Another F1 race, another Verstappen victory. On Saturday, at the Chinese Grand Prix, the defending World Champion cruised to his first sprint win of the season, with Lewis Hamilton finishing second. The Mercedes driver has fallen off after the 2021 season, but finished 13 seconds behind Verstappen to finish on the podium.
Red Bull’s Sergio Perez completed the podium, while Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc finished fourth. The sprint right before the full-fledged race on Sunday was perhaps a prelude to another Verstappen win. The defending world champion was untouchable on the track as he won the full race too.
Chinese Grand Prix 2024: Max Verstappen sprints to win
🏆 What an amazing weekend here in China 🇨🇳. The car felt like it was on rails 🙏 @redbullracing! Thank you to all the fans, your support has been overwhelming! 👏 pic.twitter.com/1CD575xvXv
— Max Verstappen (@Max33Verstappen) April 21, 2024
A sprint race is a third of the distance of a full race. In the Chinese Grand Prix, there were only 19 laps which had to be covered. The winner gets eight points with seven for second, six for third and so forth.
While Friday’s qualification was slippery and wet, the sprint race was run on a dry track. Similarly, Sunday’s track saw Verstappen cruise to another win, surging ahead in the leaderboard to claim another world championship at the end of the season.
On Sunday, Lando Norris surprised us all, finishing second on the podium in the full race behind Verstappen. Perez continued following up behind his teammate on the podium, finishing third to ensure that both Red Bull drivers dominated the race.
How many sprint races will F1 have this season?
Six sprint races
