For the first time in his career, Max Verstappen wins the Chinese Grand Prix, a race on the calendar that was previously dominated by his rival, Lewis Hamilton. This marks Verstappen’s 58th career win and his fourth win out of five races this season.
After their blunder in Melbourne, Verstappen and Red Bull needed to remind the paddock that they’re still the team to beat, and they did just that. The Chinese Grand Prix 2024 odds favourite reaped a total of 33 points in Shanghai over the weekend after garnering the first sprint of the season, pole position, and race win.
Just another day in the office for Verstappen, if you ask me.
Verstappen has tallied a total of 110 points in the season thus far, while giving Red Bull Racing a comfortable lead against Ferrari in the Constructors’ standings to boot.
But enough with the obvious, a lot of notable things happened in the action-packed weekend in Shanghai, and in case you missed any of it, this SBOTOP review will keep you up to pace.
Podium sees Orange
McLaren’s ace, Lando Norris, saw himself in fourth place after the jump in the Chinese Grand Prix, behind the two Red Bulls and F1 talisman Fernando Alonso. Norris happily watched veterans Sergio Perez and Fernando Alonso exhaust their tyres as they went on a full-on dog fight early in the race. Once Perez successfully fended off the green Aston Martin of Alonso, Norris quickly capitalised on the opportunity and smoothly overtook Alonso and his battle-scarred tyres in Lap Seven to move into the podium positions.
Red Bull decided to do a double stack in the pits during a safety car in lap 24. Max, having an unbeatable lead at this point, got out of the pit lane unscathed, but his teammate Perez was forced to concede a few places from second, seeing Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc move up to second and third, respectively.
Since then, Norris never looked back and was unmatched at second place until the checkered flag. For the second time this season, a McLaren is on the podium. Lando Norris continues to carry the Papayas within striking distance of Ferrari while keeping a comfortable lead over Mercedes.
The second-place Lando finish served as a breath of fresh air, as the stark orange race suit neatly divided the two Red Bulls on the podium. But despite his successful weekend, Norris had worrisome words regarding Red Bull’s dominance in the sport.
“If you see the same driver winning every single time without a fight, then of course it does start to become boring, and that is obvious. You have got one of the best drivers ever in Formula One, in one of the most dominant cars and it is a combination that is deadly.” Norris stated after the qualifying on Saturday.
Hamilton woes continue
Lewis Hamilton is back in Shanghai, where he is the undisputed king, winning the most number of races (6) since the Chinese Grand Prix was added to the F1 calendar. There was an abundance of optimism from Hamilton and his camp after finishing second in the Sprint, showing a glimpse of his past dominance, while giving fans hope that this race will be the one to get him back to his winning ways. It was definitely one the most surprising Chinese Grand Prix 2024 highlights.
But unfortunately for the Silver Arrows, Hamilton’s promising weekend ended in the Sprint race. After Verstappen and Hamilton finished the Sprint first and second, respectively, the pair’s weekend went in opposite directions in qualifying.
While Verstappen unsurprisingly snagged pole position, Hamilton shockingly dropped out in Q1, forcing the seven-time champion to start the Chinese Grand Prix in 18th position. “We’re battling the same issues that we had in the last race. Probably pace-wise in a similar position,” Hamilton said.
“He had a great lap until then. It was really unnecessary to push the limit and as a seven-time world champion that is a mistake which should be unavoidable.” said Sky Sports F1’s Nico Rosberg, Hamilton’s former teammate.
On the race itself, Hamilton’s struggles continued. The British veteran failed to put up a convincing drive, struggling to keep up with the pack while giving up places to boot. Hamilton ended the race in ninth place, while his teammate George Russell finished in sixth, continuing to outdrive Hamilton this season.
“We take the positives. But also, realistically, these guys behind us fought with each other, held each other up. We are where we are. It’s a top six car and this is what we need to acknowledge and work on from here,” Wolff admitted.
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