REACTIONS: What teams had to say after the Chinese Grand Prix

Although Max Verstappen secured one other victory in totally dominant style, there have been a number of battles and crashes up and down the area at the Chinese Grand Prix. F1Technical’s senior author Balázs Szabó delivers teams’ response after the Shanghai F1 race.

Red Bull have taken a dominant begin to the 2024 F1 season. The solely hiccup has been their technical woes in Australia the place Carlos Sainz took a sensational victory after Max Verstappen was sidelined with a brake problem.

In China, the Milton Keynes-based outfit continued this pattern by securing victory each in Saturday’s dash race and in the grand prix courtesy of the three-time world champion. Sergio Perez was the solely disappointment for the group as the Mexican was unable to decide off Lando Norris for P2 regardless of Red Bull’s dominant show in Shanghai.

Max Verstappen, 1st

“I believe right now went rather well and I used to be very proud of every little thing, we had nice tempo in the complete race though in fact with the deployment of the security automobile, the hole that I had made was shortened and we then had to acquire that again. Today the automobile was very nicely balanced, each time that we wanted to be fast we had been and it felt way more constant to drive as compared to the Sprint, even for the restarts and total I’m actually happy with the efficiency that we had as a group.

“Every race is different in terms of emotions, this one was particularly enjoyable because the whole weekend went so well, especially considering that it was a Sprint weekend which is always much more hectic. A weekend like this is as much as you can ever hope for. A win in Shanghai was definitely on my list, to be here and to win in front of such an amazing crowd is very special and I am pleased that the race is back on the calendar.”

Sergio Perez, third

“The security automobile price us slightly right now, it will have been shut however sadly it got here at the improper time for us and put us on the again foot and we misplaced two locations. Fighting with Charles broken my tyres slightly an excessive amount of and it made it laborious. The stage of degradation was slightly too making an attempt on this observe to make higher progress, so we struggled.

“I wanted more today, I did expect a little more from the race, the Sprint looked very promising but today we were not able to capitalise on that. We made some changes that potentially took away some of our performance. We will review those for Miami to make sure we keep this progression going to keep these better weekends. We are having a lot stronger weekends and it’s just a matter of now being able to lead from lap one and do our own race, hopefully that will come soon.”

Aston Martin had a really contrasting weekend. While Lance Stroll languished down in the decrease area of the area and was concerned in a crash with Daniel Ricciardo in the important race, Fernando Alonso excelled as soon as once more. The Spaniard took P3 on the grid for the dash which he was unable to convert right into a point-scoring place due to a puncture, however the two-time world champion bounced again with a sensation third-place end in the important qualifying session.

The grand prix noticed Alonso make a formidable overtaking manoeuvre on Sergio Perez at the begin, however he was unable to maintain off the Mexican as the tyres on his Aston Martin AMR24 rapidly began to closely degrade. In the finish, Alonso completed P7, securing important factors for his group.

Fernando Alonso, seventh

“We did not fairly have the tempo right now and it was a tough race with plenty of issues occurring. Despite this, it was vital to rating some factors and a bonus to get the quickest lap too. We made a great begin and moved up to second, and for a second I assumed it will be good to lead the race for a lap, however we could not make that occur.

“Just a few Safety Cars modified the technique slightly bit and we did not have any extra Hard tyres accessible, in order that’s why we made a change to the Soft compound. Overall, it was a great race, however now we have some work to do to enhance our Sunday tempo and match what we are able to do in Qualifying.”

Lance Stroll, sixteenth

“We had been on for a great consequence right now. The Soft tyres had carried out nicely at the begin of the race and I made a few essential overtakes to climb into the factors. We timed our cease nicely underneath the VSC and I believe ninth place was on the playing cards. Then, when the Safety Car got here in, there was a series response with all the automobiles forward out of the blue slowing.

“I did not have sufficient time to react and keep away from contact with Daniel [Ricciardo]. It’s irritating, as a result of I ended up with the penalty, however the incident was brought on by somebody at the entrance of the pack braking out of the blue. After the entrance wing change we had been operating final which meant our race was successfully over. It’s a disgrace to lose out on the factors, however we’ll regroup forward of one other Sprint weekend in Miami.”

McLaren anticipated their automobile to endure on the Shanghai International Circuit, however the MCL38 carried out significantly better than hoped. Lando Norris took pole place in troublesome situations in the dash shootout solely to lose out at the begin by operating vast at Turn 2.

However, the Briton got here house second in the race to register his greatest results of the season. He benefitted from the security automobile interruption in contrast to Red Bull’s Sergio Perez, however his tempo on the laborious compound was really sensible.

