Max Verstappen raised his index finger in the air. Again. Then the fist shot up. At first glance, the Formula 1 dominator’s first victory in China didn’t seem to be anything like a thrilling game. The Red Bull star easily outpaced everyone and celebrated his fourth victory in the fifth race of the season. “The car ran like it was on rails. “I was actually able to do whatever I wanted,” said a happy Verstappen, who has his sights set on his fourth world title.
And yet there was this scene on the penultimate lap, the number 1 Red Bull couldn’t avoid a carbon part on the track. “Can you check my tires?” said Verstappen nervously. “I’ve had this happen in the past when a tire broke in the final laps,” the 26-year-old explained later.
Second-placed Lando Norris (l.) also celebrates a little while Max Verstappen (r.) and Sergio Perez (m.) cover a Red Bull employee with winner’s champagne. Photo: AFP
But everything went well, but on the track in Shanghai, which was emotionally important for the team, Red Bull only triumphed almost across the board. McLaren driver Lando Norris was lucky with the safety car phases and thwarted Red Bull’s fourth one-two of the year. Verstappen’s teammate Sergio Perez completed the podium in third place.
Hamilton is doing damage control in ninth place
It was Verstappen’s 58th Grand Prix victory. In the World Championship, the 26-year-old, who was also the confident winner of the sprint race on Saturday, clearly leads with 110 points ahead of the Mexican Perez (85).
Verstappen has taken all pole positions and victories so far this year – except for one: at the Australian Grand Prix he retired while in the lead due to a defect.
Record world champion Lewis Hamilton, who only started from 18th position after a botched qualifying, drove his Mercedes up to at least ninth place and did some damage limitation. The car was “not good,” explained team boss Toto Wolff bluntly.
Zhou Guanyu, who comes from Shanghai, came home empty-handed in 14th place in front of a sold-out crowd, but the Sauber driver was still celebrated frenetically and fought back tears in the face of the ovation after the race.
Almost exactly 15 years ago to the day, Red Bull celebrated its first pole and its first Grand Prix victory in Shanghai thanks to Sebastian Vettel – now there are 117 successes. On Saturday Verstappen captured the 100th pole position for the team, and on Sunday the world champion won the Chinese Grand Prix for the first time. Of the 24 routes in this year’s racing calendar, the Dutchman only has a score to settle with Singapore.
There were two safety car phases in the race. Photo: AFP
McLaren driver Lando Norris was lucky with these safety car phases. Photo: AFP
Verstappen, who won the sprint race comfortably on Saturday ahead of Hamilton and Perez, got off to a strong start and quickly pulled away. Even two safety car phases, one after Sauber driver Valtteri Bottas’ engine failure and one after a rear-end collision, failed to embarrass Verstappen. Currently only defects or small parts probably have this potential.
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Verstappen is driving “absolutely flawlessly,” said Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko on Sky: “He’s only turning 27 this year, so there’s still a lot to come.” And then the doctor from Graz added mischievously: “We can get back to the world title think.”
