@Max33Verstappen cruises to dominant #ChineseGP victory. #F1

Verstappen Chinese GP Victory – Reigning world champion Max Verstappen stormed to a dominant victory at the Chinese GP ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris as Sergio Perez completed the final podium place for Red Bull.

 

 

Verstappen survived two safety cars and drove a flawless race to capture his 58^th-career victory and extend his lead in the World Driver’s Championship standings to 15 points over team-mate Perez.

 

When the 56 lap Chinese GP began, pole-sitter Verstappen gets a solid run off the line as Alonso overtook Perez on the outside into turn one to jump into second place.

 

Behind them Mercedes’ George Russell and Haas F1 Team’s Nico Hulkenberg were up into sixth and seventh places respectively after overtaking the Ferrari pairing.

 

The Ferrari of Charles Leclerc made his way past Hulkenberg on the back straight, overtaking the VF-24 entry into the turn 14 right hand hairpin.

 

At the end of the opening tour, Verstappen held a 1.445 second lead over Alonso with Perez third, McLaren duo Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri rounding out the top five runners.

 

By the third lap, race leader Verstappen was already out of DRS range from second-placed Alonso, with his lead increased to 2.7 seconds.

 

13^th-placed Williams of Alexander Albon was furious with Alpines’ Esteban Ocon in-front, who said was “moving all over the place.”

 

At the beginning of lap five, Verstappen’s gap to second-placed Alonso was up to 4.067 seconds as Perez was much closer to the Aston Martin ahead.

 

At turn six, after getting into the slip-stream, Perez made a dive up the inside of Alonso in the right-hand hairpin to snatch second place from the double world champion.

 

On lap six in the fight for third place, Norris was right into DRS range of Alonso with the latter wearing out his tyres that much more than the others around him.

 

Out of turn 13 right-hander, Norris got DRS assistance down the back-straight of the Spaniard and made a move on the inside of the AMR24 entry into the turn 14 right-hand hairpin to move up into third place.

 

Behind them with DRS assistance on the main-straight on the ninth tour, Leclerc made a move around the outside of Russell’s F1 W15 and jumped into sixth place.

 

On lap 10, Verstappen increased his gap to 7.651 seconds over team-mate Perez with Norris third, Alonso fourth, Piastri fifth as Leclerc completed the top six runners.

 

A tour later, the battle for seventh intensified as Sainz drew ever closer to the Mercedes of Russell and had a look on the outside of the F1 W15 into turn six, but the Briton covered the Ferrari driver to hold position.

 

With DRS on the back straight, Leclerc steamed down the inside of the Piastri’s McLaren to jump into fourth place.

 

Behind them both Alonso and Russell pitted from fourth and seventh respectively for a fresh set of hards and mediums as the pairing emerged in 10^th and 11^th.

 

On lap 14, Red Bull double-stacked their drivers as race leader Verstappen and Perez put on a fresh set of hards each and came out in fourth and sixth respectively behind both Ferrari’s in a split.

 

The 15^th tour saw the yet-to-pit race-leading Norris 6.967 seconds clear of Leclerc with Verstappen third, Piastri fourth, Sainz fifth and Perez completing the top six.

 

Behind them, Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll lunged up the inside of Magnussen’s Haas at the turn six hairpin to move up into ninth place.

 

In the short battle for second place, the fresh-tyred Verstappen also made a move on the inside of Leclerc at the turn six right-hand hairpin to take the position from the Monegasque driver.

 

Lap 17 saw Piastri pit from fifth and came out in ninth place behind Stroll.

 

In the battle for fourth, Perez suffered a big lock-up behind the Sainz’s SF-24 into turn six and then on the back straight, the former managed to get in-front before the final corner as the latter came into the pits.

 

Sainz put on his fresh set of the harder rubber and emerged in tenth place ahead of Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas.

 

On the 18^th lap, Sainz with DRS assistance made an overtake on the inside of Hulkenberg into the right-hand turn 14 hairpin to move up into ninth place.

 

With DRS on the back-straight, Verstappen reclaimed the lead passing Norris around the outside into turn 14 making the move stick.

 

Lap 21 saw Verstappen’s lead now 2.637 seconds with the yet-to-pit Norris and Leclerc second and third respectively as Perez and Alonso completed the top five.

 

Bottas was the first retiree of the race stopping at turn 12 due to an engine issue.