His team-mate Oscar Piastri ended up P8 in the race after selecting up a harm on account of his incident with Daniel Ricciardo. However, the Australian struggled for race tempo each in the dash and the race, having been unable to handle his tyres in the identical method as Norris.

Lando Norris, 2nd
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“I am very happy for the whole team today, they deserved it so big thanks to them. Our pit stops were solid and the car felt great today. I really wasn’t expecting it to be the kind of race where we would perform like this, but I was comfortable, we could manage the tyres far easier than yesterday and push. Good day, good points and another podium – I’m very happy. It’s a pleasant surprise but it shows the team have done a good job. We’re working hard and it’s paying off.”

Oscar Piastri, eighth

“It was a difficult afternoon for me. I struggled a little bit in the first stint and then, on the Safety Car restart, I got hit from behind which caused a lot of damage and made the second half of the race pretty painful. It was good to still score some points and get Lando on the podium, so we come away from China with positives, and now look forward to Miami.”

Ferrari had been anticipated to problem for high place on the front-limited Shanghai International Circuit, however the Scuderia had been unable to dwell up to the expectations. In qualifying trim, they had been unable to beat Red Bull, however the McLarens and the Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso had been additionally faster than Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz.

In race trim, the state of affairs improved, however Red Bull had been a good chunk faster than Ferrari, and Lando Norris additionally managed to keep forward of Leclerc and Sainz. The SF-24 lacked pace in the first sector all via the weekend which didn’t vanish in the race both.

Charles Leclerc, 4th

“We’re not fully happy with our consequence as a group right now. We have two issues to deal with leaving Shanghai, one is our qualifying trim and the different our tempo on the Hards, which was our important problem right now. Our technique and efficiency had been sturdy till the Safety Car, however after that we had been all on the identical technique and it was a bit tougher for us to get again to pace on the Hard tyres.

“What will be essential is the upcoming upgrades, as they will define the direction we will take for the next part of the season.”

Carlos Sainz, fifth

“A tricky race on a difficult observe for us this weekend. The first few corners had been removed from splendid and with the visitors we determined to pit early to change to the Hard tyres. Some laps later, underneath the Safety Car, we stayed out on that tyre and went to the finish to end fifth.

“In any case, overall we struggled more than expected and the result today is not what we wanted. We will review everything before going to Miami, where I’m confident we can return to the form we showed in the previous weekends.”

Mercedes had arrived in Japan in the hope that the Shanghai International Circuit would favour their automobile greater than the earlier venue. However, the W15 appeared to lack tempo in contrast to Red Bull, Ferrari, McLaren and even to Aston Martin.

Having delivered a sensational lap in damp situations, Lewis Hamilton took the second beginning place for the dash race which he may hand on to. However, he was knocked out in Q1 of the important qualifying session, and completed P9 in the race. His team-mate George Russell certified eighth on the grid for the grand prix, however his lack of race tempo meant that he was unable to problem for high positions, and left China with a sixth-placed end.

Lewis Hamilton, ninth

“I went forwards and acquired into the factors, however it was a troublesome race. Ultimately, I made a foul set-up change to the automobile yesterday and I paid the value for it. I plan to ensure that I don’t try this in the future! The automobile does appear to work in a small window, and I did assume it was the appropriate factor to do. Sadly, it made right now very troublesome. The group did an important job with the pit stops although and George did nicely to rating some strong factors. I’m certain the subsequent race in Miami can be higher.

“Whilst I didn’t have the best race, it’s still been awesome to see the incredible fans here. They are some of the best anywhere in the world. I am so grateful to see them again after several years away and it made for a brilliant atmosphere.”

George Russell, sixth

“Starting P8 and making up a number of positions was what we had been anticipating from right now’s race. The consequence might be a good one and we all know now we have work to do. We’ve had an analogous battle with Alonso and Piastri in the final three races so P6 is about the place our automobile is at current.

“It was interesting weekend, overall. With the Sprint format, we ended up having two very different set-ups on the car from Friday and Saturday morning into the rest of the weekend. There’s lots to pick through and hopefully things to build on. We need to keep on adding performance to the car in order to finish higher up the grid. We will keep working hard to do so.”

Another factors for Nico Hulkenberg. Haas have introduced a raft of upgrades to China which the German driver managed to capitalize on with a point-scoring end in the race. The German’s drive confirmed as soon as once more hoch a lot enchancment Haas have made by way of tyre administration in contrast after their tyre struggles from 2023. His team-mate Kevin Magnussen endured a dismal qualifying yesterday, and picked up a ten-second time penalty in the race for tagging the RB of Yuki Tsunoda and sending the Japanese driver right into a race-ending spin.

