Max Verstappen took advantage of Lewis Hamilton’s mistake to close in on the rear wing of his Mercedes, then slid through to take the lead and win the season-opening sprint in China.
Hamilton held on for second place ahead of Sergio Perez, but pole sitter Lando Norris lost his position due to a mistake of his own against Hamilton on the opening lap, unfortunately finishing sixth.
Max Verstappen wins China Sprint, as usual
With freedom of tire choice, all drivers except George Russell started on Pirelli mediums. Burned out on the formation lap, putting a bit of rubber on the green track and washed clean by Friday’s rain, 20 drivers, including China’s first F1 driver, Zhou Guanyu, lined up on the grid for the first sprint of 2024.
Lewis Hamilton fought for the lead from Lando Norris, who lined up alongside pole-sitter Lando Norris, who ran wide at Turn 2 to defend his position. This moved Fernando Alonso into second place ahead of Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz, while Norris dropped to seventh.
Sainz tried to attack Verstappen for position in Turn 1 but was unsuccessful, and Lance Stroll complained that Nico Hulkenberg had pushed Verstappen off the track. Despite starting on the soft, Russell lost ground early on and ended up in 12th place.
Sainz continued to push Verstappen into third place, with his potential 2025 teammate running ahead of Sergio Perez and Charles Leclerc. Verstappen had reported a dead battery…and set the fastest lap, closing the gap on Alonso.
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Hamilton, who had extracted a 1.5 second advantage over Alonso on lap seven of the 19-lap sprint, was chased by Verstappen, who used DRS to pass the Aston Martin driver and run in second place.
Hamilton’s mistake at the hairpin forced Verstappen to close in on the rear wing and he used DRS to take the lead at turn 14 on lap nine. The clear air ahead gave him a two-second gap between Verstappen and Hamilton. wrap.
With five races remaining, Alonso continued to run in third place, with Sainz on the rear wing leading a pack that included Perez, Leclerc and Norris. Russell, on the other hand, was trying to chase Oscar Piastri for the last position to score points.
As Sainz tried to stick his nose inside Alonso’s AMR24 at almost every corner, Leclerc was trying to do the same with Perez – all four cars within a space of just meters from the tarmac. . Alonso’s spectacular defense crumbled on lap 16, with Sainz briefly gaining the upper hand on Alonso, but a counterattack by the Spaniard allowed Perez to take both of them.
Sainz and Leclerc then overtook Alonso, but he retired from the race due to a puncture, likely due to contact with Sainz. Race Control focused on the battle between Alonso and Sainz. Leclerc overtook Sainz, but it was another fierce tussle with the Spaniard nearly running his teammate off the road.
Verstappen took the lead, winning by 12 seconds over Hamilton, with Perez finishing on the podium in third place.
Leclerc finished fourth ahead of Sainz and Norris, with Piastri and Russell overtaking Zhou in the final stages of the sprint to take the points.
result
1 Max Verstappen
2 Lewis Hamilton +13.043
3 Sergio Perez +15.258
4 Charles Leclerc +17.486
5 Carlos Sainz +20.696
6 Lando Norris +22.088
7 Oscar Piastri +24.713
8 George Russell +25.696
9 Zhou Guanyu +31.951
10 Kevin Magnussen +37.398
11 Daniel Ricciardo +37.840
12 Valtteri Bottas +38.295
13 Esteban Ocon +39.841
14 Lance Stroll +40.299
15 Pierre Gasly +40.838
16 Yuki Tsunoda +41.870
17 Alexander Albon +42.998
18 Logan Sargent +46.352
19 Nico Hulkenberg +49.630
It didn’t end
Fernando Alonso Aston Martin – Lap 18 – Puncture
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