. Perez, however, lost out during the safety car period and found himself in fourth place. Norris and Leclerc broke away in the laps after the safety car restart, giving the Mexican some work to do. Perez returned to the podium places on lap 39.