Max Verstappen leads the pack during the Chinese Grand Prix race, only losing first position when he made his initial pit stop to change tires. The Dutchman appears to have the situation under control, despite a Safety Car period that regrouped all the drivers, removing any advantage the driver had. And it was a very big advantage, as he had more than 21 seconds for his opponents.
The Safety car was triggered due to the stoppage of Valtteri Bottas’ Sauber at the exit of turn 11 and the fact that the car was stuck and it was not possible to remove it quickly and safely.
After the relaunch of the race, two incidents led to a new Safety Car period. Kevin Magnussen tried to overtake Yuki Tsunoda and both cars touched, with the Japanese RB having to stop on the track. Before that, Lance Stroll entered the back of Daniel Ricciardo’s second RB, causing damage to the bottom of the Australian’s car.
Sergio Pérez lost his position, after the start, to Fernando Alonso, but the Mexican driver regained the position shortly afterwards, while the Spaniard fell in the classification. At this moment, Pérez remains in fourth place, as a result of having stopped in the pit in the first period of SC, while Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc, who are 2nd and 3rd, respectively.
Fernando Alonso overtook Carlos Sainz before the second SC, but he has soft tires fitted to the Aston Martin and is likely to have to stop again.
Behind Sainz is George Russell, who has Oscar Piastri, Daniel Ricciardo and Nico Hülkenberg completing the top 10.
Lewis Hamilton has not yet managed to get into a scoring position.