Max Verstappen beats Lando Norris to win incident-packed Chinese GP
Max Verstappen claims his first F1 victory in China ahead of McLaren's Lando Norris.
Max Verstappen made it four wins from five races with another dominant victory at the returning F1 Chinese Grand Prix.
Red Bull’s reigning world champion was once again in a league of his own as he survived two Safety Car restarts en route to a comfortable victory as F1 returned to Shanghai for the first time in five years.
It continued Verstappen’s run of winning every race he has finished so far in 2024, with only a retirement in Australia preventing a perfect record.
Verstappen's first victory in China was the 57th of his career and sees him extend his championship lead to 25 points - the equivalent of a race win.
Lando Norris claimed a brilliant second place for McLaren ahead of the second Red Bull of Sergio Perez, who lost out during the pit stops.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz finished fourth and fifth, ahead of Mercedes’ George Russell and Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso.
McLaren’s Oscar Piastri took eighth, while Lewis Hamilton recovered from 18th on the grid after a dreadful qualifying to grab ninth.
Nico Hulkenberg claimed the final point on offer in 10th for Haas.
Home hero Zhou Guanyu finished 14th and was visibly emotional when he got out of his Sauber at the end of the race.
The 56-lap grand prix sparked into life with a couple of Safety Cars in quick succession.
The first of which was deployed when Valtteri Bottas’ Sauber stopped on track, before a collision between Lance Stroll and Daniel Ricciardo as the field bunched up at the restart triggered an immediate second Safety Car.
Despite seeing his 20-second lead evaporate due to the Safety Cars, Verstappen, who also won the sprint race on Saturday, was still able to easily pull 14 seconds on Norris by the chequered flag.
