Verstappen wins: China is no longer a dream

World champion Max Verstappen triumphed for the first time in Formula 1 at the Chinese Grand Prix and celebrated his fourth victory of the season in the fifth race.

21 April 2024

From: dpa

The Dutch Red Bull driver also won the Grand Prix on Sunday after the sprint the day before and was able to look forward to a perfect weekend in Shanghai. McLaren driver Lando Norris came second, crossing the finish line ahead of Sergio Perez and thus preventing Red Bull's fourth one-two of the year.

“It felt fantastic, we were very fast all weekend. “It’s fun and everything went smoothly,” said Verstappen, who ended up with a lead of almost 14 seconds. Norris was also overjoyed. “I’m surprised and so happy for the whole team,” said the Brit.

In the World Championship standings, Verstappen (110 points) extended his lead over Perez (58) to 85 points with his 25th GP victory. Behind them are the two Ferrari drivers Charles Leclerc (76) and Carlos Sainz (69), who came fourth and fifth. In two weeks, the premier class of motorsport will be visiting Miami before heading to Europe for the first time in the record season with 24 races.

Verstappen like he's on rails

At the Shanghai International Circuit, where a Grand Prix took place for the first time in five years due to Corona, pole setter Verstappen got off to a good start and confidently defended his lead. Behind him, Alonso (42) shot past Perez from third place on the grid in the first corner and even briefly appeared in Verstappen's rear-view mirror. The Red Bull dominator apparently increased his lead to three seconds in the first three laps.

Max Verstappen is simply unstoppable. © APA/afp / ANDRES MARTINEZ CASARES

It took until the fifth lap for Perez to restore Red Bull's one-two lead. Lurking behind Alonso was Norris, who passed the Spanish veteran two laps later. Red Bull Racing challenged itself a bit in the 14th of 56 laps by bringing both drivers to the pit stop one after the other. Verstappen was dispatched in 2,1 seconds, Perez even in 2,0 seconds.

Norris and Leclerc waited a little longer for the first tire change and speculated on a one-stop strategy in the fight for third place. The two first benefited from an engine failure in Valtteri Bottas' Sauber car on lap 22, which saved them a few seconds under the Virtual Safety Car. Since several marshals were unable to get the bright green racing car out of the danger zone quickly enough, the safety car was deployed. Everyone in the leading field changed their tires and Perez fell back to fourth place.

Norris shines

At this point, Verstappen had already gained a lead of 22 seconds. Around the restart, Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) crashed into the rear of Daniel Ricciardo (Racing Bulls), then Kevin Magnussen (Haas) caused another safety car by spinning Yuki Tsunoda (Racing Bulls) out of the race. After another safety car deployment, Verstappen steadily increased his lead again, behind him Perez wanted to get past Leclerc and Norris.

Lando Norris came second. © APA/afp / HECTOR RETAMAL

The Mexican took back the podium place from Leclerc, but was no longer within striking distance of Norris, who was voted driver of the day. Record world champion Lewis Hamilton, the sprint runner-up, only started the race from 18th place, complained several times about the balance and performance of his Silver Arrow, and ended up ninth. The fans in China, meanwhile, cheered frantically at every overtaking maneuver by local hero Zhou Guanyu in midfield, who finished the race in 14th place in the Sauber.