Max Verstappen clinched a comfortable victory at 2024 Chinese Grand Prix ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris.
Verstappen led from lights out until his first stop at the end of Lap 13 and reclaimed the lead on Lap 19, from which he headed Norris to the checkered flag after two safety car periods mid-race.
Sergio Perez finished third after he initially lost one position on the start then found himself fourth after his two pit stops, only to pass Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc on Lap 39 to round out the podium.
Carlos Sainz finished fifth ahead of George Russell and Fernando Alonso, whilst Oscar Piastri, Lewis Hamilton and Nico Hulkenberg completed the top ten.
In the drivers’ standings, Verstappen further extended his title lead over Perez to 25 points, whilst Perez slightly increased his gap to third-placed Leclerc to nine points.
At lights out, Verstappen sprinted away into the lead unchallenged as Alonso swept round the outside of Perez through the opening two corners to take second.
Leclerc and Sainz meanwhile were jumped for sixth and seventh by Russell and Hulkenberg but Leclerc quickly passed the latter to put himself seventh.
Tyre degradation soon became apparent as Alonso resolutely defended from Perez until Lap 5 when he was passed at Turn 6, with Norris then demoting him to fourth two laps later.
Hulkenberg, Guanyu Zhou and Yuki Tsunoda were the first to pit and everyone else but Norris and Leclerc soon followed, with the latter pair on one-stop strategies as Norris claimed the lead on Lap 14 once Verstappen made his stop.
Verstappen reclaimed the lead on Lap 19 with DRS into Turn 14 but the Virtual Safety Car (VSC) was deployed three laps later, after Kick-Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas stopped at Turn 11 with a power unit failure.
The VSC deployment was unfortunately mistimed until Norris had passed the pit entry which looked to give Leclerc the jump as he made his stop, only for the VSC to last longer than anticipated which allowed Norris to pit at the end of Lap 22 and keep ahead of the Monegasque.
Stewards though were forced to deploy the full safety car on Lap 24 and racing resumed at the end of Lap 26, although the cars bunched up at Turn 14 which caused Lance Stroll to unintentionally plough into Daniel Ricciardo under braking.
Both drivers were able to continue but Ricciardo’s RB teammate, Tsunoda got spun out at Turn 6 on Lap 27 by Kevin Magnussen, which caused another safety car period but not before Alonso on soft tyres passed Sainz for fifth.
Racing resumed at the end of Lap 31 with the top eight holding position as Verstappen controlled the remainder of this race, as he completed the Sprint and GP double.
Damage to Ricciardo’s car soon became apparent as Hulkenberg and Hamilton quickly demoted him out of the top ten, which eventually saw the Aussie retire on Lap 33.
Perez meanwhile bided his time behind third-placed Leclerc until he made a move into Turn 6 on Lap 39 to take the final podium spot away from the Ferrari driver.
Alonso gambled on a third pit stop on Lap 44 which dropped him from fifth to 12th but he couldn’t catch back up to Sainz and Russell by the checkered flag, having recovered to seventh by the end of Lap 49 ahead of Piastri.
Lewis Hamilton recovered from his shock Q1 exit and slow start to finish ninth ahead of Hulkenberg who rounded out the top ten.
F1 now heads Stateside to Miami across weekend of 3-5 May for 2024 Miami GP.
| Position | Driver | Team | Laps | Time |
| 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 56 | 1h 40m 52.554 |
| 2 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 56 | + 13.773 |
| 3 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | 56 | + 19.160 |
| 4 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 56 | + 23.623 |
| 5 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | 56 | + 33.983 |
| 6 | Gorge Russell | Mercedes | 56 | + 38.724 |
| 7 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | 56 | + 43.414 |
| 8 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | 56 | + 56.198 |
| 9 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 56 | + 57.986 |
| 10 | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas | 56 | + 60.476 |
| 11 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | 56 | + 62.812 |
| 12 | Alex Albon | Williams | 56 | + 65.506 |
| 13 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | 56 | + 69.223 |
| 14 | Guanyu Zhou | Kick Sauber | 56 | + 71.689 |
| 15 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | 56 | + 82.786 |
| 16 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | 56 | + 87.533 |
| 17 | Logan Sargeant | Williams | 56 | + 95.110 |
| 18 | Daniel Ricciardo | RB | 33 | Damage |
| 19 | Yuki Tsunoda | RB | 26 | Collision |
| RET | Valtteri Bottas | Kick Sauber | 20 | Power |
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