Max Verstappen added to his outstanding 2024 season by winning the Chinese Grand Prix in comfort, with second-place Lando Norris sitting over 13 seconds behind at the finish. The win in Shanghai brought his total to four on the year and 58 for his career. By taking the sprint race the previous day, Verstappen enjoyed a strong points haul – 25 for the GP and 8 for the sprint – pushing his lead in the standings to 25 points over teammate Sergio Perez (110-85).
Norris started fourth but, by the mid-point, had worked himself up to second and held on from there, giving him 15 podiums for his career. Sergio Perez finished third after starting in second but being shuffled back at the start.
Charles Leclerc put together a solid race to finish fourth, maintaining a streak of finishing in the top four in every race this season. Teammate Carlos Sainz managed to take fifth after making his hard tires last the second half of the race.
George Russell used a strong start from eighth to finish sixth and bring a bit of a bright spot to what has been a dreary year for Mercedes thus far. Fernando Alonso started third and looked like a top five would be possible but he was unable to keep his Aston Martin up front and earned seventh on the day.
Oscar Piastri, even with diffuser damage sustained when Daniel Ricciardo popped him at the conclusion of a safety car period, still found a way to earn eighth. Lewis Hamilton, after a disastrous, by his standards, qualifying session that put him in 18th place, worked his way through the back half of the grid to cross the line in ninth.
Nico Hulkenberg added another valuable point to the Haas season total by grabbing the last points-paying position.
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