MAX Verstappen won the Chinese Grand Prix sprint race on Saturday ahead of Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton and his Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez to increase his Formula 1 world championship lead.
Verstappen finished 13 seconds ahead after starting fourth on the grid for the 19-lap sprint race at the Shanghai International Circuit, to win the eight points on offer to the winner.
“The first few laps were very chaotic,” said Verstappen.
“The wind changed a lot which made it difficult to drive. Once we resolved (the battery problem), we were fine.”
Ferrari pair Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz finished fourth and fifth after surviving a fierce battle for minor positions with Perez and Fernando Alonso, who had to retire his Aston Martin on lap 18 after a punctured tire.
Lando Norris started from pole position but only finished sixth in his McLaren ahead of team-mate Oscar Piastri, with George Russell finishing eighth to round out the points scorers.
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“The best result I’ve had in a long time, so I’m very happy and grateful,” Hamilton said happily.
“We couldn’t fight Red Bull, the race was tough but I learned a lot about the car through this short round so I’m excited for tomorrow’s race.”
This is one of six sprints on the 24-race Formula One calendar in 2024, and the first time the new weekend format has been used.
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Sprint qualifying, which was previously held on Saturday morning, will be the second session on Friday.
This means grand prix qualifying can remain in its usual Saturday afternoon slot on sprint weekends.
The change has been welcomed by drivers and teams who can now adjust their car settings after sprint races for GP qualifying, which was not previously permitted.
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Costly Mistake for Norris
Hamilton started from second on the grid but got off to a fast start, holding the inside lane on the first two long corners to emerge ahead after pole-starting Norris got off the mark.
It was costly for the McLaren driver who found himself down to seventh after the first lap.
Alonso moved up to second and Verstappen to third, despite the championship leader complaining about a low battery.
On the fifth lap, Hamilton opened a 1.3 second lead and it was important to stay out of Alonso’s reach to attack with DRS.
Verstappen appeared to have resolved the power issue on lap seven and immediately took second from Alonso by using DRS on the long back straight and starting to catch Hamilton.
Two laps later, he had the size of the seven-time world champion and slipped into the final corner.
With the track clear ahead, Verstappen surged to the front, increasing his gap to almost a second per lap over the Mercedes as Hamilton settled for second.
On the weekend of the first Chinese Grand Prix since 2019, huge crowds came out to see Shanghai native Zhou Guanyu, the first Chinese Formula One driver, make his home debut.
Tickets for Sunday’s main race sold out within minutes and fans had plenty to cheer about on Friday when Zhou pushed his Sauber into the top 10 in the wet sprint qualifying session.
He started from 10th and was in dry conditions for the race and moved up one place after the opening battle.
Zhou struggled to finish outside the points in ninth after being passed by Russell, who was 11th on the grid and the only driver to start on soft tyres.
The 24-year-old Zhou has been behind the wheel in F1 since 2022, scoring a point on his debut in Bahrain that year, but had to wait until his third season to race at his home circuit. (AFP/Z-3)
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