By Joe Murphy
Nothing seems to be able to stop Max Verstappen at the moment. The Red Bull driver moved back to the top of the pecking order during Saturday’s 100km Sprint race at the Shanghai International Circuit as he turned P4 into P1 in convincing fashion. Alonso and Hamilton had no answers, and a gift from Lando Norris meant that the Dutchman and Championship leader won by over a dozen seconds. Perez came home in the final podium position.
Hamilton finished in second in a result that will please Mercedes, with even George Russell able to claim a single point in eighth. The action out front was nothing special beyond lap four, but a thrilling battle for third went in the favour of Sergio Perez way after an Alonso puncture cost him, whilst Leclerc and Sainz got in each other’s way. Lando Norris will regret running wide so early on. Perhaps his defense could have been more subtle or patient when trying to protect his lead. It didn’t work, but he still managed to amass a few points for McLaren, as did teammate Oscar Piastri.
Narrowly missing out on points was returning hero Zhou Guanyu, finishing ninth just a couple of seconds behind Russell’s Mercedes.
In the later qualifying session, Hamilton struggled and couldn’t escape Q1, so he will start tomorrow in P18. Zhou couldn’t get out of the first part of the session either, narrowly missing out of a spot in Q2 but 0.04 seconds as Yuki Tsunoda crashed out earlier than expected on the slippery track.
A sensational lap from Valtteri Bottas sent a Sauber into Q2 for the first time this season as he bested the Alpine pair, Alex Albon, Lance Stroll and Daniel Ricciardo to get into the final session of the day. Ricciardo will be happy to beat his teammate for the first time this year. Carlos Sainz recovered from a final corner spin and red flag to get into Q3 in convincing fashion behind the Red Bull pair.
And it was to no surprise that the Red Bull pair also finished 1-2 in Q3 too. Verstappen took his 5th Pole in as many races, besting his teammate by just under half a second. Everyone seemed to be in P2 for a while before having their time beaten by the next competitor. Fernando Alonso was in third by the end of the day as he continues to carry Aston Martin on his back with his standout performances. The McLaren pair followed suit followed by Leclerc and then Sainz. Russell and Hulkenberg did all they could do to finish in P8 and P9 respectively, ahead of the aforementioned Bottas.
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