(Shanghai) Again and again him. Formula 1 world championship leader Max Verstappen quietly won the Chinese Grand Prix on Sunday, for the first F1 race in the country since 2019.
Starting in a leading position in front of full and heated stands for this return to China after five years of absence due to COVID-19, the Dutchman won his 58th place in Shanghaie Grand Prix victory and the fourth of the season in five races (out of 24).
“The sensations were incredible […]the car was on rails, I could do whatever I wanted,” rejoiced the three-time reigning world champion, who had never won in China.
Already the day before, the insatiable “Mad Max” had won the first of the six sprint races planned for this season.
Behind him, the McLaren of Lando Norris, which was not expected to perform as well this weekend, finished second, ahead of the other Red Bull of Mexican Sergio Pérez.
PHOTO GREG BAKER, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Max Verstappen
“I didn’t expect it,” reacted Norris, who concluded a good weekend after taking the lead in the sprint race. “I was surprised by a lot of things; Ferrari’s lack of pace, our good pace, us in comparison with the Red Bulls…”. His Australian teammate Oscar Piastri finished 8e.
The Ferraris, which were expected to be at the forefront in China, complete the top 5 — the Monegasque Charles Leclerc having beaten the Spaniard Carlos Sainz.
“It’s the best we could do,” admitted Leclerc, 6e on the grid.
Safety cars
For the fifth meeting of the season, the horizon was still very clear for “Mad Max” on this Sunday of racing.
He was never worried. Not even by the intervention of the safety car shortly before halfway, after an engine problem in the Sauber of Finn Valtteri Bottas.
When the race restarted, new incidents: the Canadian Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) collided with the rear of the Racing Bulls of the Australian Daniel Ricciardo when, at the same time, the other Racing Bulls of the Japanese Yuki Tsunoda collided. was hit by the Haas of the Dane Kevin Magnussen, which required a new neutralization.
Once the setbacks were over and the safety car returned to the garage, Verstappen took off again and won with more than 13 seconds ahead of Norris.
The unstoppable Dutchman concluded an almost perfect weekend from an accounting point of view, since only the point for the best lap in the race escaped him. This went to double world champion Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin), 7e of the Grand Prix.
In the drivers’ championship, Verstappen now has a lead of 25 points over his runner-up Pérez.
Acclaimed by his audience all weekend, Zhou Guanyu finished 14the at the wheel of his Sauber. Very emotional upon arrival, the Shanghai native, arriving in the elite in 2022, is the first Chinese in history to compete in Formula 1 in China.
The Briton Lewis Hamilton, who was also favored by the public at each of his appearances, crossed the line 9e after leaving a very distant 18e place under the eyes of former Chinese basketball star Yao Ming. The seven-time world champion, in trouble at the start of the race at the wheel of his Mercedes, still holds the record for F1 victories in Shanghai (six).
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