Alonso and Hamilton used unconventional strategies, but one worked better

Most drivers who claimed the points positions in Shanghai used similar strategies, starting on the medium compound tyres before switching to hards.

But two drivers bucked the trend, incorporating a stint on softs, with mixed results.

Lewis Hamilton qualified a lowly 18th, so was always going to be a strong candidate to start the race on the soft tyres. Pirelli estimated these gave drivers a gain of 3.8 metres as they accelerated to 150kph at the start compared to rivals on the medium rubber.

But Hamilton couldn’t take full advantage of it as he got boxed in on the inside line at the first corner. Instead of making up places at the start he came around in 19th place, having been overtaken by Yuki Tsunoda, who used his soft tyres to gain three places.

He made some gains, picking off the struggling Zhou Guanyu, plus Kevin Magnussen who started on hards. But Hamilton was never happy on his soft tyres and was in as early as lap nine to get rid of them.

Even that wasn’t early enough for his liking as he complained Mercedes failed to bring him in before some medium-shod runners. Having dispensed with his softs he was back below where he started in 19th with everything still to do.

Hamilton’s race improved once he got onto the medium tyre and the Safety Car period came at a useful time for him to make his second pit stop. He went on to finish ninth, losing a place to Alonso with seven laps to go.

Alonso had to overtake Hamilton because he was forced to make a pit stop after the Safety Car period. Few drivers did this, and Alonso was the only points-scorer to do so, thanks to a more successful stint on softs than Hamilton enjoyed.

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He started the race from third place on the medium tyre compound and got away well, immediately passing Sergio Perez for second. But as the sprint race showed, Aston Martin couldn’t keep their tyres alive well enough over a stint, and Alonso quickly succumbed to the inevitable, letting Perez back through. Lando Norris took the Aston Martin at the hairpin three laps later.

An early switch to hards meant Alonso almost certainly needed a second pit stop. His only remaining fresh tyres were a set of softs and a set of mediums, neither of which were sufficient to get him to the finish when the Safety Car was deployed.

He therefore took a set of soft tyres and used them well, passing Carlos Sainz Jnr in the brief window between the two Safety Car periods. Although he wasn’t able to repeat the move on Perez, he ran late enough to switch to mediums with 13 laps to go.

He put up the fastest lap of the race, over half a second faster than Verstappen could achieve on his hard rubber, and set about regaining most of his lost places, taking the chequered flag in seventh place.

Although he salvaged a result which was probably the best available under the circumstances, it was another story of Aston Martin finishing below where they started this year.

“We didn’t quite have the pace today and it was a tricky race with a lot of things happening,” Alonso said afterwards. “Overall, it was a good race, but we have some work to do to improve our Sunday pace and match what we can do in qualifying.”

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2024 Chinese Grand Prix lap chart

The positions of each driver on every lap. Click name to highlight, right-click to reset. Toggle drivers using controls below:

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2024 Chinese Grand Prix race chart

The gaps between each driver on every lap compared to the leader’s average lap time. Very large gaps omitted. Scroll to zoom, drag to pan and right-click to reset. Toggle drivers using controls below:

2024 Chinese Grand Prix lap times

All the lap times by the drivers (in seconds, very slow laps excluded). Scroll to zoom, drag to pan and toggle drivers using the control below:

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2024 Chinese Grand Prix fastest laps

Each driver’s fastest lap:

