F1 Chinese GP takeaways: Norris’s terrific drive, Zhou’s emotional homecoming

F1 Chinese GP takeaways: Norris’s terrific drive, Zhou’s emotional homecoming
By Madeline Coleman and Luke Smith
Apr 21, 2024

Formula One’s first Chinese Grand Prix since 2019 offered plenty of unknowns going into the weekend, but there was never any doubt over Max Verstappen’s domination in Shanghai on Sunday.

A clinical fourth victory in five races continued his impressive start to the season. Without the two safety car periods, his margin at the front would likely have been even greater than 13 seconds.

Advertisement

Lando Norris surprised McLaren (and himself) by finishing second at a track where the team was braced for damage limitation, while Ferrari failed to get on the podium for the first time this year, at a circuit where it had been tipped to impress.

A straightforward race at the front did not translate further down the field. A messy safety car restart left three cars damaged and resulted in a penalty for Lance Stroll. A handful of other incidents kept the stewards busy until hours after the race finished.

Here are our post-race takeaways from the Chinese Grand Prix.

Another Verstappen masterclass underlines his advantage

From the moment he resolved the battery mode issue in the early stages of the sprint on Saturday morning, Verstappen was untouchable in China.

While teammate Sergio Pérez had to use up more of his tires early on to regain second place from Fernando Alonso after slipping back off the start, pole-sitter Verstappen managed things with ease, quickly pulling out a gap at the front. He always appeared to have pace in hand, going unchallenged and untroubled even after the safety car reeled him in after the first stint.

Asked after the race if there were any moments of concern, Verstappen had to think. All he came up with was a little lock-up at Turn 6 on the first safety car restart, one of his tear-offs flapping around in the air intake, and possibly driving over a bit of debris in the closing stages. Very minor threats, all things considered.

Advertisement

We also got a flex from Red Bull in the form of a seamless double-stack pit stop at the end of the first stint, servicing Verstappen and then Pérez just a few seconds later.

Without the first safety car, it would likely have been a 1-2 for Red Bull. The long first stints for Norris and Charles Leclerc meant they could switch to a one-stop, jumping Pérez, who had to come in a second time under the safety car. Although he had the pace to pick off Leclerc, Pérez lacked the setup comfort of Verstappen, meaning Norris was out of reach. – Luke Smith

 Verstappen’s win in Shanghai was among his most dominant this season. (HECTOR RETAMAL/AFP via Getty Images)

Norris’s star drive on an unexpected weekend

One of the biggest surprises from the Chinese GP weekend was Norris’s second-place finish, splitting the Red Bull drivers.

Coming into the weekend, the Briton wasn’t very confident. This circuit was expected to be a weaker one for McLaren given certain characteristics, such as how Turn 1 is a longer corner — a weakness for the team, Norris noted. But as he said after the race, “It’s just we’re still learning about the car. It’s as simple as that.”

Norris secured pole position for Saturday’s sprint race but struggled with tire degradation. He went on to qualify fourth for Sunday’s grand prix but expected the Ferraris, who started behind him, to pull ahead of him. “I made a bet to how far behind the Ferraris we would finish today, and I thought 35 seconds.”

Norris said he felt confident during his first stint, knowing that he “could go a very long time.” When Valtteri Bottas stopped due to a technical issue, it took long enough for the virtual safety car to be called that Norris missed the pit lane entrance. But he said that may have “saved me a little bit.” The VSC eventually transitioned to a full safety car, which helped him because the Red Bulls had to pit again.

Norris made his single pit stop of the day on Lap 22 and emerged ahead of Pérez. The McLaren driver managed his tires well enough to split the Red Bulls, finishing just 13 seconds behind Verstappen.

Advertisement

“I was surprised by many things. The lack of pace from Ferrari today, our good pace, and I guess more us (compared) to the Red Bull, which was so surprising. So I just wasn’t expecting today at all,” he said during his on-track interview. “I got everything ready to go home early and not be on the podium, so it’s a pleasant surprise.”

Throughout the year, McLaren has been behind Red Bull and Ferrari, Norris noted, and “there’s no reason for us to suddenly think we should be ahead.” Even team principal Andrea Stella told F1 TV that they expected this weekend to be difficult, but jokingly added, “Clearly we need to revise a little bit our expectations.” – Madeline Coleman

Expected to challenge, Ferrari underwhelms

Ferrari’s strong start to the season fueled hope that they could mount a more serious challenge to Red Bull in China, but they endured their weakest weekend of the season so far.

The team lacked the pace to compete with Red Bull and McLaren all weekend despite the track’s similarities to Australia, where Ferrari excelled in managing the front graining of the tires.