 

Meanwhile Sanz made a dive on the inside of Stroll in the fight for eighth as the former suffered a lock up into the turn six right-hand hairpin and allowed the Canadian back through.

 

The virtual safety car was deployed on lap 22 due to Bottas’ stoppage to clear the Sauber.

 

Third-placed Leclerc took the opportunity for a free pitstop, putting on a fresh set of hards and emerged in fifth behind Alonso.

 

Meanwhile, Stroll stopped from seventh and emerged in 13^th place behind the RB entries of Yuki Tsunoda and Daniel Ricciardo.

 

On lap 23, Norris finally pitted from the lead and came out in third behind the Red Bull duo.

 

The VSC then became a full safety car deployment to clear debris on track as both Verstappen and Perez came in to switch for another fresh set of hards as Alonso also came in for a fresh set of softs and Russell also pitted for hards.

 

Both Alonso and Russell came out behind Sainz.

 

Meanwhile a lap later, Piastri also stopped from fifth and put on a fresh set of harder rubber and came out in eighth place behind Russell.

 

Home favourite Zhou Guanyu suffered a slow pit-stop to come out in a low-18^th as both Williams’ Logan Sargeant and Hulkenberg were noted by the race stewards for a safety car infringement.

 

When the safety car ended and the race resumed on lap 27, Verstappen got a solid jump out of the turn 14 right-hand hairpin leaving the trail of cars behind.

 

Behind them, Stroll locked up into the back of Ricciardo knocking the Australian off the track at the hairpin, giving the Australian floor damage.

 

Haas F1 Team’s Kevin Magnussen made a move up the inside of Tsunoda into turn six hitting the VCARB01 in the rear-left tyre causing the Japanese driver to spin out and retire.

 

The safety was deployed again for the incident as both Magnussen and Stroll pitted and came out at the rear with a set of mediums.

 

Before the safety car was brought out, Alonso on his soft-tyred AMR24 racer, made a move on the inside of fellow Spanish-compatriot Sainz into turn 14 to jump into fifth place.

 

When the race went back to green on lap 32, Verstappen once again shot away from the pack as Alonso drew closer to Perez’s RB20.

 

Behind them, Hulkenberg made his way ahead of Ricciardo into ninth place as Hamilton done likewise demoting the Australian to 11^th.

 

On lap 33, Verstappen’s gap was up to 1.152 seconds over Norris with Leclerc holding third, Perez fourth, Alonso fifth as Sainz rounded out the top six runners.

 

Behind them, Ricciardo fell also behind Ocon and Albon due to his floor-damaged VCARB01 racer.

 

Meanwhile Sargeant was hit with a ten second timed-penalty for a safety car infringement whilst Stroll and Magnussen was also hit with a penalty for causing a collision.

 

Ricciardo was the third retiree of the Grand Prix as a result of the collision with Stroll making it a Racing Bulls double DNF.

 

With 20 tours remaining, Verstappen’s lead was up to 2.645 seconds over Norris, with Leclerc third, Perez fourth, Alonso fifth as Sainz completed the top six.

 

On lap 38, Perez got within DRS range of third-placed Leclerc and kept tucked right behind the SF-24 entry.

 

The Monegasque driver managed to keep the Red Bull behind into the right-hand turn 14 hairpin.

 

A tour later, Perez made a late lunge up the inside of Leclerc into the turn six right-hander to grab third place.

 

Zhou gave his home fans something to cheer about as he overtook Sargeant for 13^th place.

 

Fourth-placed Leclerc said his tyres were not great as Piastri was told by his team that his car had “significant damage” – he was hit by fellow Australian-compatriot Ricciardo after the latter was hit by Stroll.

 

Hamilton after being unable to pass Hulkenberg at the final corner, managed to overtake the VF-24 into the lap 12 left-hander with a late-braking manoeuvre.

 

On lap 44, Alonso stopped from fifth for a fresh set of mediums and emerged in 12^th place behind Albon.

 

With 10 laps remaining, Verstappen’s gap to second-placed Norris was up to 8.783 seconds as Perez was third, Leclerc fourth, Sainz fifth as Russell rounded out the top six runners.

 

On the 47^th-tour Alonso picked off Albon then Ocon to move back up into the points with Hulkenberg next on his radar in his charge.

 

Alonso on lap 48 then moved up into ninth, making short-work of the German on the back-straight with DRS assistance passing the VF-24 on the inside into turn 14.

 

A lap later, Alonso dived up the inside of Hamilton into the turn six hairpin to make his way into eighth place.

