Shanghai

Hey hey hey or should I say ni hao? Welcome either back or to It's a racing thing. Today, lets talk Shanghai.

Starting with a very important free practice. Due to the Sprint, there's only one chance for the drivers to get to grips with the track (literally). Especially as the Chinese circuit hasn't been on the race calendar for five years! FP1 was eventful, with an area of the track catching fire, lots of elbows-out overtakes and a few lock ups. Both Alonso and Piastri suffering with the latter on the same corner. The Spaniard, having won at this track in 2005 and then again in 2013, has proven his talent at this track over the course of the weekend. His teammate Lance Stroll managed to top the charts in FP1, finishing fastest in that session. Closely behind was the McLaren of Oscar Piastri and, of course, the Red Bull of Max Verstappen.

Later that day was the qualifying for the Sprint race, and it was a very successful Quali for Lando Norris, him getting pole.

However, come the actual sprint race...it didn't really work out great. Remember what I said about Sprint races? Yeah.. I still hate them. Come lap one of nineteen, Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton (who started 2nd) were battling for first place when Norris ran wide into the gravel, putting him down to 7th. Hamilton went on to come second, behind our current world champion Max Verstappen. His teammate Sergio Perez coming third. Alonso was another that raced incredibly all weekend, however on the last couple of laps he had to retire the car, ending his race in last place. But before his unexpected retirement, Alonso spent much of his race battling Carlos Sainz, the two pushing each other left and right to keep positions. However, come lap 16, as both Spanish drivers went wide, Sergio Perez had his "through goes Hamilton" moment, overtaking them both and moving up to third. Sainz to fourth, just in front his Ferrari teammate, Charles Leclerc, Alonso falling back to 6th. Just moments later, the Ferrari's began fighting it out for P4, Leclerc trying to get Sainz who was defending strongly. The two cars, just millimetres apart til Sainz ran wide, allowing Leclerc to slip in front. Leclerc however, was most displeased with his teammates racing, declaring through his radio how the team seriously needs to "talk" about fighting teammates, (how I'd love to be a fly on the wall at that meeting). Behind the two Ferrari's was Lando Norris in 6th, who's race was most unproblematic after his unlucky start. In 7th place was teammate Oscar Piastri, the Aussie struggling throughout the whole weekend. Behind the papaya pair was George Russel, the last point scorer in the sprint. Then, in 9th was home hero Zhou Guanyu, followed by Magnussen, Ricciardo, Bottas and Stroll. Behind them was the Alpine pair, Ocon and Gasly. Then was Tsunoda, Albon, Sargeant, Hulkenburg and back of the pack, Fernando Alonso after his puncture on lap 18.

It's no surprise that Verstappen is still far in front, although it is seeming like the mid-field are bunching closer and closer.

Later that afternoon was the main race qualifying. In Q1, Logan Sargeant drove his Williams into the gravel, causing a yellow flag and early finish for him, the American finishing P20. Also struggling all weekend was Tsunoda who could only manage as good as P19. Hamilton raced terribly in Quali, putting in no good lap times, placing him in P18. Also out in Q1 was the Haas of Kevin Magnussen and in 16th, Zhou Guanyu.

For the first time this year, Gasly made Q2, the French man getting P15. Then in 14th was Alex Albon, Esteban Ocon in 13th and in 12th was Daniel Ricciardo, all of which just couldn't set a good enough lap time. Also lacking pace in Q2 was the Aston Martin of Lance Stroll, who was the last to be eliminated in that session.

Come Q3 we had both Red Bulls, Both McLarens, Both Ferrari's, Alonso and Russel. The two strays being The Stake of Valterri Bottas and Nico Hulkenburg in the Haas. Both Red Bulls put in great lap times, Max Verstappen getting pole position (the 100th pole for the Red Bull team) and Perez just behind. Then was Alonso who put in a stunning performance. Then in 4th and 5th were the McLarens of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri. Then came the pair in red, Leclerc and Sainz. Followed by the only Mercedes that made Q3, George Russel getting P8. Followed by Hulkenburg's Haas. Rounding off the top ten was the Stake of Valterri Bottas.

