Verstappen, from Red Bull Racing, had a great start to the race. He got the 100th pole position for Red Bull on Saturday. During the race, which was the first one in Shanghai since 2019, Verstappen didn’t face much competition. He had to deal with two safety car restarts, but he managed them well.
In the beginning, Verstappen quickly pulled ahead of Fernando Alonso. Alonso had a good start too, passing Sergio Perez. But Verstappen was almost 1.6 seconds ahead after the first lap.
However, a safety car came out on lap 20 because Valtteri Bottas’ car stopped working. This slowed everyone down. Then, Kevin Magnussen accidentally crashed into Yuki Tsunoda, causing another safety car period.
Despite these interruptions, Verstappen kept his lead when the race restarted. Lando Norris was behind him after making a pit stop under the virtual safety car. Red Bull’s decision to pit Verstappen during the full safety car helped Norris move up to second place.
Although Norris tried to catch up with Verstappen, he couldn’t keep up the pace. Perez, who also pitted, fell behind Charles Leclerc.
Verstappen maintained his lead and finished the race with a big gap ahead of Norris. Norris managed to hold onto second place, with Perez behind him. Leclerc and Carlos Sainz finished fourth and fifth.
Alonso tried a risky strategy by changing to soft tires during a safety car period, but he had to pit again because they wouldn’t last until the end. He managed to finish seventh after making some good moves.
Oscar Piastri and Lewis Hamilton had some trouble during the race. Piastri had damage to his car, but he still managed to finish eighth. Hamilton couldn’t get past Piastri and finished ninth.
Nico Hulkenberg got the last point for Haas after a few other drivers had problems during the race.
