Shanghai demonstrates that it is possible to slip into the Red Bulls, taking the supremacy of the stainless Max Verstappen for granted. In the Chinese GP, a Ferrari was expected to be a contender for the RB20 and, instead, it was McLaren who emerged with an impeccable Lando Norris, after yesterday he had thrown away pole position in the Sprint Race for a long shot at the first corner.
Norris collected his eighth second place which is also the 15th podium of his career, putting Sergio Perez behind him who, with Red Bull, did not reach beyond the third step of the podium. The Woking team is starting to show its claws and the pace that Lando has kept shows that the “papaya” car is growing, managing to counteract the role of second force to Ferrari.
Max Verstappen made the difference as always: the Dutchman scored his 102nd podium and celebrated his 58th victory, the fourth of 2024. The perfect weekend was “ruined” only by the fastest lap which was harpooned by Fernando Alonso on lap 47 in 1'37″810 with a fresh set of medium tyres. Max capitalized on his indisputable superiority and increased his lead over Perez in the drivers' championship to 26 points, starting to distance himself from the competition, also protecting himself from a possible retirement.
Sergio Perez, surprised by a brilliant Alonso at the start, had managed to get back to the place of honour, but the Mexican paid for Red Bull's double pit stop (although done in record time) during the delayed safety car on lap 23 caused from Valtteri Bottas' Sauber, blocked for two laps already on the track with the engine knocked out and the gearbox stuck.
Checo managed to regain the podium with a disappointing Ferrari, but with the hard tire he never found the pace to try to catch up with Norris, the driver of the day, showing a pace that was even a second slower than Verstappen, l 'relentless raider this season too.
China, which celebrated Guanyu Zhou's 15th place with Sauber as if he had won the GP (the FIA allowed him to go onto the finishing straight, together with the first three, receiving an ovation that he will remember in life), sanctions a Ferrari in difficulty, unable to get on the podium for the first time. Slow in qualifying, the Scuderia didn't find the pace in the race either. The difficulty of turning on the tires at the start and at every restart penalized the reds. Charles Leclerc's fourth place and Carlos Sainz's fifth did not meet the Cavallino's expectations. At the start the Monegasque (sixth) was only concerned with closing Sainz at the first corner (as if wanting to give a signal after the skirmish suffered on Saturday), and opened the door to George Russell and also Nico Hulkenberg, starting the race more behind than expected. But beyond the more difficult start than expected, Ferrari showed its tongue especially with the hard tires.
The SF-24 has never found the right pace, demonstrating that there is an urgent need for a technical update to get back on top. It is probable that something can already be seen in Miami, but the bulk will arrive in Imola as had been planned. The Cavallino team was lucky that Oscar Piastri suffered damage to the rear axle (in the safety car Lance Stroll hit Daniel Ricciardo while braking who touched the Australian's rear!), otherwise the other MCL38 would also have been ahead of the reds , while she only finished eighth. One wonders why Ferrari was slower than McLaren today compared to yesterday, collapsing with the hard compound.
Mercedes is sixth with a rather colorless George Russell, while Lewis Hamilton's comeback was more brilliant, moving up to ninth position from 18th at the start: the W15 shows no signs of waking up while awaiting the changes expected for Imola.
The driver who put on a show was Fernando Alonso who dared to start on the soft tyres: the Spaniard, aware that the Aston Martin was not competitive in terms of race pace, looked for shorter stints and an extra stop to cling to a seventh place which repays him for the show he offered, while Stroll (rightly penalized 10 seconds for the… strike in the safety car) continues to be inconclusive with a “green” that deserves more than the last place among the qualifiers.
Nico Hulkenberg gives another point to Haas which consolidates sixth place in the Constructors' World Championship: the German is among the best in the drivers' market with an Audi ready to make him golden bridges while waiting for Carlos Sainz to also decide.
Esteban Ocon usually felt the scent of points only for a few laps: the Frenchman hoped to bring the Alpine out of the shallows with the first update of the disappointing A524, but Alonso's comeback took away this satisfaction, leaving the transalpine team in a very critical position. Pierre Gasly finished two places behind his teammate in the standard car: Alexander Albon slipped in between the two transalpines with a Williams that was trying to float amidst his problems.
Kevin Magnussen deserved a 10 second penalty for taking Yuki Tsunoda's Racing Bulls out of the way. The Japanese stopped just like Daniel Ricciardo who showed signs of awakening after the Faenza team gave him a new chassis. Bad Logan Sargeant, 16th, also penalized for demonstrating that he doesn't even know the regulations governing exiting the bx after pit stops…
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