Verstappen led the overwhelming majority of a strategic encounter on the Shanghai International Circuit that featured a Virtual Safety Car and two full Safety Car durations, the Dutchman holding his cool on the entrance because the drama unfolded behind him.
Norris was certainly one of three drivers, together with Ferrari pair Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, to make only one pit cease, having benefitted from the VSC and Safety Car phases to leap Perez for second place, which he managed to carry to the end.
Leclerc and Sainz adopted in fourth and fifth, respectively, regardless of some considerations from the Monegasque within the closing phases that his tyres could be unable to make it to the top. George Russell led Mercedes’ cost en path to sixth.
Fernando Alonso had an offset technique after pitting for softs reasonably than hards chosen by the drivers round him beneath the mid-race Safety Car. This pressured him right into a late cease for mediums, after which a string of overtakes to get well from twelfth to seventh—McLaren’s Oscar Piastri was his remaining sufferer.
After his Q1 exit and a few tyre-related struggles within the early laps, Lewis Hamilton labored his manner up the order amid drama round him. He wound up ninth due to some clever overtakes, with Haas driver Nico Hulkenberg claiming the ultimate level on provide.
Alpine pair Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly sandwiched the Williams of Alex Albon in positions 11 to 13, whereas Kick Sauber’s Zhou Guanyu crossed the road in 14th as he made historical past by turning into the primary Chinese driver to compete on house soil.
A trio of sanctioned drivers adopted, with Lance Stroll classifying fifteenth, forward of ultimate finishers Kevin Magnussen and Logan Sargeant, after being given a 10-second penalty for his half in a collision with Daniel Ricciardo beneath the Safety Car.
Stroll bumped into the again of Ricciardo simply earlier than the primary Safety Car restart when the sphere bunched up on the tight remaining hairpin, and after the RB driver returned to the pits to retire with important harm, stewards slapped the Canadian together with his sanction.
Magnussen was sixteenth in his Haas after tipping the opposite RB of Yuki Tsunoda right into a spin – and retirement – on the exit of the Turn 6 hairpin earlier within the race, a transfer that additionally noticed the stewards add 10 seconds to his time.
Logan Sargeant completed seventeenth and final within the second of the Williams machines to conclude one other tough weekend. He was hit with a 10-second penalty for a Safety Car infringement involving Hulkenberg.
Alongside the 2 RBs, Valtteri Bottas failed to complete when his Kick Sauber developed an obvious engine challenge and compelled him to drag off the observe, with issues eradicating his automobile resulting in the primary Safety Car interval.
With the top-three finishers heading to the rostrum to have fun, Verstappen’s newest win means he now sits 25 factors – and a Grand Prix victory – away from teammate Perez within the drivers’ standings because the F1 subject will get set for one more Sprint in Miami in a fortnight’s time.
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