Max Verstappen wins with Red Bull

Verstappen beat McLaren’s Lando Norris and Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez in a race that was twice interrupted by the safety car.

2024 F1 Chinese Grand Prix Results

2024 F1 Chinese Grand Prix Report

Pole sitter Verstappen led the charge into Turn 1, with Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso moving around the outside of Perez to move into second place.

Perez took third place ahead of Norris, while McLaren’s Oscar Piastri led George Russell (Mercedes), Nico Hulkenberg (Haas), and Ferrari drivers Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz almost collided at Turn 1. He was running in 5th place early on. Hairpin at the end of the opening lap.

Verstappen quickly closed the gap to more than two seconds, with Perez pushing Alonso into second place.

Further back, Sainz and Lance Stroll (Aston, starting on soft tires unlike the majority of mediums) overtook Hulkenberg.

Perez overtook Alonso and reclaimed second place at Turn 6 on lap five, retaking the Red Bull 1-2 as expected. Norris held off Alonso at the hairpin to take third place, while Leclerc went around the outside of Russell at turn one to move into sixth place on lap nine.

Two laps later, Leclerc passed Piastri at the hairpin to take fifth place, and on lap 12 Alonso was the first of the front runners to change to hard tires, making him fourth.

Verstappen and Perez pitted hard, with Norris briefly leading Leclerc, who also ran a long first stint.

Verstappen passed Leclerc on lap 16 for second place, while Perez lost time trying to get past Sainz. Verstappen regained the lead on lap 19, passing Norris in DRS entering the Turn 14 hairpin.

Valtteri Bottas’ Sauber retired at Turn 11 on lap 21, and a virtual safety car was brought in to recover. Leclerc took advantage of the opportunity for a cheap pit stop, but McLaren missed the chance to bring Norris in right away, and it was fortunate that Sauber looked stuck in gear and Marshall struggled.

Marshalls remove Valtteri Bottas’ Kick Sauber C44 from circuit

Photo credit: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

This brought out the safety car, and Verstappen’s 20-second lead disappeared, forcing him to pit for new hardware. Alonso, now down to 6th place, pitted for fresh softs.

As the field crowded before the restart, Stroll crashed into the back of running back Daniel Ricciardo at the hairpin, damaging the floor. Stroll was given a 10 second penalty for the mistake, and Ricciardo was forced to retire after a few laps.

The race resumed on lap 27 with Verstappen, Norris, Leclerc, Perez (stopped for fresh hard), Sainz, Alonso, Russell and Piastri. Alonso overtook Sainz in DRS on the back straight and took fifth place.

Hiroki Tsunoda’s RB dropped out at Turn 6 after colliding with Kevin Magnussen’s Haas, and the safety car was brought out again. Magnussen was given a 10-second penalty for causing the collision.

On the restart on lap 31, Verstappen sprinted past Norris as Perez attacked Leclerc. From 18^th Lewis Hamilton, who was on the grid after a disastrous qualifying and disliked soft tires, started on them and was fighting his way to points by lap 32.

Perez took third place from Leclerc at Turn 6 on lap 39, and two laps later Hamilton made a nice move to pass Hulkenberg for ninth place. Alonso pitted for a second time with 12 laps remaining and changed to new medium tires, reducing his lead to 12 laps.^thso he had to charge his way back to the point in the closing stages.

Verstappen won his fourth Grand Prix of the year, beating the likes of Norris, Perez, Leclerc, Sainz and Russell. Despite suffering a huge slide at the final corner, Alonso passed Hamilton and Piastri on the same lap, gaining an extra point for fastest lap and moving into seventh place.

Piastri finished eighth, ahead of Hamilton and Hulkenberg, after sustaining damage from the collision between Stroll and Ricciardo.

2024 F1 Chinese Grand Prix Fastest Lap

2024 F1 Chinese Grand Prix laps lead

2024 F1 Chinese Grand Prix Tire History