Analysis of the 2024 Chinese Grand Prix – By Joe Murphy.
Max Verstappen extended his lead at the top of the tree with yet another win, this time his first at the Chinese Grand Prix. The race wasn’t without complications, but he survived two Safety Car restarts to eventually claim the victory with relative ease. Lando Norris and Sergio Perez were the other two drivers on the podium as both McLaren and Red Bull capped successful weekends.
George Russell and Fernando Alonso also scored points, as did Ferrari pair Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, although all of these drivers would have hoped to be closer to the podium than they turned out to be. Oscar Piastri also had a successful Sunday but will be disappointed to be so far from his teammate.
Valtteri Bottas and Kevin Magnussen endured days to forget with both cars coming undone during the Grand Prix due to different problems. Valtteri’s car became stuck in gear. No sooner had marshalls had struggled to move the Sauber out of the way, the Dane suffered a puncture to scupper his race. Yuki Tsunoda and Daniel Ricciardo in the RB’s had the day from hell as neither finished the Grand Prix.
It was also a mixed race for Alpine. Whilst the cars of Estaban Ocon and Pierre Gasly managed to look semi-competitve, they still came away from the Chinese track without any points, finishing 11th and 13th respectively.
Lewis Hamilton turned a dreadful Saturday Qualifying into a result, adding two more points to Mercedes’ haul. They are unquestionably the 5th fastest car, probably behind Alonso’s Aston Martin you’d have to say. Although Lance Stroll in 15th could argue otherwise.
And despite having his moments, there was no happy homecoming for Guanyu Zhou as he could only muster a 14th place finish. An alarming 11 seconds off the points. This, coupled with Bottas’ misfortune, made sure Sauber are still pointless as we head into May.
Attention now moves to the next race in Miami in a couple of weeks, and whether anyone has any answers to the Red Bull machine. As the F1 season enters its third month, the answer still appears to be no.
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