Onto the race.. Off the line Alonso flew, his tyres and evident skill showing as he overtook the Red Bull of Sergio Perez, even having a look to overtake our race leader Verstappen. Alonso managed to keep enough traction to stay in front of Perez, placing him second. Also on that lap, both Ferrari drivers had bad starts, putting them down in 8th and 9th. However, come lap two they crawled up to 7th and 8th after overtaking Nico Hulkenburg. As the race went on, Alonso got overtaken by both Perez and Norris. Before lap 21, most cars had already pitted, including the two Red Bulls who executed the perfect double stack. Norris, one of the couple that didn't pit, lead a few laps, however when Bottas' engine failed there was a very long safety car, under which both Leclerc and Norris made their first stop. Many other drivers also took the time to pit again, such as Red Bull with another perfect double stack (they're just showing off at this point).

Almost straight after the safety car came back into the pits, all hell broke loose. Lance Stroll drove right into the back of Ricciardo, who in turn drove into the back of Piastri. This incident meant an end to Ricciardos race, severe damage to Piastris car and a 10 second penalty for Stroll. Also playing bumper cars with an RB was Kevin Magnussen, the Danish driver hitting Yuki Tsunoda and spinning him off track. This meant a double DNF for RB, a 10 second penalty for Magnussen and another safety car.

Following the safety cars return, both Stroll and Magnussen were battling it out for 16th, despite both their penalties. Even if they weren't racing to gain anything, their battle was unironically the most entertaining of the race.

By the end of the race, Verstappen was way in front, collecting his first win in China. He was followed by the McLaren of Lando Norris who'd put in a stellar performance, holding Perez at bay by over 5 seconds. Behind Perez was Charles Leclerc and in 5th, Carlos Sainz who'd had a very uneventful race. In 6th, also having an uneventful race was George Russel. After some strange strategy, an extra pit stop and an incredible catch-up-job, Fernando Alonso crossed the line in 7th. Behind him was Oscar Piastri, barely keeping his car together after getting damage from the Stroll/Ricciardo situation. He was followed by Lewis Hamilton. Then, yet again this year, Haas got points thanks to Nico Hulkenburgs P10 finish. Just missing out on points was Esteban Ocon, followed by Alex Albon. In 13th was the other Alpine of Pierre Gasly who got pushed down the pack after a pitlane problem, in which a tyre came off and hit a mechanic, who are, thankfully, okay, but by the time all four tyres were on safely, Gasly was down in last. In 14th was home hero Zhou Guanyu, who managed to keep his nose clean all race. Finally, after the penalties, was Kevin Magnussen in 15th and Lance Stroll in 16th. Last to cross the line was the Williams of Logan Sargeant, who also got a 10 second penalty, this time for a safety car infringement (one I don't completely agree with). But I'm sure team principle James Vowles is just glad to see both Williams cross the line in one piece, as they are still lacking in spare chassis.

At the end of the race it was revealed that Lando Norris won driver of the day, the only non-Ferrari driver to do so in 2024. Zhou's history making and crowd support had him very emotional as he parked up his car, the young driver overwhelmed with the sudden reality of what he'd done (made history by being the first and only ever Chinese F1 driver to race in China).

As if we hadn't heard his voice enough with his sporadic commentating, Nico Rosberg also held post race podium interviews. In which we learnt how unexpected Lando's podium was but how great it is that the McLaren team seem to be catching up.

Also this week, Will Buxton (F1 journalist and reporter) has been saying how Kimi Antonelli will "definitely" get the Mercedes seat next year. I guess we'll see about that...

The two McLaren boys took up some more voice acting with the newest Lego x McLaren stop motion short, the modern version of "Tooned". And LEC ice cream seems to be having a good start.

In two weeks we have the Miami Grande Prix, another gosh-damn Sprint race. Not only is it a sprint but it's also at my least favourite track. There's no doubt that Miami has some of the best vibes, guests and activities, but the track itself is dreadful. The Miami circuit is 3.362 miles long and takes place over 57 laps. It has 19 corners and surprise surprise, the lap record is set by Max Verstappen after his impressive 1m 31.361s lap time in 2022.

There has been so much to highlight on this week, and I'm sure I missed something. But this was my highlights from China. Hope to see you again next week! Thanks for reading.

Has anyone else been watching the football? I need Real Madrid to stop beating my teams...