Verstappen beats Norris to take a dominant win in China

F1 Grand Prix, GP China, Shanghai International Ciruit

Max Verstappen clinched a dominant victory at the Chinese Grand Prix as the sport returned to the Shanghai International Circuit. F1Technical's senior writer Balázs Szabó reports of the Shanghai F1 race.

Max Verstappen got a great start to maintain his first position, but his team-mate Sergio Perez lost out to Fernando Alonso, who made the jump on the Mexican.

In the meantime, the two Ferraris dropped back, having struggled for initial grip on the opening lap. However, Sainz snatched the spot back from Hulkenberg on the back straight. At the back of the field, Lewis Hamilton picked off Zhou Guanyu to move back to P18 which was his original starting position.

By Lap 5, Perez closed in on Alonso, who withstood the pressure initially, but the Mexican managed to dive down the inside into Turn 6 to pass the Spaniard.

Three laps later, Alonso started to struggle for grip, and could not hold up Lando Norris, who made the move on the two-time champion to move up to P3.

In the meantime, Verstappen’s lead constantly grew at the front, enjoying a seven-second gap from Perez on Lap 9. Behind, Leclerc started to make progress, showing encouraging tyre management. The Monegasque closed the gap to Russell, and overtook the Mercedes man with a sensational move into Turn 1.

Lap 10 saw Yuki Tsunoda, Zhou Guanyu and Nico Hulkenberg elect to pit for fresh tyres. In the meantime, Leclerc continued his march by passing Oscar Piastri for P5.

Three laps later, Russell pitted for new mediums with Alonso also coming into the pits for a set of hards. In the meantime, Yuki Tsunoda and Zhou Guanyu almost came together in the pit lane as the Japanese driver was released into the way of the Chinese racer.

On Lap 14, Red Bull called Verstappen and Perez into the pits for a double stack. The Dutchman dropped to fourth while Perez rejoined the track in P6. Red Bull’s stops handed the lead to Norris, who found himself at the front ahead of Leclerc and Piastri.

Verstappen easily picked off the Australian, and also eased past Leclerc on Lap 16. His team-mate Sainz elected to stop for new tyres on Lap 18, rejoining the track down in P10.

Lap 21 saw Valtteri Bottas park up his Kick Sauber at Turn 10 with some smoke pouring from the back of his car. The virtual safety car was deployed which prompted Leclerc to dive into the pits for a shorter pit stop.

The marshals were unable to get the car moved, which forced the Race Director Niels Wittich to deploy the full safety car. It urged several drivers to pit with Verstappen, Perez, Alonso, Russell all coming into the pits.

The stops meant that Verstappen maintained the lead, but Perez dropped back behind Norris and Leclerc.

The race got going again on Lap 29 with Verstappen leading ahead of Norris, Leclerc, Perez, Alonso, Sainz, Russell, Piastri. Both Magnussen and Stroll were handed out a ten-second time penalty for the separate incidents.

On Lap 36, Ricciardo retired from the race despite his encouraging pace and position. The reason was the damage his VCARB01 suffered during the clash with Stroll.

Two laps later, Perez overtook Leclerc, who complained about his tyres, claiming that his relatively fresh hards already started to degrade.

In the meantime, Hamilton started to make up grounds, passing Hulkenberg with a really bold move.

On Lap 44, Alonso pitted for new mediums which was expected as he was on a set of softs. The Aston Martin driver rejoined the track in P12, but quickly picked off Alexander Albon. The Spaniard then passed the Alpine of Esteban Ocon with an ambitious move in the midfield section of the track.

The Spaniard provided the show in the closing stages of the race as he made easy passes on Hamilton and Piastri to move up to P7. He then continued his march and tried to chase down Russell for P6, but the gap was 11 seconds after he overtook Piastri.

At the front, there was no change with Verstappen building up a huge lead from Norris, who was able to hold onto P2 ahead of Perez.

Ferrari ended up fourth and fifth with Leclerc and Sainz while Russell maintained P6 in front of the fast-charging Alonso. Piastri ended up P8 despite significant damage on his McLaren which he picked up from the hit from Ricciardo.

Having started P18 on the grid, Hamilton ended the Chinese Grand Prix in P9 with Hulkenberg clinching a vital championship point for Haas with a tenth-placed finish.