Max Verstappen overcame two Safety Car interruptions to claim a maiden Chinese Grand Prix victory ahead of Lando Norris.
Verstappen appeared to be cruising towards victory until back-to-back mid-race Safety Car interruptions reduced his lead, but calmly rebuilt a 13-second advantage to seal his fourth win in five races this season.
The Safety Cars, caused by an engine failure on Valtteri Bottas’ Sauber followed by a crash at the resulting restart, helped McLaren’s Norris pull off a one-stop strategy that enabled him to leapfrog Sergio Perez and deny Red Bull a one-two.
Ferrari duo Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz were also able to pull off one-stop strategies but were unable to threaten Perez as they finished fourth and fifth, respectively.
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George Russell maximised the performance of his Mercedes to take sixth, finishing ahead of Fernando Alonso, who was hampered by a strange tyre choice from Aston Martin during the Spaniard’s pit stop under Safety Car conditions.
Oscar Piastri was eighth for McLaren, while Lewis Hamilton was another to benefit from the Safety Cars as the seven-time world champion salvaged ninth place having started from 18th on the grid.
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Nico Hulkenberg took the final point to continue Haas’ strong start to the season in the battle of the lower-midfield.
With Formula 1 returning to China for the first time since 2019, before Red Bull had become Formula 1’s dominant force, the Shanghai International Circuit becomes the 26th different track that Verstappen has won a Grand Prix at, having also triumphed in Saturday’s Sprint.
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The victory extends Verstappen’s world championship lead over Perez to 25 points and keeps the Dutchman on course to seal a fourth successive drivers’ title.
Red Bull’s advantage over Ferrari at the top of the constructors’ standings grows to 44 points, with McLaren a further 55 points back in third.
More to follow…
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