It is a routine job that was carried out in Shanghai by the reigning triple champion Max Verstappen, who once again ridiculed all his rivals by winning the sprint race on Saturday, the pole position and the GP on Sunday. The only real joy, in what has now become routine for the Dutchman, will have been having finally won in China, where due to the Covid-19 pandemic no races had taken place since 2019.
Having taken off from the early stages thanks to an impeccable start, Max and his Red Bull then limited themselves to managing as best they could a supremacy that had become more than embarrassing. The only moment in which the son of art let go was when, on the 14th lap, he stopped to remove the medium tires and put on the hard ones: the convincing Norris on the McLaren then took the lead for a few minutes. But normality was then re-established shortly afterwards, when the Briton also made his first pit stop, allowing Verstappen to set the fastest lap so far and regain control of operations. “I felt incredible sensations,” said the winner, at success number 58 in his career, the fourth in the first five outings of the season. «The car proceeded as if it were traveling on tracks, I could really do what I wanted, without any problem».
On only two other occasions, later on, the rivals had the opportunity to see Max up close again, and in both cases it was thanks to the entry of the safety car onto the track, which neutralized the gaps. In the first case, the yellow flags waved due to the failure of Bottas’ Sauber (probable failure of the Ferrari engine) when the Finn was in 11th position. On the other occasion, however, what required the intervention of the safety car when the cars had just started to push again were a couple of contacts at the rear, with Stroll (Aston Martin) who recklessly crashes into Ricciardo (Racing Bulls), while Tsunoda, in the other Racing Bulls, was hit by Magnussen’s Haas. Both times, the entry of the safety car onto the track seemed a little late: perhaps the Chinese commissioners and rescue workers – after five years without a GP – had lost a bit of luster and reactivity.
In both cases, mere mortals only had time to see Verstappen’s exhaust, who then immediately made up for it as soon as he had a clear track again. The intervention of the safety car also helped everyone change their tyres. Worth noting, in this sense, is the perfect pit stop by Red Bull on Max’s car, which lasted less than 2 seconds. Curious, speaking of tyres, Aston Martin’s strategy for Alonso, who is the only one – at the gearbox – to choose the soft tires, perhaps hoping to be able to get to the end without stopping, when however there is still about thirty to go turns.
In reality, the Asturian will be forced – to 44to of the 56 laps – to stop again to fit hard tyres, thanks to which he immediately sets a new fastest lap (which no one will be able to beat) and launches into a beautiful comeback, seasoned with the thrill of a belly-flop on the curb from which However, he manages to recover thanks to a bit of luck and his unparalleled experience.
In any case, he won’t be able to do better than a 7th place finish: if he hadn’t taken the risk with the soft tires at the first change, he might have finished better. Perhaps by climbing onto the podium, which was instead occupied, behind His Majesty Verstappen, by Norris in a McLaren (13 seconds behind at the finish line) and by the other Red Bull, that of the Mexican Perez. “I really didn’t expect to even finish second,” said the Briton, who had a good weekend in which he managed to take pole position for the sprint race. «Many things surprised me», he continued, «starting with the lack of pace of the Ferraris and our excellent grip, not far from the performances of the Red Bull».
The two Ferraris finished at the foot of the podium, with the Monegasque Leclerc in fourth place and fifth place for the Spaniard Sainz, separated at home given that at the end of the season he will leave for new shores: he will leave his wheel to the 7-time world champion Lewis Hamilton, who will say goodbye to Mercedes.
The two Ferrari drivers, who have never loved each other and who ended up damaging each other in Saturday’s sprint race, were unable to do anything exceptional in Shanghai, falling behind not only the Red Bulls, but also the McLarens, especially Norris’s. From this perspective, it was eloquent to see how easily Leclerc, on lap 39, was overtaken by Perez, who as a driver is certainly not a champion, but has a clearly superior car.
Hamilton’s weekend was completely anonymous, starting from the back of the grid following disastrous qualifying which saw him eliminated already in Q1. The Briton – forced to drive a single-seater that was unable to adapt to the new regulations and which for some years has been struggling in the wake not only of Red Bull but of 2-3 other teams – finished the race only in 9th place, after a partial he comes back ‘on an elastic band’ and after having spent the entire GP complaining via radio to his garage about the inadequacy of his car.
A few words about Sauber, which this time too failed to gain even 1. Bottas, in truth, was giving some hope to the Red Cross fans: during the first twenty laps, in fact, he was defending the tenth place with which he had started in grille, but then unfortunately, as mentioned, it was betrayed by the engine. Zhou, on the other hand, will have to settle for a 14th place finish and the applause given to him from the stands by his compatriots, happy to finally see him race for the first time within his home country’s borders. Finally, we would like to point out a record – not too prestigious – set by the German Nicolas Hülkenberg, who equals the Italian De Cesaris with 208 GPs contested and no victories on his record.
Now in the standings Verstappen extends his lead and reaches 102 points, followed by his teammate Perez with 79 and Ferrari driver Leclerc with 71. Sainz (Ferrari) has 65 points, while Norris is fifth with 55. Red Bull, obviously , after this race it consolidates its lead in the constructors’ classification, which sees it dominate with 181 points. Ferrari has 142, 91 for McLaren, 46 for Mercedes and 40 for Aston Martin. Sauber still at zero.
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Tags: Verstappen passes Chinese exam
