Max Verstappen flies through the Chinese Grand Prix and wins for the first time in Shanghai

The Red Bull driver confirmed his hold on the start of the season with a resounding victory, despite mid-race turmoil.

Insatiable Max Verstappen. The Dutchman won his fourth race in five Grands Prix in 2024 by crushing the Chinese GP on Sunday April 21. The Dutchman from Red Bull scored the first victory of his career on the Shanghai track, after unchallenged domination, despite two safety cars at mid-race. Nothing to disrupt the triumphant march of “Supermax”, winner ahead of a deserving Lando Norris (McLaren) and the other Red Bull of Sergio Pérez.

The Grand Prix turned into a show of force from the first laps. Alone on his planet, lining up the laps half a second faster than the competition, Max Verstappen only gave up the lead for the duration of the pit stops.

Parade tunes

If the final gap with Lando Norris, author of his second podium of the season, may seem more limited than during other successes, it is solely the fault of the racing facts. Two exits from the safety car at mid-race brought the entire field exhaust to exhaust, without upsetting the hierarchy.

Norris, however, took the opportunity to insert himself between the two Red Bulls thanks to a strategic boost at a single pit stop offered by the two neutralizations.

The second was offered by a series of errors, the most obvious being the work of Lance Stroll (Aston Martin), who crashed the front of his car into that of Daniel Ricciardo when the race had not yet started. taken back. This little animation revived a race which until then had been humming along, then resumed its parade rhythm.

The Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, fourth and fifth, finished far from the podium and off the pace of the best this Sunday. A pace that Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin), finally seventh, could have achieved after an error in his team’s choice of tires during the interruptions. Starting 18th after a missed qualifying session, Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) climbed into the points, to ninth place.

Points which the two Alpines came close to, without managing to achieve the first Top 10 of their season, with the eleventh place of Esteban Ocon, who benefited from technical improvements on his car.

In the drivers’ standings, Max Verstappen, winner of 21 of the last 23 Grands Prix, is a little more comfortable with 25 points ahead (the value of a victory) over Sergio Pérez, and 34 over Charles Leclerc.