F1 GP China, ranking: Max dominates, Norris 2nd. Dark Ferrari, 4th and 5th

by VALERIO BARRETTA

F1 China, the race standings

F1 China, the race report

The normalization of exceptionality. You almost forget that Max Verstappen race the Chinese Grand Prix: the Dutchman crushes the competition from the first lap and soon says goodbye to the company, winning the fourth GP in the top five of the 2024 World Championship, his 58th in his career. With this success, Verstappen also breaks the taboo in Shanghai, where he had never won: now the three-time world champion is only missing Singapore on the list of GPs on the calendar (the others are Sochi, Portimão, Mugello, Nürburgring and Istanbul).

Verstappen – practically never controlled by the director – accumulates a 13″ advantage over Lando Norris only because the Grand Prix hosts two Safety Cars which cancel out the gaps, otherwise the gap could have been much larger: in the first part of the race the Dutchman actually gained almost a second per lap on Sergio Perez. Norris had a great race, second and never worried Checo in the second part of the race, while the Mexican is the one who loses the most from the entry of the safety car.

Ferrari as gray as the Shanghai sky: Charles Leclerc 4th and Carlos Sainz 5th. The SF-24s got off to a bad start (with the #16 thinking about closing the Spaniard instead of protecting the inside in turn-1) and lost precious time at the start of the race behind slower cars. Even after the Safety Car the pace is still deficient compared to the Red Bulls and Norris' McLaren: the first developments will arrive in Miami, which at this point are absolutely necessary.

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F1 China, live coverage of the race

You can relive the emotions of the Shanghai Grand Prix with our live coverage.

Future appointments

F1 takes a week off and returns for the weekend of May 3-5, when the Miami Grand Prix is ​​scheduled. It will be another weekend with the Sprint format, so there will only be one free practice session (Friday 3rd at 6.30pm Italian time), then the Sprint Qualifying at 10.30pm; on Saturday the short race at 6pm and qualifying at 10pm. On Sunday, again at 10pm, the Grand Prix.