Witnessing the F1 cars maneuvering through the never-ending Turn 1 of the Shanghai track was a breathtaking sight, not to mention the impressive overtakes executed by several drivers on the outer line.
The recent race in China posed additional challenges for the teams, as they lacked data on the current generation of cars and the 18″ Pirelli tires. The Sprint format further intensified the difficulty they faced.
However, as the saying goes, the best rise to the top. Despite a minor setback in Sprint qualifying, Red Bull once again proved to be the team to beat, displaying dominance throughout the event.
Ferrari’s performance fell short, while McLaren exceeded expectations. Mercedes seemed to struggle on the Chinese track, while Aston Martin maintained their usual position. Fernando Alonso continued to impress with his skills.
Without further delay, let’s delve into our key takeaways from the 2024 Chinese Grand Prix.
In a previous analysis, it was mentioned that Red Bull had yet to fully comprehend their 2024 RB20 car and may not enjoy the same advantage over their rivals as they did in 2023.
To be fair, it was also mentioned that given time, Red Bull would master the RB20 and secure another F1 Title double. However, unless significant progress was made between the races in Japan and China, this statement may need to be corrected.
Despite Max Verstappen’s struggle in Sprint qualifying, where he grappled with the mixed wet conditions, his remarkable recovery in the Sprint race left his competitors in awe.
Within nine laps, Verstappen managed to snatch the lead and proceeded to build a significant gap of over one second per lap ahead of Lewis Hamilton in second place.
During the official qualifying session, the Dutchman reestablished his dominance. Even with the occurrence of a Virtual Safety Car and two Safety Cars during the race, Verstappen crossed the finish line with a comfortable 14-second lead over Lando Norris in the McLaren.
Sergio Perez showcased his prowess once again, qualifying closely behind his teammate. However, his race was compromised by the Safety Cars, forcing him to fight his way up the grid and leaving him with insufficient tires to challenge Norris.
The Red Bull team’s performance was equally impressive. The flawless double-stack pitstop, with Verstappen serviced in 2.1 seconds and Perez in 2.0 seconds, demonstrated the team’s remarkable cohesion. Although they could have delayed Perez’s pitstop by a lap, they chose to showcase their superiority and humiliate their rivals.
In the unpredictable world of F1, nothing can be taken for granted. Surprisingly, the Christian Horner scandal seems to have faded into the background, becoming a distant memory.
During Alonso’s impressive performance in the Aston Martin, securing P3 in qualifying and making a brilliant save during the race, Stroll in the sister AMR24 once again demonstrated his unworthiness of an F1 seat.
The issue with Stroll was not just his foolish mistake of colliding with Daniel Ricciardo after the race restart, but more importantly, his entitled reaction to it.
He went as far as calling Ricciardo an idiot for braking suddenly and dismissed the ten-second penalty given to him by the stewards as “a joke.”
Unfortunately, the real joke is that Stroll continues to hold onto his F1 seat solely because his father holds a prominent position at Aston Martin. This is no longer amusing.
After five races in the 2024 season, Alonso has shown that he is single-handedly carrying Aston Martin, scoring 31 points compared to Stroll’s meager 9. This is more than three times the points Stroll has achieved.
Considering Lawrence Stroll’s aspirations of turning the team into a championship contender from 2026 onwards, when Honda joins, the current driver situation cannot persist.
Mike Krack, in Aston Martin’s team report, commented on Stroll’s race, stating: “Lance’s strong performance was overshadowed by the incident under the Safety Car. We need to thoroughly analyze what happened, but it was a chain reaction caused by cars ahead.”
What is there to analyze? Stroll simply wasn’t paying attention to his surroundings! Did they even review this press release before sending it out? I understand that a team boss should support his driver, but this is absurd!
Hamilton’s second-place finish in the wet Sprint qualifying demonstrated that he still possesses the skills to be a top driver. Ferrari has nothing to worry about when he joins them in 2025.
However, the setup change Mercedes made between the Sprint race and qualifying only highlighted their incompetence with the W15.
Hamilton was eliminated in Q1 and struggled during the race, while George Russell had a forgettable performance despite finishing sixth with a different setup.
In their prime, Mercedes always presented a united front when they made occasional mistakes, but a comment from team boss Toto Wolff in the team’s Chinese GP race report hinted at the start of a blame game.
In a clear jab at the trackside engineering team, Wolff stated: “We need to ensure that we’re not constantly searching for a quick fix each weekend in terms of how we manage the car. We must focus on getting the fundamentals right and maximizing the potential of our package.”
Is it just me, or will the concept of winning and losing as a team soon be abandoned from the Mercedes playbook?