2024-04-22 11:55:02
Triple Formula One champion Max Verstappen won the first Chinese Grand Prix in five years on Sunday, with McLaren’s Lando Norris finishing in a surprising second place to deny the dominant Red Bull team a one-two finish.
The overwhelming victory from pole position, at a Shanghai circuit that last hosted a grand prix in 2019, was Verstappen’s fourth in five races in 2024 and came after he also won the first sprint of the season on Saturday.
His Mexican teammate Sergio Pérez, Verstappen’s closest rival in the championship but now 25 points behind, completed the podium after a dry race in which the safety car came out twice and compromised his performance.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz finished fourth and fifth respectively, with Mercedes’ George Russell sixth and Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso seventh, with an extra point for fastest lap.
The victory was the 58th of Verstappen’s career and Shanghai became the 26th track on which he achieved victory. “It’s been incredible. I think we’ve been incredibly fast all weekend. It was a pleasure to drive,” said the 26-year-old, who took the checkered flag 13.773 seconds ahead of Norris. He added: “The car was basically on rails and I could do whatever I wanted with it.”
Team boss Christian Horner summed up the situation by describing Verstappen, who has won every race he has finished this year, as a man driving “on another planet.”
Red Bull is now 44 points ahead of Ferrari in the constructors’ standings. Norris ensured that China was the first race of the season without a team finishing first and second – Ferrari had done the double in Australia and Red Bull the rest – with his 15th career podium and eighth second place finish.
“I didn’t expect today at all,” said the Briton, who started fourth on the grid and was chosen Driver of the Day. “I had everything prepared to go home early and not be on the podium, so it’s a nice surprise. I made a bet on how much we would be behind the Ferraris today. I thought it was 35 seconds and I was very wrong so I was happy to be wrong with myself and with my own bets,” he added.