Shanghai sprint race winner Max Verstappensaid he endured a “hectic” start to the race before finding his rhythm and chasing down Lewis Hamilton to win.
The Red Bull driver started fourth on the grid and gained third when Lando Norris ran wide at the start. He went on to pass Fernando Alonso and Hamilton before half distance and won by 13 seconds.Despite his comfortable margin of victory, Verstappen says he endured a challenging start to the race in the pack between Alonso and Carlos Sainz Jnr’s chasing Ferrari.
“The first few laps were quite hectic,” Verstappen said. “They were pushing quite hard up front.
“And then of course I had Carlos behind with new tyres, so it was very difficult to keep him behind initially, but then once everyone had settled in a bit we became stronger.
“I felt a bit more comfortable with the balance of the car as well and I could look after my tyres, so, very, very pleased with that. And of course very good to have a bit of data for tomorrow.”
Verstappen’s Red Bull team mate Sergio Perez finished on the podium in third, two seconds behind Hamilton. Perez was sat behind the battling Sainz and Alonso and ahead of Charles Leclerc until the later laps when he managed to pass both into turn ten and claim the final podium position.
“It was really difficult to get through Carlos, through Fernando,” Perez said. “We were fighting and obviously we all had high degradation, following each other.
“At some point I also had to defend from Charles into turn 14 and it worked well. Then I managed to get by Fernando and Carlos. They got a little bit too close and I saw the opportunity and went for it and we finished really close to Lewis.”
Heading into the two grand prix sessions, Verstappen is eager to secure a stronger starting position to help make the opening laps of the grand prix easier for him.
“I think qualifying is important to getting in a good starting position,” he said. “That will help a lot in the first few laps.
“And then tomorrow, again, I don’t know. The wind is changing a lot, every day, and that makes it quite difficult to drive.”
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
2024 Chinese Grand Prix
- Aston Martin petitions FIA to review Alonso’s penalty for Sainz collision
- “You need to be more on it”: 12 unheard radio exchanges from the Chinese GP
- Ricciardo needs to show “head-turning form” for 2025 chance – Horner
- With fourth format change in as many years, F1 relegated sprint races to a sideshow
- Williams accept ‘harsh but correct’ penalty for Sargeant
w0o0dy
20th April 2024, 7:38
Another strong showing from Max. Stayed calm, didn’t fall into the trap of starting too fast, kept out of trouble and worked his way up and once in the lead simply took off. And yes the car is fast, but this is just another example of Max driving smarter and more efficiently than anyone else.
MadMax (@madmax)
20th April 2024, 10:23
Half the field can do the same in a car 1.5s faster than the rest.
earthling (@34rthl1ng)
20th April 2024, 22:43
Well that might be, but at least #44 cannot
w0o0dy
20th April 2024, 15:29
If they could figure out how to race as fast without mistakes and without hitting eachother they too could be successful yes. As fast as Max, I don’t think so.
AlanD
20th April 2024, 20:18
Woody, your comment appears to have been truncated.
…. but this is just another example of Max driving smarter and more efficiently than anyone else in a Red Bull.
There, fixed it for you.