Until the Abu Dhabi Autonomous Racing League, there was no great puzzle in Max Verstappen disappearing into the distance at the beginning of the Chinese Grand Prix, then doing it all over again after a safety car period around halfway through the race erased his hard-earned advantage. The real mystery was Lando Norris’ impressive second place finish, with his McLaren comfortably beating Sergio Perez’s Red Bull and both Ferraris in a direct competition. But we will discuss that in a moment.
For Verstappen, it was a fairly routine race despite the interruptions caused by Valtteri Bottas’ broken-down Sauber and the midfield collisions during the restart. Verstappen had saved both sets of his hard tires and switched to the first set after 13 laps. However, when the safety car came out earlier than expected, he had to make his second stop just 10 laps after the first. Although he had to overtake Charles Leclerc and Norris after his first stop, it was not a significant problem due to his pace advantage.
Red Bull pitted Perez at the same time as Verstappen during each stop. Between the first and second stops, Perez overtook both Ferraris but had not yet caught up to Norris. The virtual safety car (VSC) allowed Norris and Leclerc to make their first and only stops, saving them eight seconds compared to the rest of the pack. Norris was fortunate that the VSC lasted long enough for him to pass the pit entry road before it ended. When the safety car came out, Verstappen remained in the lead, but Perez fell behind Leclerc. Despite having 17 laps left, Perez’s tires were too worn from overtaking the Ferrari for a second time, preventing him from posing a threat to Norris.
If Perez had not been so far behind Verstappen during the first stops, he might not have exited the second stops behind Leclerc. This would have given him a chance to catch and challenge Norris. However, he was delayed in the first stint due to briefly having to get past Fernando Alonso, who had a strong start and even attempted to overtake Verstappen. It took Perez five laps to pass the Aston Martin as its tires deteriorated. By that time, Verstappen had already built a 5.5-second lead.
Alonso was then overtaken by Norris, who had been more cautious in the early laps with a heavy fuel load. Alonso’s tires degraded quickly, and he made his first and only stop on lap 11, switching to his only set of hard tires. Unlike Red Bull, Aston Martin did not have an extra set of fresh hard tires, making Alonso vulnerable to a safety car before he had used the current set enough to make the strategy work. As expected, a safety car came out, forcing Alonso to make a third stop and recover to seventh place, setting the fastest lap along the way.
The difference between Alonso’s aggressive early charge and Norris’ calculated drive was evident. This played a part in Norris’ remarkable result, but it was not the only factor. As McLaren team boss Andrea Stella said, they expected the track to be challenging for them, but it turned out to be their most competitive race so far. The VSC-assisted pit stop and the subsequent safety cars helped Norris and the Ferraris make a one-stop strategy work. The stress on the tires was reduced due to the 10 laps of VSC and safety car running. The real mystery was why Norris’ pace was so much better than that of the Ferraris.
Leclerc expressed his surprise at the performance difference, noting that Norris was half a second faster as soon as they switched to hard tires. Even with the McLaren running more rear wing angle and front flap, the Ferrari was slower. In the sprint race, the Ferraris had better rear tire degradation than the McLarens, but the situation changed on Sunday.
Norris managed to maintain balanced tire temperature between the axles, which was crucial for performance. However, Alonso’s Aston and the McLarens struggled with this aspect compared to the Ferraris in the sprint race. The challenge on Sunday was different, and Norris made fantastic use of his unexpectedly good car.
George Russell kept up with Sainz’s Ferrari after passing both red cars on the first lap. However, the Mercedes didn’t have the pace to threaten them. Lewis Hamilton made significant setup changes after the sprint race and encountered more understeer than ever during his recovery drive to ninth from 18th.
Oscar Piastri’s McLaren suffered diffuser damage during the safety car restart, preventing him from emulating his teammate Norris. Nico Hulkenberg finished in 10th place with the heavily updated Haas. Zhou Guanyu received a standing ovation from the fans for his 14th place finish, marking a significant moment for F1.