Shanghai sprint race winner Max Verstappensaid he endured a “hectic” start to the race before finding his rhythm and chasing down Lewis Hamilton to win.
The Red Bull driver started fourth on the grid and gained third when Lando Norris ran wide at the start. He went on to pass Fernando Alonso and Hamilton before half distance and won by 13 seconds.
Despite his comfortable margin of victory, Verstappen says he endured a challenging start to the race in the pack between Alonso and Carlos Sainz Jnr’s chasing Ferrari.
“The first few laps were quite hectic,” Verstappen said. “They were pushing quite hard up front.
“And then of course I had Carlos behind with new tyres, so it was very difficult to keep him behind initially, but then once everyone had settled in a bit we became stronger.
“I felt a bit more comfortable with the balance of the car as well and I could look after my tyres, so, very, very pleased with that. And of course very good to have a bit of data for tomorrow.”
Verstappen’s Red Bull team mate Sergio Perez finished on the podium in third, two seconds behind Hamilton. Perez was sat behind the battling Sainz and Alonso and ahead of Charles Leclerc until the later laps when he managed to pass both into turn ten and claim the final podium position.
“It was really difficult to get through Carlos, through Fernando,” Perez said. “We were fighting and obviously we all had high degradation, following each other.
“At some point I also had to defend from Charles into turn 14 and it worked well. Then I managed to get by Fernando and Carlos. They got a little bit too close and I saw the opportunity and went for it and we finished really close to Lewis.”
Heading into the two grand prix sessions, Verstappen is eager to secure a stronger starting position to help make the opening laps of the grand prix easier for him.
“I think qualifying is important to getting in a good starting position,” he said. “That will help a lot in the first few laps.
“And then tomorrow, again, I don’t know. The wind is changing a lot, every day, and that makes it quite difficult to drive.”
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2024 Chinese Grand Prix
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