Rank	#	Driver	Car	Lap time	Gap	Avg. speed (kph)	Lap no.
1	14	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin-Mercedes	1’37.810		200.63	45
2	1	Max Verstappen	Red Bull-Honda RBPT	1’38.406	0.596	199.41	33
3	24	Zhou Guanyu	Sauber-Ferrari	1’38.633	0.823	198.96	42
4	4	Lando Norris	McLaren-Mercedes	1’38.751	0.941	198.72	33
5	10	Pierre Gasly	Alpine-Renault	1’39.198	1.388	197.82	40
6	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	1’39.384	1.574	197.45	33
7	11	Sergio Perez	Red Bull-Honda RBPT	1’39.388	1.578	197.44	33
8	18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin-Mercedes	1’39.444	1.634	197.33	37
9	81	Oscar Piastri	McLaren-Mercedes	1’39.739	1.929	196.75	18
10	55	Carlos Sainz Jnr	Ferrari	1’39.764	1.954	196.7	19
11	63	George Russell	Mercedes	1’40.112	2.302	196.02	39
12	23	Alexander Albon	Williams-Mercedes	1’40.790	2.980	194.7	34
13	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Haas-Ferrari	1’40.815	3.005	194.65	32
14	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1’40.835	3.025	194.61	34
15	31	Esteban Ocon	Alpine-Renault	1’40.937	3.127	194.41	33
16	3	Daniel Ricciardo	RB-Honda RBPT	1’40.994	3.184	194.3	16
17	2	Logan Sargeant	Williams-Mercedes	1’41.000	3.190	194.29	14
18	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas-Ferrari	1’41.077	3.267	194.15	45
19	77	Valtteri Bottas	Sauber-Ferrari	1’41.276	3.466	193.76	11
20	22	Yuki Tsunoda	RB-Honda RBPT	1’41.593	3.783	193.16	11

2024 Chinese Grand Prix tyre strategies

The tyre strategies for each driver:

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2024 Chinese Grand Prix pit stop times

How long each driver’s pit stops took:

Rank	#	Driver	Team	Complete stop time (s)	Gap to best (s)	Stop no.	Lap no.
1	11	Sergio Perez	Red Bull	22.027		1	13
2	4	Lando Norris	McLaren	22.161	0.134	1	22
3	81	Oscar Piastri	McLaren	22.262	0.235	2	24
4	1	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	22.27	0.243	2	23
5	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	22.36	0.333	1	21
6	11	Sergio Perez	Red Bull	22.371	0.344	2	23
7	22	Yuki Tsunoda	RB	22.387	0.36	2	23
8	63	George Russell	Mercedes	22.415	0.388	1	11
9	1	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	22.456	0.429	1	13
10	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	22.518	0.491	1	9
11	3	Daniel Ricciardo	RB	22.598	0.571	1	14
12	55	Carlos Sainz Jnr	Ferrari	22.629	0.602	1	17
13	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	22.662	0.635	2	21
14	81	Oscar Piastri	McLaren	22.673	0.646	1	16
15	2	Logan Sargeant	Williams	22.684	0.657	2	24
16	14	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin	22.687	0.66	2	23
17	63	George Russell	Mercedes	22.707	0.68	2	23
18	10	Pierre Gasly	Alpine	22.836	0.809	3	38
19	18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	22.911	0.884	2	21
20	77	Valtteri Bottas	Sauber	22.949	0.922	1	9
21	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas	22.974	0.947	1	17
22	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Haas	23.004	0.977	1	8
23	14	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin	23.049	1.022	1	11
24	31	Esteban Ocon	Alpine	23.156	1.129	1	9
25	22	Yuki Tsunoda	RB	23.16	1.133	1	8
26	14	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin	23.179	1.152	3	43
27	31	Esteban Ocon	Alpine	23.208	1.181	2	23
28	2	Logan Sargeant	Williams	23.229	1.202	1	12
29	24	Zhou Guanyu	Sauber	23.252	1.225	3	40
30	23	Alexander Albon	Williams	23.273	1.246	1	9
31	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Haas	23.336	1.309	2	23
32	24	Zhou Guanyu	Sauber	23.362	1.335	1	8
33	23	Alexander Albon	Williams	23.6	1.573	2	23
34	18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	23.823	1.796	1	9
35	10	Pierre Gasly	Alpine	23.987	1.96	2	23
36	24	Zhou Guanyu	Sauber	25.61	3.583	2	23
37	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas	25.727	3.7	2	27
38	18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	34.777	12.75	4	35
39	10	Pierre Gasly	Alpine	39.712	17.685	1	11

2024 Chinese Grand Prix

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• Aston Martin petitions FIA to review Alonso’s penalty for Sainz collision
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