Marvelous Max Verstappen dominates Chinese Grand Prix
Red Bull driver Max Verstappen led the Chinese Grand Prix from pole position to the checkered flag in Shanghai on Sunday.
Verstappen emerged unscathed from two safety car periods to secure his 38th win from the last 49 staged in Formula One on his unstoppable march towards a fourth straight championship.
But for Lewis Hamilton, now 50 races and 868 long days without a victory, this marked another sobering afternoon in his uncompetitive Mercedes.
McLaren's Lando Norris delivered an impressive performance to finish second, one place ahead of Verstappen's Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez, with Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz fourth and fifth for Ferrari.
George Russell could manage only sixth for Mercedes as the grid's once-dominant team endured another race to forget.
F1 is back in Shanghai following a five-year absence, and it was a venue that Hamilton once ruled, winning a record six times here.
But the sport has a new king now, with Verstappen securing his fourth win from the opening five rounds – his only downfall in Australia when his Red Bull engine expired. For Hamilton, hampered by starting only 18th, his worst-ever season continued.
As Verstappen blasted away from his marks to convert his pole position into an all-too predictable early lead, Hamilton was evidently struggling for speed in his Mercedes.
Hamilton started on the quickest, but less durable soft rubber, but just two laps into this 56-lap affair, his complaints began.
"I am making no ground on this tyre," he said after dropping from 18th to 19th. Hamilton made the first of his two pit-stops on lap nine, and re-joined back in 19th, 53 seconds behind Verstappen.
"That was the worst tyre, man," said the despondent 39-year-old after switching to the medium rubber.
Up front and Fernando Alonso, who moved from third to second following a fine move around the outside of Perez at the opening bend, was starting to slip down the order.
On lap five, Perez sailed past the evergreen Spaniard, before Norris swooped ahead at the penultimate corner two laps later.
Back to Hamilton, and he was now 15th after making his way ahead of RB's Yuki Tsunoda at the first bend. But his mood had not improved.
"I can't even catch him (Alpine's Esteban Ocon), man," he said. This car is so slow."
Speed has not been a problem for Verstappen since he denied Hamilton a record eighth crown at the 2021 decider in Abu Dhabi.
Temporarily demoted to third by virtue of changing tyres earlier than his competitors, the Red Bull star breezed past Leclerc on lap 16 before re-taking the lead from Norris three laps later.
Hamilton's fortunes improved on lap 21 when he stopped for a second time with the VSC deployed after Valtteri Bottas broke down. And as the marshals struggled to shift Bottas' stricken Stake, the VSC was upgraded to a full safety car, promoting Hamilton up the order. He would be 12th at the re-start, but he was still bemused by his machine.
"The car is just sliding around everywhere," he said. "It just feels like something is broken. It is really bad."
In came the safety car on lap 26, but it was back out moments later after Aston Martin's Lance Stroll clumsily thudded into the back of Daniel Ricciardo, and Kevin Magnussen punted Yuki Tsuonda off.
Ricciardo suffered floor damage, elevating Hamilton into 10th and a single-point paying position before he swatted Haas' Nico Hulkenberg aside for ninth on lap 41.
Hamilton was then up to eighth as Alonso made a maverick third stop for tyres. But the 43-year-old took advantage of his fresh rubber to blast back through the field, relegating Hamilton back to ninth with seven laps remaining. Alonso would cross the line in seventh.
Verstappen took the chequered flag 13.7 sec clear of Norris to extend his championship lead to 25 points with Hamilton – almost one minute behind his one-time rival – still searching for a top-six finish this season.
Race results:
1 Max Verstappen NED Oracle Red Bull Racing 56 Laps
2 Lando Norris GBR McLaren F1 Team
3 Sergio Perez MEX Oracle Red Bull Racing
4 Charles Leclerc MON Scuderia Ferrari
5 Carlos Sainz ESP Scuderia Ferrari
6 George Russell GBR Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team
7 Fernando Alonso ESP Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team
8 Oscar Piastri AUS McLaren F1 Team
9 Lewis Hamilton GBR Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team
10 Nico Hulkenberg GER MoneyGram Haas F1 Team
11 Esteban Ocon FRA BWT Alpine F1 Team
12 Alex Albon THA Williams Racing
13 Pierre Gasly FRA BWT Alpine F1 Team
14 Zhou Guanyu CHN Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber
15 Lance Stroll CAN Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team
16 Logan Sargeant USA Williams Racing
17 Kevin Magnussen DEN MoneyGram Haas F1 Team
Daniel Ricciardo AUS Visa Cash App RB F1 Team DNF
Yuki Tsunoda JPN Visa Cash App RB F1 Team DNF
Valtteri Bottas FIN Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber DNF