From the very get-go of the 2024 Chinese GP, Max Verstappen took complete control, taking home his fourth victory of the season. Behind him, however, drivers were scrambling for the positions. The outing got even more frantic after two back-to-back safety cars hindered what the teams had planned, per Verstappen.
The first safety car came out moments after Valtteri Bottas’ retirement on lap 20. All the remaining cars were bunched up close and the safety car was just about to go in on lap 26. A couple of laps later, Kevin Magnussen’s shunt with Yuki Tsunoda saw it come out once again.
Per Motorsport Week, Verstappen said:
“Because of the two Safety Cars, it made it a little bit less fun because you would have seen probably more different strategies between the cars.”
Verstappen felt that the tire strategies became very predictable after the two SCs. Almost all the drivers fitted in hard tires, except for Fernando Alonso, who ended the race on mediums. Drivers would have had more time and opportunities to engage in wheel-to-wheel battles had the strategies differed because teams would not have lost out on so much time.
Verstappen, however, had a seamless outing. His race-win never looked to be in doubt and he extended his lead at the top of the standings to 25 points.
Max Verstappen’s dominant Chinese GP
Verstappen’s weekend started on a questionable note when he qualified in P4 for the sprint race. But when the lights went out on Saturday, it was evident that his sprint qualifying performance was a small hiccup. In a race that lasted just 19 laps, Verstappen won with a 13-second margin.
In the Grand Prix, Verstappen did not show an ounce of weakness. He started from P1 and dominated the entire outing. The 26-year-old even performed a daring power slide on the last sector during his final lap, showing how confident was of winning.
Verstappen’s teammate Sergio Perez meanwhile, couldn’t get the better of McLaren’s Lando Norris. The Mexican mustered a P3 finish, behind the Brit to complete another double podium for Red Bull.
