Verstappen breezes to victory in action-packed Chinese GP

Max Verstappen secured his 58th career win after dominating the Chinese Grand Prix, surviving two Safety Car periods for incidents that saw both Australian drivers sustaining race-altering and race-ending damage in Shanghai. 

For a second Grand Prix in a row, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez lined up from the front row of the grid, with 18 hungry competitors locking in behind them for 56 laps of flat-out racing in China.

All three tyre compounds featured on the starting grid, with Verstappen and a majority of the drivers opting to run the C3.

Additionally, the man on pole reported of light drizzling around the 5.4km circuit, with a 10% risk of rain looming.

As the five lights went out, it was an instantly dominant display from the #1 who launched into Turn 1.

As for his teammate, Sergio Perez was challenged off the line by Fernando Alonso, with the Aston Martin driver taking the long way around through the opening turn to pass the #11.

At one stage, Alonso looked like a threat for the lead, almost capitalising on Verstappen’s wide error at Turn 3, but settling for P2.

It was a tense opening fight between the Ferrari drivers, with Charles Leclerc giving his teammate a taste of his own medicine through the infinite Turn 1.

Ultimately, this hurt both drivers, with George Russell and Nico Hulkenberg sneaking past in the process.

The #16 and #55 were able to get back past the Haas driver, who eventually dropped back to P10 after a questionable fight with Lance Stroll.

By the third lap of the Chinese Grand Prix, the interval between Verstappen and second place was beyond 2 seconds.

George Russell had an ideal start from P8, moving up into P6 and challenging Oscar Piastri.

He had to hold his attack off, however, remaining cautious of tyre-wear in the early stages.

Daniel Ricciardo had a poor start after a positive day yesterday, dropping all the way back to P15 as Yuki Tsunoda climbed up to the rear of his teammate’s VCARB 01.

Starting from a very sombre P18, Lewis Hamilton lost a position off the line, running with only pitlane-starter Logan Sargeant further behind.

He was audibly unhappy over the radio, stuck behind the home hero Zhou Guanyu for four laps before making the move stick. 

The field battle through Turn 1 at the start of the Chinese GP. Image: Zak Mauger / LAT Images.

Hamilton’s soft tyres began coming into their own, with the Mercedes driver disposing of Kevin Magnussen next. 

Running four-tenths behind the Aston Martin, Turn 6 was the place for Perez to successfully stake his claim at P2, setting off to catch the usual race leader. 

With Alonso now in Lando Norris’ attacking range, the McLaren driver was fed information that confirmed the Aston Martin driver was wearing out his tyre quickly. 

Alonso was ultimately relegated to fourth place, losing the final podium place to the fast-charging #4. 

With the aid of DRS down the main straight, Leclerc bravely took the fight to Russell.

Sweeping around the outside of Turn 1, the Ferrari driver moved into P6, remaining ahead of the Mercedes driver for the rest of the chaotic race.

The first round of undercuts began taking place on Lap 9, with Hulkenberg, Tsunoda and Zhou all opting to take their first stops as they changed to a mixture of hard and medium compounds. 

Lewis Hamilton also relinquished his soft tyres after having“the worst time” on them, rejoining the race in P19 on the yellow-marked compound. 

Leclerc kept his overtaking momentum going, passing Piastri into the Turn 14 hairpin in a late move.

It was a frantic period in the pitlane, with Pierre Gasly suffering a 19-second-long pitstop whilst avoiding a variety of near-unsafe releases.

On Lap 14, however, it was the race-leading Red Bull’s turn in the pitlane, followed by his teammate.

Verstappen rejoined the race in P3, with Perez behind the Ferrari in P6.

Chasing down Esteban Ocon, Hamilton said he was unable to catch the Alpine ahead as the gap between the two reached 1.9 seconds.

Behind the Mercedes driver, Ricciardo had caught up to the rear of his teammate after stopping a few laps prior. 

Daniel Ricciardo makes a pitstop during the Chinese Grand Prix. Image: Peter Fox/Getty Images // Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool.

On Lap 19, Ricciardo took the switch-back approach through the Turn 14 hairpin, clearing Tsunoda with ease.  

On that same lap, Valtteri Bottas was forced into retirement after suffering an engine failure at Turn 12.

What were once yellow flags soon upgraded, with a Virtual Safety Car being declared and the being race neutralised on Lap 21. 

Leclerc, Hamilton and Norris all capitalised on the reduced pit-loss, making the switch to the hard compound.

Conditions were upgraded to a full Safety Car on Lap 24 as the Sauber was stuck in gear and unable to be rolled off-track, leading to an added benefit in the pitlane which prompted Red Bull, Alonso and Piastri to make their second stops.

At the restart, Ricciardo found himself within the points, running behind his compatriot in P9, however, it wasn’t a hopeful launch for the #3.

