Having already received a taste of the action in the sprint race, the Formula One cars lined up on the grid for the FORMULA 1 LENOVO CHINESE GRAND PRIX 2024 on Sunday afternoon. It was a thrilling return to the Shanghai Internation Circuit in front of sold-out grandstands after a five-year-long absence from the calendar.
Max Verstappen had a good start from pole position, moving over to the inside to cover off teammate Sergio Perez. Fernando Alonso had mega traction from the second row of the grid, placing his Aston Martin around the outside of the first corners and into P2. Perez was briefly under pressure from Lando Norris on the opening lap, but the Brit couldn’t mount an attack.
Further back, both Ferrari drivers had a decent launch but struggled for grip in the first corner, allowing George Russell and Nico Hulkenberg to overtake. A P7 for Hulkenberg was shortlived, with Charles Leclerc retaking the position in the hairpin at the end of the lap and Carlos Sainz getting by in the first corner of the second lap. To make matters worse for the Haas driver, Lance Stroll managed to get by in the opening laps and was outside the top ten after lap eight.
Alonso’s pace dropped off in the opening laps and he began to hold up Perez, who had finally brought his tyres up to temperature. It took five laps before Perez finally overtook the slower Aston Martin, which was enough of a delay for Verstappen to accrue a comfortable lead over the grand prix. The gap was such that Red Bull could double stack their drivers when they pitted on lap 14.
Lando Norris inherited the race led from the pitting Verstappen, having overtaken Alonso in the hairpin a few laps previously. The Spaniard pitted for tyres on lap 12. He was followed into the pits by Russell, who had lost a position to Leclerc three laps earlier around the outside of the first corner. Leclerc was looking strong after he overtook Oscar Piastri with DRS down the long back straight, despite a very late defence by the young driver.
After his pit stop, Max Verstappen fought through the lead drivers to regain the lead on lap 19. Norris’ pace was still strong at this stage in the race, allowing him to extend his first stint along with Leclerc. McLaren believed Ferrari was potentially trying for a one-stop strategy and was eager to replicate it.
On lap 21, Valtteri Bottas’ Sauber came to a smokey stop in the runoff area at turn 11. After an extremely long delay, the virtual safety car was finally deployed. This played well into the hands of Leclerc and Norris, who benefitted from a reduced pit stop. The stoppage was eventually upgraded to a full safety car, as the marshals struggled to get the stranded car into neutral.
The safety car prompted Red Bull to double stack their drivers again for new hard tyres. Critically, Perez lost track position to Norris and Leclerc. Alonso also pitted under the safety car to pit for soft tyres.
The race restarted on lap 27 but quickly led to another safety car after a chaotic lap. Verstappen bunched up the field at the hairpin, leading Alonso to lock up to avoid hitting Sainz. Unable to overtake while still under the safety car conditions, Russell slowed, causing an accordion effect behind. Stroll slammed into the back of Daniel Ricciardo, lifting the rear of the RB. Ricciardo continued with severe floor damage, although he retired later in the race because he was far off the pace. Stroll pitted immediately for a new front wing and was given a 10-second penalty for causing a collision.
There was a further incident later in the lap when Kevin Magnussen tried to overtake Yuki Tsunoda in turn six. The Haas driver misjudged the corner, slamming into the rear tyre of Tsunoda and sending the RB driver spinning off. Tsunoda retired from the race and the safety car was deployed. Kevin Magnussen was given a penalty for causing a collision.
Restart attempt number two was much cleaner, with Verstappen continuing his comfortable lead over the rest of the field. Much further back, Stroll and Magnussen treated fans to one of the most entertaining battles over the last position. The duo were wheel-to-wheel for much of the opening lap, with Stroll finally coming out ahead, although he made another pit stop shortly after.
On lap 39, Perez overtook Leclerc with a huge lunge up the inside of turn six. Leclerc questioned “Plan D”, the one-stop strategy, as his tyres began to drop off. His team reassured him that the rest of the field was taking the same strategy.
One driver who was not on the one-stop strategy was Fernando Alonso. He had fitted the soft tyre during the safety car, taking a gamble on the pace of the compound. With fewer than ten laps remaining, Alonso pitted for a set of medium tyres and dropped to P10. With much fresher rubber than the drivers ahead, he began his charge.
The two-time World Champion had a huge moment when chasing down the seven-time World Champion and former teammate Lewis Hamilton. Alonso dropped a rear tyre in the gravel trap outside of the final corner and it took stunning reflexes to snap the car back into line. He barely lost his stride, immediately opening the DRS and overtaking Hamilton in the opening corners. He managed to make his way up to P7, but his pace was not strong enough to make it to George Russell before the end of the race.
Max Verstappen won for the fourth time in 2024, adding another trophy to his collection. For the first time this season, it was not a 1-2 finish. Lando Norris, who mistakingly parked in the pit lane instead of the podium boards on the main straight, grabbed the second step of the podium. Sergio Perez concluded the podium for the fourth this time year.
Next up, Formula One will be heading to the United States of America for the first of three times this season. First it’s the Miami Grand Prix on the weekend of May 5.
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| Race Results | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | M. Verstappen | 25 | |
| 2 | L. Norris | 18 | |
| 3 | S. Perez | 15 | |
| 4 | C. Leclerc | 12 | |
| 5 | C. Sainz | 10 | |
| 6 | G. Russell | 8 | |
| 7 | F. Alonso | 7 | |
| 8 | O. Piastri | 4 | |
| 9 | L. Hamilton | 2 | |
| 10 | N. Hulkenberg | 1 | |
| 11 | E. Ocon | ||
| 12 | A. Albon | ||
| 13 | G. Zhou | ||
| 14 | P. Gasly | ||
| 15 | K. Magnussen | ||
| 16 | L. Stroll | ||
| 17 | L. Sargeant | ||
| DNF | D. Ricciardo | ||
| DNF | Y. Tsunoda | ||
| DNF | V. Bottas | ||
