Max Verstappen Wins the Chinese GP Sprint After Blazing Past Lewis Hamilton

Max Verstappen triumphed decisively in the Chinese Grand Prix sprint race on Saturday, finishing 13 seconds ahead of Lewis Hamilton after overcoming early electrical issues. Verstappen started the race from fourth on the grid.

On the ninth lap of the 19-lap race, the Dutchman stormed past Hamilton’s Mercedes, the seven-time world champion.

After an exciting race between the Ferraris of Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc and the Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso, Red Bull colleague Sergio Perez finished third.

Verstappen said, “The first few laps were hectic,” after taking the eight points up for grabs in the season’s first sprint race at the Shanghai International Circuit.

Driving is challenging due to the wind’s frequent changes.

Verstappen said, “Once we figured (the battery) out, we were OK,” increasing his title lead over Perez to 25 points.

After swapping positions many times during the intense battle for the minor places with Perez and Alonso, Leclerc and Sainz finished fourth and fifth, respectively.

Alonso of Aston Martin performed the worst in the race, going wheel-to-wheel with the Ferraris and had to withdraw his vehicle on lap 18 due to a puncture sustained during the encounter.

Lando Norris began the sprint points race on pole, but was only able to finish sixth in his McLaren, behind teammate Oscar Piastri and George Russell in eighth place.

Expensive for Norris

Despite starting from second on the grid, Hamilton had the fastest getaway, maintaining the inside line on the first two lengthy bends to take the lead when Norris spun off.

For the McLaren driver, it proved expensive as he ended the opening lap in eighth place.

Despite Verstappen’s complaint of a dead battery, Alonso took second place and the championship leader, Max Verstappen, third.

In addition to opening up a 1.3-second lead by the sixth lap, Hamilton was also vitally out of Alonso’s reach for a DRS attempt.

By lap seven, Verstappen had fixed his electrical problem and had caught up to Alonso on the lengthy back straight.

After two circuits, he finally caught up to Hamilton and made a quick pass at the last hairpin.

Verstappen increased the lead over the Mercedes by about a second every lap as he glided ahead with a clean path ahead of him and Hamilton settled for second.

“I’m extremely happy and grateful, as that’s the best result I’ve had in a long time,” an overjoyed Hamilton said, picking up seven points after only managing 10 in the four prior races this season.

“The race was hard, and we couldn’t compete with the Red Bulls, but I learned a lot about the car in this short run, so I’m excited for tomorrow’s race.”

On the bumper 24-race Formula One schedule for 2024, it was the first of six sprint races and the first to employ the new weekend format.

Grand Prix qualifying, where the cars will warm up for Sunday’s main race, will still take place on Saturday afternoon.

Drivers and teams applauded the modifications since they may now modify their vehicle setups for GP qualifying after the sprint race, something that wasn’t previously possible.

Massive crowds flocked to watch Shanghai native and China’s first Formula One driver, Zhou Guanyu, make his home debut in his third season in the top racing class on the first Chinese Grand Prix weekend since 2019.

When Zhou powered his Sauber into the top 10 in a rainy sprint qualifying session on Friday, supporters had something to shout about. Tickets for the main race on Sunday sold out in minutes.

In the dry conditions of the race, he began in the tenth position and advanced one position after the early collisions.

Zhou, who began down in 11th on the grid but made the most of the beginning on faster soft tires, agonizingly ended just out of the points in ninth after being overtaken late in the race.