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Morning/afternoon everyone. Much has changed since China last held a grand prix, in 2019, in pre-Covid times and before the cementing of the Verstappen/Red Bull supremacy. And for all Red Bull’s off-track turmoil, that supremacy was evident again in qualifying on Saturday, with the defending champion taking poll and pipping Lewis Hamilton to win the sprint race.
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Hamilton then proceeded to have a nightmare in qualifying, out in Q1, and facing an uphill task today just to score any point at all from a starting place of 18th on the grid. He does at least have fond memories of this circuit, having won here six times, three times more than anyone else. Last time he won, five years ago, he had Valtteri Bottas and Sebastian Vettel for company with him on the podium. Times change.
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Anyway, back in the present, there’s a good deal of home enthusiasm for F1’s return to the Shanghai International Circuit (and a home driver to cheer, in Zhou Guanyu) and there should be plenty to look out for over the course of today’s 56 laps.
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Here’s how they line up:
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1 Max Verstappen 2 Sergio Pérez 3 Fernando Alonso 4 Lando Norris 5 Oscar Piastri 6 Charles Leclerc 7 Carlos Sainz 8 George Russell 9 Nico Hulkenburg 10 Valtteri Bottas 11 Lance Stroll 12 Daniel Ricciardo 13 Esteban Ocan 14 Alexander Albon 15 Pierre Gasly 16 Zhou Guanyu 17 Kevin Magnussen 18 Lewis Hamilton 19 Yuki Tsunoda 20 Logan Sergeant
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Lights out 8am BST.
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important events
14/56th lap: Both Red Bulls pitted, with Norris in first place, Verstappen in fourth and Perez in sixth. Norris has had a good run here, but one would expect Verstappen to regain the lead in time.
13/56th lap: That’s right, here’s what happened during this series of pit stops: 1 Verstappen 2 Perez 3 Norris 4 Leclerc 5 Piastri 6 Sainz 7 Ricciardo 8 Magnussen 9 Alonso 10 Russell.
Hamilton moved into 15th place with a great aggressive driving, spying and gap exploiting performance leading Tsunada.
12/56th lap: Alonso and Russell quickly made a pit stop. Verstappen currently has a nine-second lead, but Gasly wobbled a bit in the pits and almost hit a mechanic, causing one of them to fall.
11/56th lap: “Those were the worst tires,” Hamilton can be heard saying as the focus returns to Russell defending seventh from Sainz, back in 19th place. It’s only a matter of time before you think so. Leclerc then overhauled Piastri and moved up to fifth place.
10/56th lap: Russell is struggling with the tires. Sainz is also breathing on his neck.
Hamilton and Stroll also pitted, but the former’s soft tires did not last long. And the Stewards will take no further action regarding the Halkenburg-Albon incident.
9/56th lap: Leclerc, who has finished in the top four in every race this season, had a job to do after a groggy start and after one attempt he used DRS to overtake Russell and move into sixth place.
Zhou, Samoda, and Hulkenburg made early pit stops.
8/56th lap: Norris did a smart job getting in front of Alonso and deftly blocking him, taking his place on the podium.
So, their standings are: 1 Verstappen 2 Perez 3 Norris 4 Alonso 5 Piastri 6 Russell 7 Leclerc 8 Sainz 9 Stroll 10 Hulkenburg. Hamilton fell back to 17th place.
7/56th lap: There were reports of an accident between Gasly and Albon, with the latter allegedly forcing the latter off the track. That’s what’s attracting attention. Verstappen currently leads by 5.8 seconds…
6/56th lap: Perez then neatly made his way to the inside at Turn 6 and regained the position from Alonso. It’s another one-two for Red Bull.
5/56th lap: Daniel Ricciardo also struggled, starting 12th but dropping three places to 15th. Perez is closing in on Alonso in second place, but he has not yet chosen to take action. This might be the real quiz.
4/56th lap: Hamilton moved and overhauled his laps to move up to 18th. The two drivers, who were blessed with good support, battled it out for last place.
