Max Verstappen Wins China's F1 GP For The First Time

Max Verstappen drove during the qualifying session for the Chinese Formula One Grand Prix at the Shanghai International Circuit on April 20, 2024. (Between/AFP/Greg Baker/pri)

JAKARTA - Red Bull's Max Verstappen sealed the Chinese Grand Prix victory for the first time at the Shanghai International Circuit, China, Sunday.

Verstappen became the fastest, ahead of young racer Lando Norris (McLaren) and his team-mate at Red Bull, Sergio Perez, with a fairly long margin of time, namely 13,773 seconds and 19,160 seconds, respectively.

"It feels amazing, throughout the weekend we were amazingly fast," said Verstappen, quoted from AFP. Not only was his first win in Shanghai, the P1 he won today is also Verstappen's fourth win in Formula 1 this season.

Meanwhile for Norris, this is the 15th podium of his career in the premier class car racing event.

Being in the top five are Ferrari duo Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, who are 23,623 seconds and 33,983 seconds each from the race leader.

The race with a total of 56 laps was full of drama, with several collisions and accidents that hit a number of riders in action.

Verstappen, who started from the leading position, was able to maintain his place from the start, even though behind him was Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) who closely lurked. Alonso and Verstappen are two of the five strongest riders at the start of the lap, along with Perez, Norris, and Oscar Piastri (McLaren). The five riders were involved in quite a fun chase, until finally Alonso had to be overtaken by Perez and Norris, who eventually stood on the podium.

In the middle of the race, Valtteri Bottas (Kick Sauber) reportedly had problems with his car.

Not long after, Kevin Magnussen (Haas), Yuki Tsunoda (RB), Daniel Ricciardo (RB) and Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) got into contact. Stroll and Ricciardo had a collision that was quite a bit of attention and the race was temporarily stopped. When the race resumed, the riders in the front row were still trying to secure the position of the podium. Alonso, who had fallen far behind from the previous position, got back up and overtook Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) and Piastri. However, he was unable to get past George Russell (Mercedes) who finally finished at P6.

Here are the final results of the China GP.

Nico Hulkenberg (Haas)