F1 Chinese GP 2024 results: Max Verstappen wins for Red Bull

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

F1 Chinese Grand Prix 2024 Results

F1 Chinese Grand Prix 2024 report

Pole sitter Verstappen led the charge into Turn 1 as Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso rounded the outside of Perez to take second.

Perez held off Norris for third, with McLaren’s Oscar Piastri fifth ahead of George Russell (Mercedes), Nico Hulkenberg (Haas) and the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz – who nearly touched at Turn 1. Leclerc returned Hulkenberg to third place. the pin near the end of the first round.

Verstappen immediately opened up a gap of over 2 seconds as Perez hounded Alonso for second place.

Further on, Sainz and Lance Stroll (Aston, who started on soft tires unlike the majority on mediums) overtook Hulkenberg.

Perez overtook Alonso to reclaim second place at Turn 6 on lap five, restoring Red Bull’s expected 1-2. Norris braked Alonso at the hairpin to take third, while Leclerc got around the outside of Russell at Turn 1 to take sixth on lap 9.

Two laps later, Leclerc passed Piastri for fifth at the hairpin, which became fourth as Alonso became the first of the frontrunners to stop for hard tires on lap 12.

Verstappen and Perez clashed to give a tough time, favoring Norris to a temporary lead over his compatriot Leclerc, the first relay runner.

Verstappen overtook Leclerc for second on lap 16, while Perez lost time to get around Sainz. Verstappen regained the lead on lap 19, DRS passing Norris on the Turn 14 hairpin.

The Sauber of Valtteri Bottas expired at Turn 11 on lap 21, prompting a virtual safety car to collect it. Leclerc took the opportunity to make a cheap pit stop, but McLaren missed the opportunity to bring Norris in immediately and were lucky that the Sauber seemed stuck on the speed, forcing the marshals to work hard.

Stewards remove Valtteri Bottas’ Kick Sauber C44 car from the circuit

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

This led to a full safety car, leading to Verstappen going hard again as his 20-second lead was wiped out. Alonso, now sixth, pitted against the fresh soft tires.

As the peloton regrouped before the restart, Stroll slammed into the back of Daniel Ricciardo’s RB at the hairpin, damaging his ground. Stroll received a 10-second penalty for his mistake and Ricciardo was forced to retire a few laps later.

The race resumed on lap 27 in the order of Verstappen, Norris, Leclerc, Perez (who also stopped for new toughs), Sainz, Alonso, Russell and Piastri. Alonso DRS overtook Sainz for fifth place on the back straight.

The RB of Yuki Tsunoda was eliminated at turn 6 after a collision with the Haas of Kevin Magnussen, and the safety car was again necessary. Magnussen received 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 On the grid, after a disastrous qualifying, Lewis Hamilton started on the soft tires – which he hated – and fought his way into the points on lap 32.

Perez moved into third ahead of Leclerc at Turn 6 on lap 39, while Hamilton passed Hulkenberg with a stunning move for ninth two laps later. Alonso stopped a second time with a dozen laps remaining on fresh medium tires, dropping to 12^thhe therefore had to get back into the points in the final stages.

Verstappen took his fourth Grand Prix victory of the year ahead of Norris, Perez, Leclerc, Sainz and Russell. Alonso moved up to seventh, earning the extra point for fastest lap, overtaking Hamilton and Piastri on the same lap despite a big slide in the final corner.

Piastri finished eighth, having also suffered damage in the Stroll/Ricciardo clash, ahead of Hamilton and Hulkenberg.

Fastest laps of the 2024 F1 Chinese Grand Prix