Max Verstappen took victory at the 2024 Chinese Grand Prix ahead of Lando Norris and Sergio Perez.
Formula 1 returned to Shanghai this weekend, and the grand prix didn’t disappoint, with multiple safety car and controversial incidents throughout the 56 lap race.
Valtteri Bottas brought out the first safety car after an issue caused him to stop on track, which was a disappointing end to a good weekend, where he managed to qualify ninth and tenth in both qualifying sessions. The restart saw multiple incidents, the most controversial being Lance Stroll crashing into Daniel Ricciardo and ending the Australian’s race.
Ricciardo was having his best weekend of the season so far, dominating his teammate in all of the sessions before the race. The Australian looked on for his first points of the season but had to retire despite trying to give it a go for a few laps after the contact.
Ricciardo was still in the race for the second safety car as it came out just a lap after the first one ended because of another incident involving a Visa Cash App RB car, this time Kevin Magnussen spinning Yuki Tsunoda out of the race.
🤩 A GREAT MOVE BY RICCIARDO INTO THE HAIRPIN!
The Australian gets past Tsunoda and into 14th. He’s now chasing Hamilton!
Lap 21/56.#TeamTCF | #ChineseGP | #F1 https://t.co/F6PfJjj3cw
After the second safety car period, the drama died down somewhat. Pérez made a few overtakes to take himself up to third, although he couldn’t catch up to Norris. Alonso lost a few positions due to a strange strategy – Aston Martin Armaco F1 Team put the Spaniard on soft tyres during the second safety car period. He was forced to pit from sixth and could only return to seventh by the chequered flag.
Charles Leclerc crossed the line in fourth, ahead of Carlos Sainz Jr. ending a tough weekend for Scuderia Ferrari. George Russell was the lead Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team car. Oscar Piastri finished eighth, although he did have some damage to his car. Lewis Hamilton ended up in ninth, after a Q1 exit and an eighteenth place start on the grid. Nico Hülkenberg secured the final points scoring position.
Esteban Ocon, Alex Albon, Pierre Gasly, Zhou Guanyu, Lance Stroll, Kevin Magnussen and Logan Sargeant completed the running order.
| 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 |