During the caution period to remove Valtteri Bottas’s stricken Sauber, Sargeant was running down the start-finish straight towards Turn 1 as his Haas rival emerged from the pits following a change of tyres.But while Hulkenberg reached the critical safety car line that determines the running order a split second in front, Sargeant’s speed offset and momentum left him thinking he had got there …Keep reading
Leclerc and Sainz lined up sixth and seventh respectively, but both lost positions to Mercedes driver George Russell and Haas man Nico Hulkenberg as they crossed paths in Shanghai’s first corner complex.Sainz was pushed wide in Turn 2 by an understeering Leclerc, who visibly struggled to get his tyres up to temperature, further illustrated by a huge moment for the Monegasque in the second …Keep reading
Formula 1 finally headed back to China after the COVID-19 pandemic, where home hero Zhou Guanyu was cheered on passionately – moving the Sauber driver and 2004 Fernando Alonso fan considerably.Zhou was granted a post-race celebration on the grid behind the podium-sharing Red Bull drivers – Lando Norris absent from the initial congratulatory shots between the dominant Max Verstappen and the …Keep reading
Norris took pole for the sprint and while he went off at the start and struggled with tyre wear throughout the 19-lap event, the Briton did excel in Sunday’s grand prix.Aided by the timing of a mid-race safety car for him to bolt on hard tyres, Norris comfortably held off the Red Bull of Sergio Perez to claim second behind Max Verstappen, clinching his 15th career podium.McLaren’s form was a …Keep reading
Ferrari driver Leclerc and McLaren’s Lando Norris had delayed their first pitstop in Shanghai and were able to convert to a one-stop under a mid-race safety car, deployed to recover Valtteri Bottas’ stricken Sauber.Perez and team-mate Max Verstappen had already made a green flag pitstop earlier and were forced in a second time so they could get to the end on hard tyres.Verstappen’s ferocious pace …Keep reading
Stroll hit Ricciardo under the safety car as the field bunched up in the penultimate corner for a lap 27 restart.A furious Ricciardo was forced to retire his damaged RB car, while McLaren’s Oscar Piastri also sustained rear-end damage when his compatriot’s car was pushed into him.The stewards wholly blamed Stroll for not taking more care to avoid the contact and handed him a 10-second penalty and …Keep reading
With the field bunching up before the hairpin as the race was restarted on Lap 27, Stroll went into the back of Ricciardo, lifting the RB car up in the air and causing terminal damage to the Australian’s car.Ricciardo was pushed into McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who also sustained damage that compromised the rest of his race.The stewards swiftly exacted judgment on the incident, fully attributing …Keep reading
The RB driver was penalised having been found guilty of overtaking Haas racer Nico Hulkenberg under safety car conditions on lap 28 at the Shanghai International Circuit.Ricciardo, who has also been handed two penalty points for the offence, had been hit by Lance Stroll at the previous safety car restart, sustaining heavy damage through which he ultimately retired from the race.Hulkenberg had made …Keep reading
The Aston Martin driver started the Chinese GP with just one set of fresh hards and two sets of fresh mediums, so when he started the race on mediums and switched to his sole hards after 11 laps, he was left without the strategy flexibility of his rivals when the first safety car period was triggered to recover Valtteri Bottas’ stricken Sauber.As Alonso had no more hard tyres that would get him …Keep reading
Max Verstappen dominated once again, having hinted at his clear advantage in pace during Saturday’s sprint race, but it did not go all Red Bull’s own way as Sergio Perez was leapfrogged in the stops.No team was able to quite enjoy an error-free day, as the two safety cars put decision-making under the microscope, but it certainly ensured that China’s return to the calendar was not a …Keep reading