From start to finish - McLaren driver Oscar Piastre dominated the Shanghai circuit for the Chinese Grand Prix, with the British team's success completed by Lando Norris, who finished second, 9,418 seconds behind. Third was George Russell in the Mercedes and fourth was the incredible Max Verstappen, the reigning champion in Red Bull.
The most exciting was Verstappen's attack with three laps to go in the battle for fourth place, held by Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc. The flying Dutchman proved that he is rightly considered one of the best ever - he tried to overtake from the outside but the Monaco driver's Ferrari went around him from the inside. The reigning champion saved his tyres brilliantly, closing the gap to third-placed Russell in Mercedes until the end, but the Briton was far behind and his car even threatened Norris in the battle for second place.
"The car was fantastic all the time, and I'm proud and feel that this is what I deserve after last Sunday, when I failed on my home track. I'm very happy, and the team did a great job, of course with the first two places on the podium we have to be very happy," said the 23-year-old Australian.
He celebrated his third career victory, but was only ninth at the start of the season. The winner of the opening race in Australia, Briton Norris had car problems but was too close to the finish line for Russell to overtake him, although he reduced his lead from 4,7 to just 1,3 seconds.
- Oskar was too fast, and I had problems with the brakes and in the last few laps I lost three, four seconds, so I have to be satisfied - the 25-year-old Briton pointed out.
Leclerc's fifth place was also a success, as he had a problem with a broken right wing on his red car from the start - he caught the rear of his Ferrari colleague, Lewis Hamilton. The team told him that because of this he was losing between 20 and 30 percent of the car's capabilities. However, Leclerc held on and did not change the wing until the end. The winner of the sprint in China, the Briton Hamilton finished in sixth place.
Norris heads into the Japanese Grand Prix on February 6th, leading the drivers' standings with 44 points, Verstappen is second with 36. Russell has 35 and Piastre 34.
McLaren, which is defending the constructors' title, leads with 78 points, ahead of Mercedes with 53. Red Bull has 36 and Ferrari 35 points.
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