Nico Hulkenberg, tenth

“It was a faultless and clean race from my side today. I think it was a well-managed and well-controlled race from the team. It’s a positive and I’m very happy about that – we got that one point that was up for grabs today. One of the top-five team’s cars had a problem and that’s the spot we got because of it, otherwise it’s not really possible to race with them. It also shows we need to have a perfect qualifying on Saturday and a perfect race on Sunday to be able to be where we are today. We couldn’t have done much more. One point, in our world, is a lot!”

Kevin Magnussen, fifteenth

“It simply actually wasn’t our day right now to be sincere. We began seventeenth after a foul qualifying yesterday – we took the consequence of that right now. Sometimes you may make it again, however right now we couldn’t. We had tried a one-stop technique, we had to bail out as a result of the degradation was too excessive on the laborious.

“As quickly as I got here out on the new laborious rubber, I had the puncture due to the incident with Yuki – so had to pit once more for the medium. I successfully had to do a one-stop anyway, though we didn’t need to. Things had been working nicely with the automobile although, we appear to have respectable tempo in it, that was additionally the case in Sprint qualifying and the Sprint race earlier in the weekend.”

Zhou Guanyu was over the moon after climbing out of his automobile. The Chinese driver fulfilled considered one of his greatest goals by racing in entrance of his adoring crowd even when the race noticed him end down in P14.

His team-mate Valtteri Bottas secured a formidable tenth place in qualifying, however a technical problem along with his energy unit pressured him to retire from the race.

Valtteri Bottas, DNF

“Today marks a quite disappointing ending to a really promising weekend: ranging from P10 put me in a great place to combat for factors, and the race was going nicely total till I out of the blue misplaced drive and my engine turned off – one thing we’ll have to completely examine in the upcoming days.

“It’s fairly unlucky, whereas there was nonetheless a good distance to go, I used to be preventing with Nico [Hülkenberg] who made it into the factors. It’s powerful to settle for, however that is racing, and lots of extra alternatives will come up: our tempo is bettering and as a group, we’re making small steps on many fronts all the time. We’ve been round P10 the whole weekend and had been in a position to be taught so much about our automobile and our upgrades that may enable us to maximise our potential. As we maintain making these steps, I’m trying ahead to racing in Miami once more, a observe I’ve loved so much in the final years.”

Zhou Guanyu, 14th

“This weekend has been a tremendous expertise: for years, I dreamt about racing at house and at last I used to be in a position to do it. To see the ardour and the love from everybody on the stands was one thing I’ve by no means skilled earlier than: the in-lap, particularly, was one thing I received’t ever overlook, seeing so many individuals cheering and shouting your title. I made certain I waved at every grandstand, at each nook with followers. As a lot as I handled this as a daily race weekend, the emotion was simple and it actually acquired me in the finish, particularly after I stopped in Parc Ferme: it was a particular second, topping off the honour of being the first ever Chinese driver to race in a Chinese Grand Prix.

“The race was powerful, particularly in the first stint the place I didn’t have plenty of grip and I used to be sliding throughout the place, however we did handle to get well nicely. Finishing the race isn’t what makes me glad – it is to achieve this preventing my manner via the area, giving every little thing and leaving nothing behind. Unfortunately, ranging from the again we knew breaking into the factors could be troublesome, however we are able to deal with some positives, comparable to our tempo; and, in fact, the nice enchancment achieved by the group and the crew in the pit stops, which had been principally clear.

” At the finish, we selected to go for a cheeky stint on softs: we knew we’d give you the chance to maintain the place we had been in if we didn’t cease, so we gambled to change to softs and see if we may enhance much more. We did plenty of overtakes, the automobile felt good and it was good to combat my manner via. Given the strain of this weekend, I’m proud of the job I’ve achieved. The complete weekend was optimistic, yesterday afternoon and right now a bit more durable however we gave all of it.”

RB had a troublesome weekend in China. After Yuki Tsunoda scored factors in the final two races, it was a giant stepback for the Faenza-based group. The Japanese driver struggled for tempo all via the weekend, whereas his team-mate Daniel Ricciardo appeared to be extra comfy in his VCARB01 than in the opening three races of the season.

The Australian outpaced his Japanese teammate in qualifying and appeared heading in the right direction to safe his first factors of the season, however an unlucky motion from Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll noticed him decide up a big harm on the flooring of his automobile. Ricciardo was pressured to reture from the motion a number of laps later, whereas his team-mate was tagged by the Haas of Kevin Magnussen which additionally triggered a race-ending second for Tsunoda.

Daniel Ricciardo, DNF

“We began to make up plenty of floor in the stint earlier than the Safety Car however throughout the restart, I acquired a reasonably large hit and the automobile was broken. We determined to retire as a result of I wasn’t actually driving an F1 automobile. It’s very irritating. I watched his onboard and it appeared like he wasn’t even taking a look at me, it appeared that his helmet was taking a look at the apex. We’ll by no means know what may have occurred later in the race, however I believe we had been trying in a great place.

