Formula 1 returned to China for the first time since 2019, with a packed crowd at the Shanghai International cheering local favorite Zhou Guanyu’s every move. While he didn’t get the fairy tale ending he dreamed of, there were others who were very happy with the weekend’s work. We select our winners and losers of the Chinese Grand Prix.
Winner: Max Verstappen
Max Verstappen produced one of the most impressive performances of his career, as he took his first victory in the Chinese Grand Prix and his fourth in five Grands Prix so far this season.
The Red Bull driver, who showed a relentless pace that allowed him to gain great advantages after the start and the two subsequent Safety Car restarts, also won the Sprint, achieving the double (victory in Sprint and Grand Prix) for the third time. of consecutive Sprint week.
The Dutchman has been defeated in a Grand Prix only twice (both by Carlos Sainz) in the last 357 days and now leads his teammate Sergio Pérez by 25 points in the drivers’ standings.
The march towards a fourth consecutive title, which would tie him with former Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel, is gaining pace.
Loser: Daniel Ricciardo
This was very close to being a great weekend for Daniel Ricciardo, who had the measure of his RB teammate Yuki Tsunoda for the first time this season.
The Australian surpassed Tsunoda for the first time in 2024 and also surpassed him in the Sprint standings. He was set to score his first points of the year before Lance Stroll crashed into him in the back, causing significant damage that forced his retirement.
To add even more misery, he received a three-place drop on the starting grid for the next event, which will apply to the Sprint in Miami, for overtaking Nico Hulkenberg with the safety car.
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Winner: Lando Norris
Lando Norris went into the weekend expecting his McLaren to struggle at the Shanghai International Circuit, courtesy of its long corners.
However, he mastered the wet conditions to take pole in the Sprint and then put in one of the best performances of his career to take second in the Grand Prix, comfortably keeping Perez’s Red Bull at bay.
This was his eighth second-place finish in F1 and seventh in the last 18 Grands Prix, while giving McLaren its first podium in Shanghai since Jenson Button finished second in 2012.
Losers: Aston Martin
Aston Martin wasted a golden opportunity to score more points at the Chinese Grand Prix weekend and keep the pressure on Mercedes in the fight for fourth position in the constructors’ championship.
Fernando Alonso battled hard for the top three in the Sprint, before suffering a puncture from a collision with Carlos Sainz (he was blamed for the contact and given a 10-second penalty after the race) and eventually retired.
On Sunday, safety cars hampered his three-stop strategy, although he fought back to finish seventh and maintain his points record in every Grand Prix this season.
Teammate Stroll failed to score after colliding with Ricciardo, meaning he has failed to finish in the top 10 in three of five races so far this season.
Winner: Zhou Guanyu
After waiting for more than two years, Zhou Guanyu finally got the chance to become the first Chinese driver to compete in F1 at home.
While he didn’t score the points he so craved, the 24-year-old finished a solid ninth in the Sprint and a season-best 14th in the Grand Prix.
He handled the weight of a nation with impressive maturity, fulfilling a relentless series of promotional, media and fan events in the weeks leading up to the event and throughout the race weekend, and deftly managed to feed off the attention in instead of letting it overwhelm him. .
READ MORE: What the teams said – Race day in China
Losers: Ferrari
Not long ago, a fourth and fifth place in the Grand Prix would have been considered a good result for Ferrari, but the Prancing Horse has significantly improved its game of late and has become Red Bull’s closest rival.
But in China they were no match for Red Bull and were usurped by McLaren in terms of one-lap speed and race pace, with Charles Leclerc finishing fourth to continue his streak of top-four finishes in every race this year.
Carlos Sainz, who crashed in qualifying to put him at a disadvantage, took his first top-six result in Shanghai, but this was the first time he failed to finish on the podium when starting a Grand Prix this year.
Winner: Nico Hulkenberg
Nico Hulkenberg continued his good start to 2024 with a third place finish in the last four Grands Prix so far this season.
To put it in context, the Haas driver only scored once in the entire 2023 campaign.
He occupies 13th place in the drivers’ standings, three points ahead of his teammate Kevin Magnussen, and in a season in which every point will be crucial in the fight for sixth position in the constructors’ championship, and in which He is looking for a new contract for next season. each score could be significant.
Losers: Kick Sauber
Kick Sauber has been threatening to score points for a couple of races and put itself in a decent position to do so in the Sprint with ninth and tenth on the grid, but they couldn’t fight it out in the top eight to score.
On race day, Valtteri Bottas started inside the top 10 and was looking to score when an engine problem forced him to retire.
While they have yet to score points like rivals Williams and Alpine, they sit last in the constructors’ championship, with their best result so far being the worst of the trio.
Winners: Alpine
It may seem strange to see Alpine in the winners’ section given that they failed to score points, but the Chinese Grand Prix was noteworthy as it was the first race this year where they managed to finish on the lead lap.
Esteban Ocon’s eleventh place finish was his and the team’s best result of the season and proof that the team, which brought a new floor to Shanghai, is returning to the midfield.
Losers: Mercedes
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff said P6 and P9 was the best prediction from his pre-race simulations and that is what George Russell and Lewis Hamilton achieved, but this is well below what a team of this class aspires to. size.
Russell came home sixth, meaning Mercedes finished outside the top five in Shanghai for the first time in history, and it is the first time since 2011 that they did not finish fourth or better at least once in the first five races.
Meanwhile, Hamilton fought back well to score points in ninth place from 18th on the grid, and this was the third time in five races he has finished in that lowly position.