3/56th lap: Verstappen, on the other hand, is already firmly ahead. With a 2.5 second difference over Alonso, Perez was third, Norris fourth and Piastri fifth.
2/56th lap: Stroll overtook Hulkenburg for ninth place. Hamilton appears to be disappointed and frustrated with his tires on the radio.
1/56th lap: Returning to the pack, Hamilton had already dropped back down to 19th place, and Zhou overhauled Magnussen to the delight of the crowd, but quickly lost the position. Ferrari got off to a shocking start and both dropped down the order.
Verstappen maintains lead However, Alonso quickly moved up to second place.That was perfect driving by the Spaniard.
Lights out and off we go!
depart
Tire news: The front 10 cars will all start with medium tires. Hamilton will start on the soft, with plenty of room to recover. Then they take off on a formation lap.
Max Verstappen is Drizzle forecast on the radio…
Fine-tuning the grid:
Memories of the grid 👀
There is one change: Logan Sargent will start from the pit lane.#F1 #ChinaGP https://t.co/Un8nacSayF
— Formula 1 (@F1) April 21, 2024
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Alonso’s car situation Looks like there’s a bit more of a problem. Mechanics are still working on the floor, but there is some stone damage. But if he is in 3rd place on the grid within 10 minutes from the start, this is the most avoided thing.
A word with local hero Mr. Zhou: “energy [from the crowd] It’s been incredible since day one, so I’m seriously going to give it a try. I am confident that we can move forward. ” He will start in 16th place.
minor minor surgery It takes place on the floor of Fernando Alonso’s car. It’s not that big of a deal, but it can be a little worrying. The Spaniard started from third on the grid and will be expecting this.
And now it’s time to sing the Chinese national anthem
General pre-race prognosis That means this is likely to be a two-stop race. The weather is cloudy but dry.
Lewis Hamilton says: And I blame myself for yesterday’s failure. I should have been in Q2, it’s completely my fault.The team is doing a great job with what we have, and George [Russell] You did a great job, but today I want to make up for it. ” Currently, he has many supporters in Shanghai as well. ”[This crowd] They’re the best, they’ve been so supportive over the years so it’s great to be back. The British Grand Prix is special and unique, it always brings great energy here and I love this track. ”
Will Verstappen’s dominance deter new fans? Lando Norris is concerned about the following possibilities:
“Of course you start to get bored when you see the same drivers winning every time without fighting, but that’s obvious. We’ve got one of the best drivers in F1 history in one of the most dominant cars, and the combination… is deadly.”
preamble
Morning and afternoon everyone. A lot has changed since China last hosted a Grand Prix in 2019, from the pre-COVID-19, pre-Verstappen/Red Bull hegemony. And despite Red Bull’s off-track turmoil, its superiority was once again evident in Saturday’s qualifying, with the defending champion winning the vote and winning the sprint race ahead of Lewis Hamilton.
Hamilton then suffered a qualifying nightmare and was eliminated in Q1, and today faced the difficult task of picking up any points after starting 18th on the grid. He at least has good memories of this circuit, having won here six times, three times more than anyone else. His last win, five years ago, saw Valtteri Bottas and Sebastian Vettel on the podium. Times change.
Anyway, back to the present, there’s been quite a bit of local enthusiasm for F1’s return to the Shanghai International Circuit (and cheering home driver Zhou Guanyu), and there should be plenty to note during today’s 56 laps. is.
When lined up, it looks like this:
1 Max Verstappen 2 Sergio Perez 3 Fernando Alonso 4 Lando Norris 5 Oscar Piastri 6 Charles Leclerc 7 Carlos Sainz 8 George Russell 9 Nico Hulkenburg 10 Valtteri Bottas 11 Lance Stroll 12 Daniel Ricciardo 13 Esteban Okan 14 Alexander Albon 15 Pierre Gasly 16 Guanyu Chou 17 Vin Magnussen 18 Lewis Hamilton 19 Hiroki Tsunoda 20 Sergeant Logan
Lights out at 8am BST.
