Max Verstappen edges Hamilton to win Chinese Grand Prix Sprint

Max Verstappen went on to win the F1 2024 Chinese Grand Prix Sprint Race in Shanghai after an incredible comeback that denied Lewis Hamilton an elusive victory.

Despite starting from P4, Max Verstappen battled his way up the order to secure a dominant sprint race victory at the Chinese Grand Prix.

Finishing in second place was Lewis Hamilton, who secured his best result so far this season. Lando Norris started on pole but lost several spots after being driven wide at the first turn giving way to the Mercedes at the start of the race.

Hamilton appeared in control up front as he began focusing on taking care of his medium tyres although the seven-time world champion was a worried driver in the W15, complaining about lack of speed in the slow turns.

However, the British driver found himself in trouble after Verstappen found his rhythm and started to gain some traction on the slippery track surface, having initially struggled to hold off Fernando Alonso.

Verstappen was on Alonso’s tail by lap seven and on the following lap managed to overtake him down the back straight. Hamilton made an error on Lap 9 after running wide through the hairpin, granting Verstappen DRS.

Verstappen showed remarkable speed in the second part of the 19-lap sprint, expanding the gap to Hamilton by four seconds after three laps.

In the chasing pack, Alonso emerged as the cork of the bottle as he held up Carlos Sainz, Sergio Perez, Charles Leclerc and Norris. The Aston Martin driver seemed poised to seal the final podium spot until he suffered a puncture after facing a challenge from Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz which eventually handed Sergio Perez a third-place finish.

Leclerc was keen to pass his teammate on Lap 17, but Sainz was quite pushy as the two made contact at Turn 14. However, the Monesgaque passed his Spanish teammate, though his impressive late-race pace did not allow him to gain more ground.

Verstappen outpaced Hamilton and teammate Perez by a commanding 13 seconds in the lead clinching the sprint victory. Leclerc finished fourth ahead of Sainz, Norris, Oscar Piastri and Russell who finished in point-scoring positions.

2024 F1 Chinese Grand Prix Sprint Race Results