Another close moment between Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, following their brush of contact in the sprint, didn’t help their cause at the start as they dropped to seventh and ninth. They always had the pace to get back into the top five, particularly with Oscar Piastri struggling with diffuser damage, but P4 and P5 were their ceiling.

“Today we couldn’t do anything better,” Leclerc told Sky Sports. He called it “strange” that Ferrari saw its pace dip when it put on the hard tires, having felt the pace was stronger on the mediums.

Given how consistent it had been through the opening four races, it was a surprise to see the team appear fairly anonymous, even over a single lap, in China.

“Finishing where we ended up is not really our target,” Leclerc said. “I think what is going to be the game changer is going to be the upgrade, so we have to focus on that. Once we have them, that will give the direction for the rest of the season, so we have to get it right.” – Luke Smith

 Setup mis-steps made for a long Chinese GP for Lewis Hamilton. (Mark Thompson/Getty Images)

Damage limitation for Mercedes as Hamilton’s woes continue

Lewis Hamilton’s worst-ever start to an F1 season briefly looked to be on the up in China when he starred in the sprint qualifying in the wet on Friday before finishing second the following morning.

But the setup changes ahead of qualifying took Hamilton in the wrong direction. Starting 18th after his shock Q1 exit, he early on complained about lacking the pace to get by Esteban Ocon’s Alpine. “I can’t even catch him, mate,” Hamilton told his race engineer, Pete Bonnington. “This car is so slow.”

Advertisement

Things would improve as the race went on, aided by the incidents ahead and the resulting safety cars to rise up to ninth. “I’m grateful to just get to the points,” Hamilton said after the race. “I didn’t honestly expect a lot more this weekend.”

That’s simply not good enough by Hamilton and Mercedes’ exceptionally high standards. The team’s early positivity over this year’s change in car concept has long faded, leading to the reality that it is either the fourth or, as was the case in China, fifth quickest team right now. Without Alonso’s need for a late pit stop, George Russell would likely have finished behind the Aston Martin in P7 instead of his P6.

Toto Wolff told Sky Sports that the W15 was “not an OK car” and that the team could see the mistakes it was making with its setup in its bid to experiment and better understand the problems. “You can see (with) Lewis that maybe it was a step too far.”

Nineteen points from the opening five races is a rough return for Hamilton to start his final season with Mercedes. The sooner the upgrades arrive to provide a boost, the better. – Luke Smith

A day of damage for RB

The Chinese Grand Prix truly could not have gone worse for Yuki Tsunoda and Daniel Ricciardo.

Saturday showed some promise. Both drivers advanced three spots at the start of the sprint, but points were always a long shot, given how far back they qualified. In the team’s Saturday recap, the Australian driver labeled the weekend as “my best one of the year.” RB swapped the chassis, and Ricciardo felt more confident this weekend.

Meanwhile, Tsunoda struggled, largely with rear grip. He said in the Saturday recap that “looking at the steering trace compared to other cars, I’m fighting my car a lot, but I’ve been working hard together with the engineers to improve it and find a solution, and they helped me a lot.” The RB driver felt they’d found an answer when it came time for qualifying for the grand prix. Yet he qualified P19 for Sunday’s race. “The lap itself, I’m fairly happy with, but the time doesn’t reflect the feeling, so it feels like we’re just stuck.”

Tsunoda and Ricciardo made up ground during Sunday’s grand prix, but safety car chaos ultimately ruined both of their days. Bottas triggered a virtual safety car that later turned into a full safety car after he retired due to a technical issue. As the cars were readying to restart the grand prix, a chain reaction occurred, and Stroll slammed into the back of Ricciardo’s car, sending the RB partially into the air. Moments later, at Turn 6, Kevin Magnussen hit Tsunoda at the exit of the turn, and the RB spun. Tsunoda immediately retired, leading to another safety car period. Ricciardo lasted several laps before retiring.

Advertisement

The Australian told Sky Sports, “I could see it was obviously bunching up into the hairpin, so everyone is backing up. But then, obviously, how hard he’s hit me and pretty much put half his car under mine, it wasn’t a small lack of judgment. He was miles off.”

It’s to be expected that the cars will become bunched up at a race restart because it’s largely unknown what the lead car will do. Simply put, a concertina effect occurs. Drivers have to be mindful of their surroundings, and Ricciardo felt Stroll’s attention was elsewhere.

“I think what’s frustrating is that I watched his onboard, and he’s not even looking at me. You can see his helmet; he’s looking at the apex at the corner,” he told Sky Sports. “I don’t know why he’s not looking at the car in front unless his eyes are doing something funny. It looked like he wasn’t looking at me. I think it shows how hard he hit me. He was clearly focused on something else.”

Ricciardo has struggled so far this season, and the Chinese Grand Prix weekend seemed to be a new leaf for him if his confidence level on Saturday is any indication. As Ricciardo noted to Sky, the poor result is another blow, but time will tell how he responds. After all, it’s a contract year for both him and Tsunoda.

