'This is what the 2024 F1 season is' - GPFans Chinese GP Hot Takes

Max Verstappen, Loch Ness Monster, 2024 — Photo: © IMAGO

GPFans Hot Takes

'This is what the 2024 F1 season is' - GPFans Chinese GP Hot Takes

GPFans journalists give their views on the 2024 Chinese Grand Prix

Originally written by Ronan Murphy. This version is a translation.

Monday 22 April 2024 02:00

The 2024 Chinese Grand Prix was a dramatic race with safety cars, crashes, retirements, pit lane incidents, stunning overtakes and then in the end, Max Verstappen won by X seconds.

Verstappen would have won by a far greater margin if not for the safety cars, putting in a perfect race while the Red Bull mechanics did an incredible job every time he went in to change tyres, with 2.1 and 2.0 second pit stops.

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There was an exciting start to the race in Shanghai as Fernando Alonso passed Sergio Perez on the first lap, but normal service was resumed soon after as the usual RB one-two returned.

Safety cars were called in after Valtteri Bottas's car stopped at the edge of the track and then when Lando Norris hit Daniel Ricciardo as the race resumed. That broke up the order slightly, leaving Perez needing utilise DRS to get back into a podium position.

Perez's stronger car showed its class once again, overtaking Charles Leclerc but excellent racing from Driver of the Day Lando Norris denied Red Bull their fourth one-two of the season.

Norris put in a brilliant drive to finish P2

GPFans journalists on the Chinese Grand Prix

Which do you have more chance of seeing? The Loch Ness Monster or Max Verstappen on your television? The only glimpse you get of Max is when he pits and then it was such a quick pit stop, you are not sure whether you saw him at all.

They could put Nessie in the Red Bull RB 20 and she would probably finish in the points without any driving experience. Her tail might also be a massive inconvenience too, but if she's in the lead, maybe it would swat away the cars behind her.

Another monster performance from Red Bull, their drivers and mechanics as the Chinese Grand Prix returned. Everything was super efficient, almost on a par with Ange Postecoglu's Celtic when the Greek-Australian legend guided the Bhoys to a Scottish treble. Like Celtic 2022-23, Red Bull cannot be stopped.

With the Chinese GP in the bag, we can move onto Miami and I can go back to watching highlights of Henrik Larsson while sipping my Buckfast. All while keeping a Formula 1 site populated. It's a difficult job, but someone's got to do it.

Editor's note: Stuart Hodge's hot take was ghost written as the GPFans Chief Editor is away this weekend.

Dan Ripley - Deputy Chief Editor

'Have Ferrari got rid of the wrong driver?' has been about the only thing in F1 that has been as repetitive as the Dutch national anthem being played at the end of a race in 2024.

Granted, Charles Leclerc has not looked like a star who has earned Ferrari's trust to lead them into a new era alongside Lewis Hamilton - especially as the driver the Brit is replacing in Carlos Sainz has been the superior red car so far in 2024.

There are a few fears that Leclerc is emerging as a (slightly better) 21st century version of Jean Alesi - so much early promise then very slowly fading away.

But while he won't take headlines for finishing fourth in Shanghai, he did outperform Sainz and showed his impressive race craft to extract pretty much the maximum out of the Ferrari. It's very much a timely boost for Leclerc and a reminder of why he was kept on in the first place.

Ronan Murphy - Social Media Editor

There was a moment. Just a moment. But it happened. A moment where we imagined 'what if this was all different?' I had dreams of a utopian world where every single race was different, where there was some variety, where there was a different winner.

But that moment was fleeting. It went as soon as it arrived. And normal service was resumed. The normal service of Formula 1 where Max Verstappen wins every race.

That moment was not even this week, it was back in March when Verstappen's car stopped working. Because when his Red Bull works, it works so much better than anyone else's car, even his team-mate Sergio Perez.

An amazing start from Fernando Alonso was another fleeting moment at the start of the Chinese Grand Prix, but that lasted just a short time too as Perez recovered his position soon after.

That is what the 2024 F1 season is. Ninety-nine moments of Verstappen leading and one moment of hope.

I'm clinging onto that hope. In the hope that someone else can win a race. Please.

Sheona Mountford - F1 Journalist

After the Chinese Grand Prix there is one driver whose efforts have gone unnoticed- Nico Hulkenberg.

There have been whispers that the German driver could join Audi (currently Sauber) for 2026, but is it time we took this rumour seriously?

Hulkenberg has quietly and confidently achieved points finishes in a Haas that has no business being in the top 10 this season.

Granted he has been aided by key drivers dropping out, but despite his age he’s shown greater longevity in the sport than we previously thought when he returned in 2023.

If Audi fails to acquire Carlos Sainz could he be the right driver to lead the team forward when they enter F1?

Chris Deeley - F1 Journalist

What more can you say about this season that hasn’t already been said? Max Verstappen said after the chequered flag that he could do ‘whatever he wanted’ with his car and…well, yeah, it’s hard to argue with that.

The two biggest surprises of the day? Lando Norris finishing up in second – even admitting himself that he expected to get absolutely pasted by the Ferraris – and Fernando Alonso not playing into the revival of the Taylor Swift narrative by finishing as The 1.

The least surprising part of the race? The Chuckle Brothers taking the two places at the very bottom of the standings. There’s absolutely no sporting justification for these two continuing to have seats in F1. Come on now.