Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix review

Max Verstappen grabbed his fourth win of 2024 in Formula 1’s return to China and the Shanghai International Circuit after a four-year hiatus.

While the result was predictable for the Dutchman and his RB20 machine, the weekend was filled with action because of the changing conditions and the re-acclimation to the track.

In the wet weather, Lando Norris grabbed his second career sprint qualifying pole by over 1.3 seconds ahead of Lewis Hamilton.

However, the McLaren driver would run wide in Turn 1 of the sprint and fall back to seventh. He would end up in sixth place as Max Verstappen would come from fourth on the grid to take the sprint victory.

In race qualifying, Red Bull got the 1-2 with Verstappen and Sergio Perez, respectively. It was the Milton Keynes outfit’s 100th pole since joining the series in 2005.

Verstappen cruised to another dominating victory by 13 seconds over Lando Norris. This would be Norris’s 15th podium without a win, extending his record in that category.

Perez would round out the podium, with the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz finishing fourth and fifth.

George Russell, Fernando Alonso, Oscar Piastri, Lewis Hamilton and Nico Hulkenberg completed the ten points-paying spots in the grand prix. Alonso received an additional point for scoring the fastest lap of the race.

Despite finishing 14th, Kick Sauber’s Zhou Guanyu was honored on the frontstretch after the race for being the first Chinese-born driver to compete in his home race.

At the other end of the finishing order, the 56-lap event saw three retirements. Zhou’s teammate, Valtteri Bottas, was the first to bow out due to an engine failure.

VCARB’s pair of Yuki Tsunoda and Daniel Ricciardo crashed out in separate incidents. Tsunoda made contact with Haas’s Kevin Magnussen and Ricciardo was run into under caution by Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll.

Verstappen extends his championship lead to 25 points over Perez, who is nine points over Leclerc in third. Sainz slots into fourth for Ferrari and Norris and Piastri are in fifth and sixth for McLaren.

In the constructors standings, Red Bull holds a 44-point lead over Ferrari. Williams, Alpine and Kick Sauber still sit as the three teams without points.

Formula 1 heads to America next for the first of three races in the United States this season. This one is the third running of the Miami Grand Prix held around Hard Rock Stadium.

Verstappen has won both races so far at the Miami International Autodrome. Last year, Max won the race from ninth on the grid after Charles Leclerc’s crash in Q3 prevented him from setting another time.

The festival of speed in the Florida sunshine will get underway on Sunday, May 5 at 4 p.m. EST.

Jack Rachinsky is a first-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, please email jjr6682@psu.edu.