The Chinese Grand Prix at Shanghai saw Max Verstappen solidify his dominance in the 2024 F1 season, leading the way from pole position after a victorious sprint race on Saturday morning. The race day kicked off under cloudy conditions, with a slight 10% chance of rain, though the air temperature was a comfortable 18.9 degrees Celsius and the track temperature slightly warmer at 30.9 degrees.
Despite the possibility of drizzle, Verstappen showed confidence as he lined up at the front, leading an all-Red Bull front row with team-mate Sergio Perez beside him. “Already right now, it might be a few drizzles,” Verstappen commented prior to the formation laps.
As the lights went out, Verstappen had a strong start, maintaining his lead. However, behind him, Fernando Alonso made an aggressive move on Perez to take second place as he went all the way around the outside at turns 1 and 2, while the latter settled into third. Verstappen quickly pulled away, opening a 1.6-second gap at the end of the first lap, and then extending it by another full second on the second lap.
While Verstappen and Perez held the front, Lewis Hamilton struggled at the back. A poor qualifying session left him in 18th, and by the end of the first lap, he had dropped to 19th. “I’m making no ground with this tyre,” he relayed to his team as he started on the softs.
In the early laps, the Ferrari duo of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz stabilized within DRS range of George Russell and Oscar Piastri. Meanwhile, Lance Stroll’s aggressive move on Nico Hulkenberg attracted the stewards’ attention, but no further action was taken.
Perez made his move on lap five, diving down the inside Alonso at Turn 6 to reclaim second place, as Verstappen continued to extend his lead, now 5.4 seconds ahead at the start of Lap 6. Lando Norris, benefiting from DRS, passed Alonso into Turn 14 on lap seven to take third place, while Valtteri Bottas mirrored the move to secure 10th from Hulkenberg.
On Lap 10, Hamilton pitted from the soft tyres, switching to mediums, but the undercut strategy saw him rejoin in 19th. “That was the worst tyre, man,” he remarked, frustrated with his early pace. Stroll also pitted, followed by Bottas, Ocon, Albon, and Hamilton, triggering a wave of pit stops among the midfield.
Albon faced scrutiny after allegedly forcing Gasly off at the hairpin, while a disastrous pit stop by Alpine resulted in a loose wheel that lightly struck a mechanic, though everyone was reportedly unharmed. “Is he okay?” Gasly asked on his team radio, to which his team responded, “Yes, all good here, Pierre.”
On lap 14, Red Bull called both Verstappen and Perez into the pits for hard tyres, with Verstappen rejoining in fourth and Perez in sixth after 2.1s and 2.0s stops, allowing Norris to briefly take the lead. However, Verstappen quickly regained ground, overtaking Piastri and Leclerc to reclaim second place.
As the race approached Lap 17, the McLarens and Ferraris continued to battle, with Norris, Sainz, and Magnussen yet to pit. Leclerc was asked about adopting “Plan D” but responded with skepticism, suggesting the current pace might not be sufficient to change strategies.
Virtual Safety Car Deployed
Valtteri Bottas encountered engine trouble at the T11 chicane, prompting a Virtual Safety Car (VSC). This timing benefited Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris; Leclerc managed a pit stop with minimal time loss, switching to fresh hard tyres and rejoining in fifth. Similarly, Norris capitalized on the VSC, pitting a lap later and emerging in third. The full safety car was soon deployed, complicating efforts to remove Bottas’s Sauber from the track.
Both Red Bulls pitted to switch to another set of fresh hard tyres, reducing Max Verstappen’s substantial lead, though he still emerged in first place. Sergio Perez, however, dropped from second to fourth. Oscar Piastri also took advantage of the safety car to pit, but his late stop saw him fall from fifth to eighth. Williams’ Logan Sargeant pitted and rejoined in 17th, just behind his teammate Alex Albon.
Lewis Hamilton reported handling issues on team radio on Lap 24, saying, “The car is sliding around everywhere, as if something is broken.”
The safety car period allowed Verstappen to retain the lead as racing resumed, with Lando Norris, Leclerc, Perez, Piastri, Sainz, and Alonso—on fresh soft tyres—following closely behind.