Ricciardo was rear-ended by Stroll before the race had even resumed after a domino effect at Turn 14, caused by Alonso locking up, saw the Australian forced to slam on the brakes to avoid Piastri.

He wasn’t successful in avoiding the McLaren, damaging Piastri’s diffuser in the incident. 

The #3 also sustained significant diffuser and floor damage as Stroll suffered front wing damage.

The heartache wasn’t over for the RB garage, with Ricciardo’s teammate being forced to retire just a few corners later.

Tsunoda fell victim to Magnussen’s hasty tactics, with the #20 spinning the Japanese driver around at Turn 15, puncturing Tsunoda’s right-rear tyre and damaging his own front wing. 

Tsunoda pulled over to the edge of the circuit, and the Safety Car was deployed for a second time.

At the restart, Verstappen flew away, already beyond a second ahead of Norris as they crossed the line. 

Perez had his eyes on Leclerc, with the pairing’s battle allowing some breathing space in P2. 

The RB20’s pace was ultimately too strong for Leclerc’s SF-24 to defend from, with the Mexican reinstating his place on the podium.

Charles Leclerc leads Sergio Perez during the Chinese GP. Image: Mark Sutton / Sutton Images.

It was overtake after overtake against Ricciardo, with the Australian losing out to three drivers before being told to retire his wounded car. 

He did so on Lap 34, dropping back as he trundled into the pitlane. 

The battle for 16th place was a hectic one, with Stroll and Magnussen trading places throughout the 16 corners in Shanghai.

Stroll claimed the lead position, however, that was short-lived when he was forced to serve a 10-second penalty for his incident with Ricciardo.

Perez was now six-tenths behind the Monegasque driver, carrying his momentum from the main straight throughout Lap 38.

He had a look at a move on Leclerc into Turn 14, however, withheld, being patient and waiting for the perfect moment which came at Turn 6 on the following lap.

After the demotion, Leclerc questioned his team’s decision to run a one-stop race as his tyres started to drop off.

Sainz on 22-lap-old tyres came under threat from Russell with the Mercedes driver just six-tenths back.

Just a few laps later, the interval had grown, allowing the Spaniard to breathe a momentary sigh of relief as Russell dropped off.

Hamilton provided a spectacle for the Chinese crowd, duelling with Nico Hulkenberg for P9.

The seven-time world champion secured the position, now focussing on the damaged McLaren ahead. 

On Lap 44, Alonso pulled into the pits to hand off his struggling soft tyres, finding himself down in P12 on return. 

With 10 laps to go, Verstappen’s advantage in the lead was 8.8 seconds, with Norris splitting the Red Bulls on his one-stop run.

Having made his way back into the points, P9 was soon Alonso’s after he passed Hulkenberg through Turn 15.

Due to the Aston Martin’s rapid nature, Sainz in P5 was warned of a potential meeting in the closing stages of the race, however, that never arrived.

Despite starting Lap 50 by dipping a wheel in the gravel, Alonso managed to make two overtakes across the lap, passing Hamilton at Turn 6 and the wounded Piastri at Turn 14.

Oscar Piastri during the Chinese GP. Image: Zak Mauger / LAT Images.

Gasly was upset with Sargeant’s standard of racing, calling then Williams driver an “idiot” after he was pushed wide through Turn 15.

Sargeant was yet to serve his earlier 10-second penalty for a Safety Car infringement, dropping back while Gasly maintained his place in P14.

The Alpine driver went on to pass Kevin Magnussen on Lap 54, having to settle for P13 while Albon ran 7.3 seconds ahead.

As he sought to be the next driver to pass the Haas, Zhou Guanyu lost his front wing endplate, however, still felt confident in his attack on Gasly ahead. 

It wasn’t to be by the chequered flag, however, with the first-ever Chinese Formula 1 driver finishing his home race in fourteenth place, still receiving a roar of applause from the adoring crowd as he shed a few post-race tears on the grid. 

Ahead, it was Max Verstappen who hailed victorious in Shanghai, crossing the line 14 seconds ahead of the fan-voted Driver of The Day, Lando Norris. 

Sergio Perez didn’t have enough in his RB20 to catch the McLaren ahead, settling for third place after starting from the front row.

With strategy having impacted Fernando Alonso’s race, the extra point for securing the fastest lap, a 1:37.810s, was a welcomed addition to his P7 finish.

The race proved rather unfortunate for many, with countless drivers complaining of car issues during the race, 3 DNFs and many penalties being handed out in Shanghai, potentially at the fault of the sole practice session in which drivers had limited time to acquaint themselves with the track.

The paddock will have one week off before heading to North America for the Miami Grand Prix, the second Sprint weekend of the season.

The Miami Grand Prix runs from May 3-5 at the Miami International Autodrome, however, it will be three very early mornings for Australian fans with FP1 taking place at 2:30 AM, AEST, on May 4.

Chinese Grand Prix Results:

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