Verstappen takes the Chinese GP Sprint win ahead of Hamilton and Perez
20th April 2024Red Bull’s Max Verstappen takes the first sprint race win of the season, at the Chinese Grand Prix, as Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton finishes in second.
Following a mixed-weather Sprint Qualifying session, at the Shanghai International Circuit, Verstappen started the race in fourth place behind McLaren’s Lando Norris, Hamilton and Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso respectively.
The Dutchman initially had some technical issues with his battery in the early stages of the race, but once that was resolved he got moving forward.
By lap 10, Verstappen found himself in the lead of the race and cruised to victory with minimal issue from anyone else.
How it happened…
At the start, Verstappen immediately moved up into third as Norris ran wide at the exit of the long right-hander of T1 and T2 leaving Hamilton in the lead followed by Alonso.
It took some time for the reigning world champion to make some in-roads into the top two drivers after he was put under some pressure by Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz.
Verstappen had issues early on with his battery but after a solution provided by his race engineer, the Dutchman started to put the pressure on Alonso for second.
On lap eight, down the back straight, Verstappen made light work of Alonso for second place. With half the race left to go just over a second separated Verstappen from Hamilton.
This gap was cut down even further after Hamilton locked up into the penultimate corners, allowing Verstappen to be on the gearbox of the #44 Mercedes on the exit of the T14 hairpin.
On lap 10, Verstappen snatched the race lead away from Hamilton – who has never won a sprint race in his career – on the run down to T14. Hamilton didn’t, really, fight the move and settled into second place.
As Verstappen cruised to victory, ahead of Hamilton, Perez found himself in a quartet consisting of Alonso and the two Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Sainz.
On lap 16, Perez moved up to P3 after Alonso forced Sainz off the track which allowed the Mexican Red Bull to slip on through. Although Alonso retired due to contact with Sainz, just before T10, the two chasing Ferraris could not touch Verstappen.
By the chequered flag, Verstappen secured victory 13 seconds ahead of Hamilton and Perez.
Read more Formula 1 here:
- Stroll tops sole practice session ahead of Piastri and Verstappen at Chinese GP
- Into the first corner: An F1 return to China for the Chinese Grand Prix
- F1 announce 2025 calendar
- Fernando Alonso signs ‘multi-year’ contract at Aston Martin F1
- Who Finished Where: 2024 F1 Japanese GP
- Max Verstappen heads Red Bull 1-2 finish at Japanese Grand Prix
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Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.
I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
Kamron Kent
Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
