Max Verstappen finished 13 seconds ahead after starting fourth on the grid in the 19-lap sprint at the Shanghai International Circuit to claim the eight points on offer to the winner.
Shanghai: Max Verstappen won the Chinese Grand Prix sprint race on Saturday ahead of Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton and Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez to increase his lead in the Formula One world championship. Verstappen finished 13 seconds ahead after starting fourth in the grid of the 19-lap sprint on the Shanghai International Circuit to win the eight points offered to the winner.
“The first few laps were hectic,” Verstappen said.
“The wind changes a lot, which makes driving difficult. Once we got (the battery) sorted, everything was fine.
Ferrari duo Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz finished fourth and fifth after surviving a thrilling battle for minor places with Perez and Fernando Alonso, who had to retire his Aston Martin on lap 18 after a puncture.
Lando Norris started from pole but could only finish sixth in his McLaren ahead of teammate Oscar Piastri and George Russell eighth to complete the points standings.
“It’s the best result I’ve had in a long time, so I’m very happy and grateful,” said a delighted Hamilton. “We couldn’t fight the Red Bulls, it was a tough race but I learned a lot about the car from this short stint so I’m excited for tomorrow’s race.”
Overtaking, wheel-to-wheel battles, teammate squabbles and much more 👀
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It was the first of six sprints on Formula 1’s exceptional 24-race calendar in 2024, and the first where the new weekend format was used. The sprint qualifications which took place in previous years on Saturday morning were the second session on Friday.
This means that Grand Prix qualifying can remain in its usual Saturday afternoon slot on sprint weekends. The changes have been welcomed by drivers and teams who can now adjust their car’s settings after the sprint race for GP qualifying, which was not previously allowed.
Hamilton started from second on the grid but got away quickest, holding the inside line through the long first two corners to emerge in front after pole sitter Norris had run wide. This was costly for the McLaren driver who found himself seventh after the first lap.
Alonso moved to second and Verstappen to third, despite the championship leader complaining of a flat battery. By the fifth lap, Hamilton had taken a 1.3 second lead and was out of reach of Alonso to attack with his DRS.
Verstappen appeared to have resolved his power issues by lap seven and quickly moved into second place ahead of Alonso using DRS on the long back straight and set about catching Hamilton. Two laps later, he got the better of the seven-time world champion and overtook him at the final hairpin.
With a clear track ahead, Verstappen pulled away, increasing the gap to the Mercedes by almost a second per lap as Hamilton settled for second place. In the first Chinese Grand Prix weekend since 2019, huge crowds gathered to see Shanghai native Zhou Guanyu, China’s first Formula 1 driver, make his home debut.
Tickets for Sunday’s main race sold out within minutes and fans had cause to cheer on Friday when Zhou propelled his Sauber into the top 10 in a wet sprint qualifying session. He started from 10th place and in the dry for the race and moved up one place after the opening skirmishes.
Zhou agonizingly finished just outside the points in ninth after being overtaken by Russell, who was 11th on the grid and the only driver to start on soft tyres. Zhou, 24, has been behind the wheel of F1 since 2022, scoring a point on his debut in Bahrain that year, but had to wait until his third season to race on his home circuit.