“Getting ruined by another person makes me annoyed and that is the place the disappointment comes, as a result of right now we had a possibility and we missed it. I believe there’s plenty of disappointment for everybody in the group. When I acquired again to the storage, I noticed the mechanics taking a look at the harm and so they really feel as heartbroken as I do. I believe we undoubtedly had a greater weekend from a tempo standpoint, and I I believe the group may really feel some momentum and a few shift to the season. We go onto Miami and we’ll simply attempt to maintain engaged on that.”

Yuki Tsunoda, DNF

“It’s unlucky and irritating the way it ended up right now. I used to be proud of how I progressed in the race till my contact with Magnussen. After the Safety Car, the begin was good and I gained 5 positions, so I really feel I maximised what I may do however the tempo itself hadn’t improved as a lot as we wished.

“We’ve been sliding greater than different automobiles and the group has been pushing laborious and serving to me type it out however total, this week we weren’t in a position to present our true sturdy efficiency, and that’s a disgrace. We’ll look into why again in Faenza, and I do know as a group we’ll come again stronger in Miami. It’s a disgrace that additionally Daniel had to retire as a result of he had good tempo on this race, in order a group, it’s irritating that neither automobile completed the race and we couldn’t rating factors.”

Following their powerful begin to the season, Alpine displayed a greater tempo in China. Esteban Ocon’s automobile was geared up with a brand new flooring which Pierre Gasly will obtain in Miami in two weeks’ time With each automobile preventing themselves via into Q2, the group may take a slight aid after their struggles in the opening three rounds.

Ocon was glad to register the group’s greatest results of the season with an Eleventh-placed end, however the group was significantly delighted with the tyre administration of their troublesome A524 which was their important weak point in the earlier spherical in Japan.

Esteban Ocon, Eleventh

“As anticipated, it was a busy race right now with loads of motion and shut racing, which was actually enjoyable from behind the wheel. Overall, we managed the race and the tyres nicely. The optimistic is that we had been extra aggressive right here and put ourselves in rivalry for factors, however narrowly missed out in the finish – albeit being the greatest results of the season.

“We made a small step in efficiency this weekend, with the new elements the group introduced to the observe working as anticipated. Thank you to the group for fast-tracking the upgrades, however we should maintain bettering so as to stay in the combat for factors in the coming races, persevering with in Miami in two weeks’ time.”

Pierre Gasly, thirteenth

“We may be inspired with the consequence right now taking a look at the efficiency this season to this point. It was fairly fascinating how the race unfolded and there are a number of areas the place we misplaced time right now, however I’m glad we managed to get well some locations. We will take plenty of learnings with us.

“There is so much for us to analyse and perceive from this weekend, which we’ll deal with in the coming days getting ready for the subsequent race in Miami. I’m already trying ahead to being again in the US, the place we can have the alternative to run with the new package deal on my aspect for the first time. Until then, the group will proceed to work laborious, so we are able to ensure that we are able to proceed bettering and get us nearer again to the place we wish to be. The Chinese followers placed on an important present right now and it felt nice to be again right here after such a very long time.”

Williams have endured a really troublesome weekend in China. The group clearly struggled for outright tempo which was primarily brought on by the instability in high-speed corners. In the finish, Alexander Albon and logan Sargeant completed P12 and P17 respectively, however they by no means appeared fast sufficient for scoring factors. Williams acknowledged that they count on the forthcoming Miami circuit to higher go well with their automobile.

Alex Albon, twelfth

“It was an okay race today. Although the lower winds helped us, we were battling a lot of tyre degradation throughout the race. We ultimately didn’t have the pace to overtake [Esteban] Ocon at the end and he was defending well. We understand the problems with the car, but they’re not immediate fixes and we will need a few upgrades to improve our performance. Looking to Miami, I think our car will suit the track much better and I’m optimistic we can have a better result.”

Logan Sargeant, seventeenth

“It’s been a troublesome weekend as we’ve been struggling to get the automobile in the proper window. We’ve had good moments and a few unhealthy moments via the weekend. Most importantly we’d like to determine what we may’ve achieved higher as a group. The first half of the race was strong. The begin on the Softs was sturdy then we had been in a very good place on the Medium tyres.

“We probably could’ve done without the Safety Car because we would’ve gone Medium, Medium which would’ve suited us better. When we put the Hard tyres on, I couldn’t get them to switch on and suffered with degradation. The penalty for the Safety Car infringement doesn’t really matter in the end. From my perspective, I thought I crossed the line first. When the cars are going at such different speeds, I don’t know how I could’ve known the true order.”