Back to Racing
On Lap 26, the safety car pulled in, and racing resumed with a clean restart. Verstappen quickly extended his lead to 1.6 seconds, while Tsunoda’s spin in the background caused further drama. Kevin Magnussen made contact with Tsunoda’s rear tyre in a bold attempt to overtake, causing the Japanese driver to spin out at Turn 5. The resulting collision left the Haas with a puncture, forcing it to limp back to the pits and taking Tsunoda out of the race.
Safety Car Deployed, again
Replays indicate that during the restart, Lance Stroll collided with the rear of Daniel Ricciardo while braking for Turn 14. The Aston Martin team suggested it was a brake check, but the incident was actually triggered by Fernando Alonso locking up, creating a concertina effect that led to Stroll unintentionally hitting Ricciardo.
Back to Racing
As the safety car comes in at the end of Lap 31, the race restarts with 24 laps remaining until the finish. Lewis Hamilton has climbed into the points, sitting in 10th after passing a damaged Daniel Ricciardo, who reports floor damage from the earlier collision with Lance Stroll. Ricciardo ultimately pulls out of the race and retires due to the extent of the damage to his car.
Penalties
Following race incidents, penalties are handed out: Sargeant and Stroll receive 10-second penalties—Sargeant for a safety car infringement and Stroll for ramming Ricciardo during braking. Stroll labels his penalty ‘a joke’ as he makes a stop. Magnussen also gets a 10-second penalty for his collision with Yuki Tsunoda, which led to the latter’s retirement from the race.
On the track, the battle for position is intense, even at the back of the field. Stroll and Magnussen engage in a wheel-to-wheel duel, with Stroll diving inside at the hairpin. After a tight exchange, Stroll finally gains the advantage and takes P16 at Turn 1.
Lando Norris, battling with low-speed understeer, received a suggestion from his team to use engine braking, to which he responded, “No thank you.”
Meanwhile, the home crowd at Shanghai erupted in cheers as Zhou Guanyu, China’s local hero, executed a daring move on Logan Sargeant to take 13th place.
Sergio Perez continued his charge through the field, overtaking Charles Leclerc with a decisive move down the inside at Turn 6 on Lap 39. This mirrored his earlier overtake on Fernando Alonso and secured third place for the Red Bull driver.
Leclerc, questioning his Ferrari team’s strategy, asked, “Are you sure we are pushing for Plan D? Because tyres are not great.” The team confirmed that everyone was on Plan D, indicating a conservative approach to managing tyres.
Oscar Piastri’s McLaren sustained significant damage, courtesy of the earlier incident involving Daniel Ricciardo and Lance Stroll. Despite this, Piastri managed to hold off Lewis Hamilton for seventh.
Alonso, who had stopped for fresh medium tyres on Lap 44/56, quickly made his way back through the field, overtaking Albon, Ocon, Hulkenberg, Hamilton and Ocon, climbing from 12th to 7th within a few laps. He was 11.5 seconds behind George Russell with six laps to go.
Max Verstappen’s lead stretched to 6 seconds as he controlled the race, while Perez reduced the gap to Lando Norris in second to 5.3 seconds. Alonso’s aggressive drive through the field added excitement, while the closest battle in the top 10 was between Piastri and Hamilton, with just 1.5 seconds separating them.
Debris on Track
The enthusiastic crowd in Shanghai had more reasons to cheer as Zhou overtook Kevin Magnussen, demonstrating impressive skill and determination in his home Grand Prix. Zhou pulling out a little bit too late meant he caught Magnussen’s tyre and left debris on the track, with pieces of the front wing endplate scattered along the racing surface, indicating the intensity of the action in the final laps.
Final Laps
As the race approached its final laps, Max Verstappen reported running over debris left from Zhou Guanyu’s collision with Kevin Magnussen, prompting him to ask his Red Bull team to check the tyre sensors. Fortunately for Verstappen, everything was fine, and it proved to be the only hiccup in an otherwise flawless race.
Verstappen went on to win the Chinese Grand Prix, securing a double victory after also triumphing in the Sprint race. Lando Norris delivered a remarkable performance to claim second place and a well-deserved Driver of the Day rating, while Sergio Perez completed the podium in third. Charles Leclerc took fourth, with Carlos Sainz finishing fifth.
Russell, Alonso, Piastri, Hamilton and Hulkenberg completed the top 10.
