Shanghai 2024 - Chinese Grand Prix Sprint Weekend

[airshifter]

Returning after 5 years, this one is starting off really strong! The first Sprint weekend of the year hasn't disappointed at all through the Sprint itself, and there have been some surprises along the way.



**SPOILER ALERT** If you haven't kept track and didn't know it was a Sprint weekend, watch it or read on for spoilers! **SPOILER ALERT**




Well, the weather made the Sprint qually interesting, and for a few seconds it looked like Lewis might be on pole. But it was not to be, and Lando robbed him of his chance. Between watching the deleted laps for being off track and the standings, nobody knew who would end up on top through the end. Lewis was the last to get another lap in, but still couldn't come out on top of Lando's lap. With the track getting wetter while the tires came in, it sure was fun to watch though.


As for the Sprint, Lando simply didn't get the start that Lewis did, and it cost him dearly trying to hold on to a position that he had already lost really. Had he just accepted that pass things might have worked out a lot better for him, as overall the car had decent pace. Lewis clearly had no chance against Max, and the gap the RB pulled after passing him was just a fair warnign to what RB can do in clean air with Max at the helm. But at least Lewis benefitted from the DRS train behind, and really had a rather boring race in a car that probably didn't have the pace to otherwise pull off a 2nd place.

But from there out, we owe huge thanks to Alonso for proving once again he is a master at racecraft. He kept the DRS train of Sainz, Perez, Leclerc and the two McLarens behind him much longer than most probably would have. With every lap it looked like Sainz might get a sniff at a pass, and with every lap Fernando managed to deny him. When it finally did happen, Fred wasn't going to just give up easily, and really Sainz made the mistake that knocked Fred out of the points. Hard racing is hard racing, but the time he spent fighting too hard cost him as well, as Perez found the open door to get past both of them during the battle. And though Sainz tried hard to deny Charles, in the end he lost that position as well. Not that Carlos had a bad sprint, but in the end it didn't go down the way he was hoping for.

Driving what might be the 5th fastest car, Alonso once again denied a lot of faster cars. It's really a shame he ended up with a puncture due to contact with Sainz and lost his points finish.


I do have to admit, I thought Charles whining about Carlos defending hard on him was comical. Well no kidding, your team mate who is on the way out defended hard against you?



On to the race qual in a couple of hours. Regardless of how it ends up this format makes more sense to me. Teams/drivers/weather all have two chances to get it right or wrong. With the old format the cars with enough race pace to win the Sprint started the race in front, and IMHO that was more boring than even the non Sprint weekends.

[Matthew]

That was an excellent sprint race followed by a really good qualifying. Tomorrow's race should also be a good one.

[N. Jones]

I guess it's a foregone conclusion that Max is winning number four. If it wasn't for the battles for other positions this would be a very boring season.

[Matthew]

I guess it's a foregone conclusion that Max is winning number four. If it wasn't for the battles for other positions this would be a very boring season.

Yes, Max won by a big margin again. His 58th race win.

[airshifter]

Max is no doubt a monster in the car. I only wish RB would bounce a few top drivers through the team to see where he stacks up to the current field. The RB is no doubt the class of the current field, but Sergio is so much slower than Max. I'd love to see Alonso, Lewis, Lando, maybe a few others in that seat to see where Max really stacks up.

As for the race, interesting at times. I'm not sure if everyone is just not watching China or what.

That first turn move by Alonso was just mega..... I don't think anyone else in the field could have pulled that off as easily as he made it seem. He just proves over and over how he is still at the top of his game at his age. And the last corner save, another mega move. The reflexes of the youngsters, but the cool and calm nature of his year still having the presence to be on the DRS button right after that huge snap and save. Had they put him on used mediums rather than softs I suspect he would have been in the top 5.

Great job by all the front runners really, even if the safety cars helped some of them. Lando put in the fast laps when it mattered and earned his second spot very well. Once Lewis got out of his own head he managed to at least claw back up into the points. Most of the others had kinda boring races just letting the strategy play out, but once those safety cars are in play that is often the case.

Stroll proving yet again that he's just out for a drive, it didn't even look like he was braking when he smacked Ricciardo, and they were lucky it bounce forward more after Piastri.


And though he didn't finish in the points, it was great to see Zhou make some passes to the delight of the crowd, and his front straight parking spot to allow him to return some emotions to the fans. A proud moment for him and his fans no doubt, and one he will likely never forget.