Chinese Grand Prix – Sprint: Too simple for Verstappen

The conditions were going to be less conducive to mistakes on Saturday for the first Sprint race of the season in China. The starting grid had a refreshing look, with Lando Norris on pole ahead of Lewis Hamilton. In other words: a remake of Sochi 2021!

The challenge of this short race (100 kilometers) was mainly to contain Max Verstappen, who was starting in 4th place.

Everyone played it safe by choosing the medium tires, except George Russell, who chose to race on the soft tires.

At the start, Lewis Hamilton got the better of Lando Norris, forcing him slightly to the outside: the McLaren lost everything at the start and the Mercedes pulled away, ahead of Alonso and Verstappen. The latter found himself threatened by a fiery Carlos Sainz.

The Dutchman was somewhat annoyed by a flat battery, he said on the radio. And meanwhile, Fernando Alonso was getting back on his former teammate Lewis Hamilton. Here is a battle, certainly from a distance at first, that brings back old memories!

The Ferrari-Red Bull match took place, for once, at the back. It’s a shame that the gargantuan weight of the cars and the overly sensitive tires do not allow for more attacking and agility, which in particular prevented Carlos Sainz from attacking to keep up with Verstappen.

In the 7th lap, the DRS once again showed its bad side, by not allowing Fernando Alonso to defend his second place. The overtake was done without any difficulty.

The too big difference in performance between Lewis Hamilton’s W15 and RB20 is what it is, but without DRS, once again, it would be possible to defend a position. However, one must not miss the hairpin.

The DRS train was behind: Alonso was managing to contain a bit of a crazy pack, with Carlos Sainz, Sergio Pérez, Charles Leclerc and the unfortunate Lando Norris. Carlos Sainz managed to find the opening on the Mexican driver in front of him (a nice overtaking move for that matter) and set off in pursuit of the Aston Martin.

“Papy Fernand” resisted like a devil to Sainz and the battle benefited Sergio Pérez. Alonso suffered a front-right puncture and retired immediately. Certainly, there was a contact in the left turn and the overtakes were subject to debate among the marshals. Fleeting, but beautiful battle, which contrasts sharply with the first place.

Leclerc waited for his turn to pass, and Carlos Sainz was under the threat of an unknown Lando Norris until then.

In front, Max Verstappen sets the tone for this Sunday’s Grand Prix and imposes himself without any difficulty. Lewis Hamilton, 2nd, would have deserved to be able to defend himself a bit more, but showed a great pace during this Sprint. Sergio Pérez, opportunistic, took 3rd place and proved his good form at the beginning of the season.

The local child, Guanyu Zhou, finished 9th and just outside the points, according to the Sprint race scoring system. The Saubers are performing well here!

The ranking of the Sprint race