 

Sainz was warned by his team to watch out for Alonso as he may catch him on the final lap as the latter overtook Piastri for seventh place.

 

Verstappen crossed the line to clinch his 58^th-career victory at the Chinese GP ahead of Norris by 13.773 seconds as the Dutchman’s Red Bull team-mate Perez completed the top three a further 19.160 seconds back.

 

Leclerc lead from Ferrari team-mate Sainz to take fourth and ahead of Mercedes’ Russell and Aston Martin’s Alonso who were sixth and seventh respectively.

 

McLaren’s Piastri took eighth as Mercedes’ Hamilton and Haas F1 Team’s Hulkenberg rounded out the final points places.

 

Alpine pairing Ocon and Gasly finished the Grand Prix in 11^th and 13^th respectively as Albon split the duo in 12^th position.

 

Home favourite Zhou ended the race in 14^th and in-front of Aston Martin’s Stroll who placed 15^th as Haas’s Magnussen and Williams’ Sargeant brought up the rear,

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2024 Chinese GP – The Top Three

 

 

2024 Chinese GP Winner – Max Verstappen, #1, Oracle Red Bull Racing, Honda-RBPT, RB20:

“It felt amazing, it was so enjoyable to drive on every single compound. The car was on rails, I could do whatever I wanted to do with it. [Miami] should be a good race for us, I’m excited for a busy one.”

 

2^nd Place – Lando Norris, #4, McLaren Formula 1 Team-Mercedes, MCL38, +13.773s:

“Surprised, I’m very happy – today it just worked out, I wasn’t expecting it. Good day, good points so I’m very happy. I was surprised by many things – the lack of pace from Ferrari, our good pace, us comparing to the Red Bull… It shows the team has done a good job, and it paid off. I made a bet about how far behind the Ferrari we would finish today, I thought 35 seconds and I was very wrong!”

 

3^rd Place – Sergio Perez, #11, Oracle Red Bull Racing, Honda-RBPT, RB20, +19.160s:

“Yeah, it cost us quite a bit, we lost two places [under the Safety Car] and it was just tough fighting like that, the life of the tyre goes off dramatically.”

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Formula 1 Lenovo Chinese Grand Prix 2024 Race Results Classification (56 Laps)

POS	NO	DRIVER	CAR	LAPS	TIME/RETIRED	PTS
1	1	Max Verstappen	RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT	56	1:40:52.554	25
2	4	Lando Norris	MCLAREN MERCEDES	56	+13.773s	18
3	11	Sergio Perez	RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT	56	+19.160s	15
4	16	Charles Leclerc	FERRARI	56	+23.623s	12
5	55	Carlos Sainz	FERRARI	56	+33.983s	10
6	63	George Russell	MERCEDES	56	+38.724s	8
7	14	Fernando Alonso	ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES	56	+43.414s	7
8	81	Oscar Piastri	MCLAREN MERCEDES	56	+56.198s	4
9	44	Lewis Hamilton	MERCEDES	56	+57.986s	2
10	27	Nico Hulkenberg	HAAS FERRARI	56	+60.476s	1
11	31	Esteban Ocon	ALPINE RENAULT	56	+62.812s	0
12	23	Alexander Albon	WILLIAMS MERCEDES	56	+65.506s	0
13	10	Pierre Gasly	ALPINE RENAULT	56	+69.223s	0
14	24	Zhou Guanyu	KICK SAUBER FERRARI	56	+71.689s	0
15	18	Lance Stroll	ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES	56	+82.786s	0
16	20	Kevin Magnussen	HAAS FERRARI	56	+87.533s	0
17	2	Logan Sargeant	WILLIAMS MERCEDES	56	+95.110s	0
NC	3	Daniel Ricciardo	RB HONDA RBPT	33	DNF	0
NC	22	Yuki Tsunoda	RB HONDA RBPT	26	DNF	0
NC	77	Valtteri Bottas	KICK SAUBER FERRARI	19	DNF	0

* Provisional results. Note – Alonso scored an additional point for setting the fastest lap of the race.

https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2024/races/1233/china/race-result.html

 

Click here for the full 2024 Formula 1 World Driver’s (Top 10) and Constructor’s Championship Standings

 

Round six of the 2024 FIA Formula One World Championship returns to the Miami Autodrome in Miami, Florida, United States of America for the Formula 1 Crypto.com Miami Grand Prix 2024 from Friday May 3-Sunday May 5.

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