Max Verstappen dominated the Chinese GP sprint race ahead of his old rival Lewis Hamilton with Sergio Perez coming home third.
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It marks an eighth sprint win for the reigning champion, who navigated a difficult first few laps before unleashing his Rocketship RB20.
Hamilton V Norris
Off the line Hamilton accelerated away better than Norris and held the inside into turn 1, before the McLaren driver tried to hold the lead round the outside – instead losing the rear and running wide, dropping him to seventh.
Alonso tucked into second place but didn’t have the pace to chase after his former teammate who began to pull away out front.
Verstappen overcoming complications
Verstappen was left to hold off Carlos Sainz in third, struggling initially and complaining of a battery issue over the radio – his engineer gave instructions on how to sort the issue-before chasing after Alonso in the Aston Martin.
The Dutchman passed the former 2- time champion on the back straight on lap seven and set his sights on the man he battled so hard for his maiden title.
Back on top in the Chinese GP Sprint
Verstappen’s pace was so strong, lapping up to 1.5s quicker than the rest of the field, he was able put a move on the Mercedes driver down the back straight just a couple of laps later, with the seven- time champion putting a mild move to the inside to try and holt the Red Bull in its tracks, to no avail.
Spanish duel
As Verstappen romped away and Hamilton settled for second, Alonso was doing a great job holding off Carlos Sainz.
His compatriot finally had enough of the AMR24’s gearbox on lap 16, diving to the outside of the turn 6 hairpin.
Alonso fought hard to stay ahead and as Sainz passed him into turn seven, the Aston Martin driver attempted a pass up the inside a few corners later, only to be tagged by Perez’ front wing giving the former a puncture and causing him to DNF. The incident is currently under investigation
The dive ran Alonso and Sainz wide and allowed Perez to pass for third, leaving the Ferrari duo to do battle over fourth with Leclerc muscling his way past his teammate at turn two on the next lap.
The Top 3
But it was Verstappen’s day in the end as he crossed the line a long way ahead of Hamilton, and his his teammate Perez in third.
Leclerc beat Sainz to fourth, with a frosty radio message to his engineer after the race discussing the battle, with pole sitter Norris coming home a disappointing sixth, ahead of his teammate Piastri in seventh and the soft starting Russell who rounded off the points.
Home hero Zhou Guanyu finished a brilliant ninth, despite a first lap clash with teammate Valtteri Bottas , costing the Finn a front wing endplate.
Final Standings Chinese GP Sprint
- Max VERSTAPPEN
- Lewis HAMILTON +13.043
- Sergio PEREZ +15.258
- Charles LECLERC +17.486
- Carlos SAINZ +20.696
- Lando NORRIS +22.088
- Oscar PIASTRI +24.713
- George RUSSELL +25.696
- Guanyu ZHOU +31.951
- Kevin MAGNUSSEN +37.398
DNF: Fernando Alonso
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Chinese GP Sprint