RB still leads the back half of the grid with seven points, but with Nico Hülkenberg finishing 10th, Haas is slowly closing the gap now at two points. – Madeline Coleman

 Zhou couldn’t contain his emotion after finishing his first Chinese GP. (Sipa USA)

Zhou lives out his dream at home

Twenty years ago, five-year-old Zhou Guanyu sat in the Chinese GP grandstands and watched the cars roar past. Now, he’s just competed in front of his home crowd at the Shanghai International Circuit for the first time as an F1 driver. The Sauber driver became emotionally overwhelmed on the front stretch after the grand prix, crouching with his head in his hands as the crowd roared. He may not have won the race or scored points, but that didn’t matter to the fans. They finally got to see the first Chinese F1 driver race at home.

“I knew when we boxed with 10 or 15 laps to go, I thought, ‘Maybe this is for the crowd,’” he said to F1 TV. “A very emotional weekend. Of course, as much as I try to stay focused on my job, it’s difficult; to see how all the crowd is cheering, it’s fantastic.”

Advertisement

Zhou couldn’t hear the fans cheering when the engine was running, but he could at different points this weekend, like when he was in the garage. He said, “I got a little bit of goosebumps already Friday, getting into the garage, seeing the whole crowd after my in-lap, seeing all of them clapping their hands, cheering for me, I can hear that on the in-lap. All this emotion, it just got to me at that point.”

Sauber has struggled this season, especially with pit stops. But Zhou noted that most of his three pit stops were clean. As for the car, he told F1 TV that he saw potential now. Both drivers advanced to Q3 for sprint qualifying, and Bottas also secured a top-10 start for the grand prix.

Zhou’s race, though, began on a tricky note. He started at P16 and struggled with overheating tires. “I had to stay calm because I can’t afford to finish the race at the back of the grid,” he said to F1 TV. “I need to get back to where I started.” He managed to gain two positions, but three cars (including his teammate) retired, so he ended the day 14th.

It’s been a difficult journey for Zhou. At 13, he moved to Europe and caught the eye of Ferrari as he experienced success in the European karting scene. There wasn’t a blueprint for how to make it to F1, but he pioneered his way.

Asked by F1 TV what he’d say to himself 20 years ago, Zhou said, “I would say he made it.”

go-deeper

GO DEEPER

Zhou Guanyu's wait for his debut home race hasn't slowed his start as China's first F1 driver

Notebook Dump

  • Pierre Gasly endured a lengthy, disastrous pit stop. It appeared that the right rear tire wasn’t completely secure when the car was released, and it came off, resulting in an Alpine team member falling backward. The stewards’ document said, “The electronic systems that monitor if a tire was properly fitted did not pick that up. In addition, a team member incorrectly clicked the button to release the car, despite the tire not being fitted properly. As soon as the team realized the problem, they stopped the car and prevented the car from leaving the pit box.” Gasly was summoned by the stewards for an “alleged unsafe condition during pit stop,” but the stewards did not find the Frenchman at fault. The team, though, was dealt a €10,000 fine. According to the stewards’ document, the team member “was lightly injured” but “was able to continue with his duties for the rest of the race.”
  • Logan Sargeant, Stroll and Magnussen all received 10-second time penalties and two penalty points each during the grand prix for different incidents. Stroll and Magnussen’s penalties were for causing a collision. Sargeant’s penalty came from overtaking during the safety car period.
  • The penalty points are the bigger concern. Twelve penalty points over a 12-month period results in a one-race ban; Sargeant has eight. His first penalty points came during the Italian Grand Prix last September, which means he’ll need to avoid picking up four more penalty points over the next 12 races.
  • The decision to upgrade the Virtual Safety Car for Bottas’s stricken car to a full safety car was made after the marshals were unable to push the Sauber back into a safe position. Because a recovery vehicle was required to remove the car, a full safety car was required.
  • Hülkenberg and Ricciardo were summoned by the stewards for allegedly overtaking during the Safety Car. The RB driver was dealt a three-place grid drop for the next race he’s in and handed two penalty points.
  • Piastri said he had “significant” damage to his diffuser, which turned his race into a “literal damage limitation,” after being hit by Ricciardo in the hairpin concertina.
  • Lenovo, the race’s title sponsor, produced a special winner’s trophy that was intended to be worn like a traditional laurel wreath and would light up when placed on a driver’s neck—not that we saw that happen on the podium.

Top photo: Lars Baron/Getty Images, Lintao Zhang/Getty Images

Get all-access to exclusive stories.

Subscribe to The Athletic for in-depth coverage of your favorite players, teams, leagues and clubs. Try a week on us.