Formula 1: Conclusions after the Chinese Grand Prix
An interesting weekend for McLaren, with Red Bull and Verstappen taking their most convincing win of the season.
R.B.
“If something can go wrong, it will go wrong.” Murphy’s Law applied perfectly to Red Bull’s sister team, where things were going from bad to worse. Both Yuki Tsunoda and Daniel Ricciardo showed poor pace in the two races in China.
Both drivers fell victim to the safety car and exited the race, with the Australian taking the worst part in an absurd collision with Lance Stroll. The Canadian did not have time to stop in time and took Ricciardo’s car with him. — Sebastian Aceves
“It’s frustrating when someone else ruins your career.” Daniel Ricciardo
Alpine
For the first time this season there is reason to celebrate in the Alps. Esteban Ocon was close to the points distribution, eleventh, but with a racing pace that made his car no longer look so dull. Perhaps this is the start of something really worthwhile for the team.
The team made a mistake due to the stop of Pierre Gasly, the mechanic was hit, and the team was fined. Alpine can’t overcome its problems at stops, but putting a mechanic at risk in this way is something more serious than usual.– Rafael Zamorano
“We can be encouraged by today’s result, looking at the results this season.” –Pierre Gasly.
Aston Martin
Light and shadow, once again. Fernando Alonso made a brave comeback in the final laps after venturing into strategy by putting the Reds behind the safety car, but we will still remember more the terrible mistake when Lance Stroll crashed in an apparent distraction while SC was on the track. Years will pass and we will continue to see his videos among the most incredible pilot mistakes in this category. — Eric Sevantes Roon
“In the next sprint races, let the other drivers run so we can save tires.” — Fernando Alonsowhich was sanctioned in the sprint.
Ferrari
He “Prancing Horse” continues its winding path. Lack of pace, incidents and now internal driver infighting have raised doubts within the historic Formula One team after leaving the Chinese Grand Prix behind.
Carlos Sainz left a bitter taste after Checo Perez’s double pass in the sprint and Leclerc was unable to contain the Mexican’s pressure on race day. Practically shown.
Fred Wasser recognizes Ferrari’s gray moment. Every point they lost and internal disagreements left them questioning every day whether they would be the second force on the grid this season. – Alejandro Nava.
haas
The American team had a difficult weekend. They finished the sprint with Kevin Magnussen in tenth position, but this position is not worth any points. The race was won by Nico Hulkenberg, who gave his team one after a tense battle for a place in the top 10, while Kevin was penalized by 10 seconds for hitting Yuki Tsunoda. The team continues to scratch some units, although they are still a notch below regularity. — Ricardo Cariño
“A point in our world is a lot!” — Nico Hulkenberg
Kick-Sauber
During the sprint, the team finally found race pace, with Zhou Guanyu finishing in ninth place, ahead of the home team. Although he did not score any points, he showed that all was not lost for the car after a bleak start to the season.
The optimism was short-lived when race time came, with Valtteri Bottas out of the points race due to an engine failure. Zhou finished the lap in 14th place, leaving Kick Sauber still without points in the championship. — Rafael Zamorano
“Starting from 10th place put me in a good position to fight for the points and the race overall was going well until I suddenly lost power and the engine quit, something we will have to look into carefully in the coming days.” — Valtteri Bottas.
McLaren
The Papaya team had a great weekend. Piastri and Lando added a good harvest of points (27) between the sprint and Sunday’s race. They were behind the favorites on Saturday but had a great strategy on Saturday, taking advantage of the safety car to force Lando Norris to finish second and Piastri was eighth, but on the restart of the race he suffered due to contact he received from Daniel Ricciardo. for which he demanded compensation for damages. The team is on the rise and they are starting to beat Mercedes. — Ricardo Cariño
“Looking at the back of the car after the race, it was pretty destroyed. I think that explains a lot of the shortage. I think in the first part of the race everything looked ok, I was a little off the pace, but not too bad, and then after the restart it was very important to limit the damage” — Oscar Piastri.
Mercedes
In fact, it was a positive weekend for the Silver Arrows, who scored points with both cars in both the Sprint and Grand Prix, in fact finishing in second place in the Sprint alongside Hamilton. There is a lot of work to be done, but Mercedes can compete well at the moment. — Eric Cervantes Rune
“This car is very slow.” — Lewis Hamilton after failing to overtake Esteban Ocon on the track.
Red Bull
Once again, the energy drink team had a nearly perfect weekend. In both the sprint race and the Sunday race, Max Verstappen and Checo Perez finished first and third respectively.
The Dutch driver continues to prove that he is the best driver on the grid and there appears to be nothing stopping his quest to win his fourth Formula 1 World Championship.
Checo Perez had to row against the current several times. On Saturday he gave us a great move, making a double pass to Sainz and Alonso. But a late safety car due to Bottas’ retirement ruined Red Bull’s chances of celebrating another double.
The Mexican, who has scored 4 podiums in the first 5 races of the season, will live up to expectations in the event of a possible extension. — Sebastian Aceves.
“You guys tend to fire him, but he does a great job.” Christian Horner about Checo Perez’s performance at the beginning of the season.
Williams
Both cars finished both the Grand Prix and the Sprint. That’s already good for one of the most punished teams this season – perhaps the one that suffered the most.
Alex Albon continues to leave behind interesting careers that have placed him on the list of drivers who could be a viable option for organizations with greater resources. The same cannot be said for Sargeant, who urgently needs to improve his game. — Victor Makin
“…the moment you start thinking about the lack of details or the lack of anything else, you better stay home,” Alex Albon.