It was a special weekend as Formula 1 returned to China for the first time since 2019. The 2024 Shanghai GP saw Mobil 1 celebrate the brand’s 50th Anniversary with a double podium finish from Oracle Red Bull Racing. Both Oracle Red Bull Racing RB19 cars wore a special Golden Mobil 1 logo to celebrate the milestone. Additionally, Max’s race victory made history as the result marked 100 poles for the Oracle Red Bull Racing Team!
When the lights went out at the start, both Red Bull cars made a good getaway, however Fernando Alonso also shot off the line and overtook Checo into T1, almost taking the lead from Max as well. Managing to stay ahead, Max was making the most of clean air and by the end of lap one he was 1.6s ahead of Alonso. Checo was just under a second behind the Spanish driver and 1.5s ahead of the McLarens of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.
On lap five, Checo made his move, diving up the inside at Turn 6 to take second place, though he was now five seconds back from his team-mate. At the end of lap 12, Alonso and Russell were the first of the leading pack to make pit stops, and their stops sparked the other top 10 runners into action, with both Red Bull drivers boxing on lap 14 in a flawless double stop. Max rejoined in P3 behind Leclerc, while Checo emerged in sixth behind Sainz.
On lap 22 Valtteri Bottas had to park his Sauber in an escape road, exiting the race with an engine issue. The incident resulted in a Virtual Safety Car being deployed, but with Bottas’ car proving immovable, the physical Safety Car was then released and the bulk of the field took the opportunity to pit. Both Red Bull Drivers stopped to take on more hard tyres and Max took up the lead behind the Safety Car. Checo sat in fourth ahead of Sainz, Alonso and Russell, and now faced with a fight to the flag.
The Safety Car left the circuit at the end of lap 26 and Max made his move at Turn 14, powering away with speed as Norris was in the middle of the hairpin.
Further back in the field, there was contact. With the cars bunching into Turn 14 at the restart, VCARB’s Daniel Ricciardo was forced to brake hard to avoid running into McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, and the result was that Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll ploughed into the rear of the VCARB. Both were able to continue but when a handful of corners later Yuki Tsunoda was hit by Kevin Magnussen, the Safety Car had to be deployed for a second time. Ricciardo would eventually be forced to retire, while Stroll and Magnussen were handed 10-second time penalties for the incidents.
The Safety Car left the track for the second time at the end of lap 31 and once again Max used the hairpin to kick off the restart and propel his RB19 away from the pack. He comfortably pulled away from Norris and Leclerc on exit as Checo began to plot his assault on the Ferrari and the McLaren.
On lap 39, Checo at last made his move, ambushing Leclerc on the inside at the entry to Turn 6. Freed from Leclerc, Checo tried to reel in Norris but he had unfortunately used his laps well and had carved out a five-second gap.
At the front Max was in cruise control and after 56 superbly controlled laps he took his fourth win of the season with 13.7s in hand over Norris, Checo took a solid third ahead of the Ferraris while George Russell finished sixth for Mercedes ahead of Alonso. Piastri finished eighth in the second McLaren ahead of Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton and the final point on offer was taken by Haas’ Nico Hülkenberg.
Max Verstappen said afterwards. “Every race is different in terms of emotions, but this one was particularly enjoyable because the whole weekend went so well, especially considering that it was a sprint weekend, which is always much more hectic. A weekend like this is as much as you can ever hope for. A win in Shanghai was definitely on my list, so to be here and to win in front of such an amazing crowd is very special and I’m pleased that the race is back on the calendar.”
Sergio Pérez said, “The safety car cost us a little today. It would have been close, but unfortunately it came at the wrong time for us and put us on the back foot, and we lost two places. Fighting with Charles Leclerc damaged my tyres a little too much and it made it hard. The level of degradation was a little too trying on this track to make better progress, so we struggled. I wanted more today, I did expect a little more from the race.”
Up next, Oracle Red Bull Racing travel to Miami for the first of three US Grand Prix’s in 2024. The race will take place on Sunday 5th May.