Max Verstappen wins Chinese Grand Prix to make if four victories out of opening five races

MAX VERSTAPPEN won again after overcoming two safety restarts to open up a 25 point lead in the championship.

The Red Bull man was otherwise untroubled as he cruised to his 58th victory while his team-mate Sergio Perez was beaten by Lando Norris.

The McLaren man, who is still searching for his first win in F1, was the best of the rest as he split the Red Bulls.

Charles Leclerc was fourth and Carlos Sainz was fifth as the Ferrari duo failed to trouble the top three.

Verstappen crossed the line nearly 14 seconds clear of Norris, a whopping margin given there were two safety cars to bunch up the pack of drivers.

Verstappen, who also won the sprint race the previous day, said: “It felt amazing. The whole weekend we were incredibly quick.

“We survived the restarts well and the car was basically on rails and I could do whatever I wanted with it.

“Those kinds of weekends are amazing to feel and to achieve what we did this weekend is fantastic.”

Norris’ was crowned as the Driver of the Days in the fans’ vote, took his 15th podium in F1 as he squeezed past the Ferraris and Perez, who is second in the championship.

He said: “[I am] surprised, so I’m very happy. I’m happy for the whole team, they deserved it. Good pit stops. Just today worked out.

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“It was not the race I was expecting to have, but just got comfortable and could manage the tyres a lot, which was an easier task than what I could have yesterday.

“And I could just push, the car felt great and I felt comfortable. So a good day, good points, and another podium. I am so very happy.

“I was surprised by many things: the lack of pace from Ferrari, our good pace, and I guess us comparing to the Red Bull which was so surprising.

“I got everything ready to go home early and not be on the podium, so it’s a pleasant surprise.

“But it shows the team have done a good job, have worked hard and it’s paying off.

“I made a bet how far behind the Ferrari we would finish today. I thought 35 seconds – and I was very wrong by that.

“So, I am happy to be wrong with myself, and my own bets, but a good day for everyone.”

We were definitely lacking some pace

Sergio Perez

Perez, who was upset he could not finish second, added: “Unfortunately we got the Safety Car and lost two places.

“We did most of the lap on the hard and fighting like that in the early laps, the life of the tyre goes off dramatically but at least we got onto the podium. But it would have been good to be one and two.

“We were definitely lacking some pace, especially on the medium compound, we struggled a bit with the balance.

“We changed a lot from yesterday to today, so we didn’t read the conditions as perfectly as we could.

“But overall it was a strong weekend and we understand the reasons today why the race pace was a little down.”

George Russell was sixth in his Mercedes while Lewis Hamilton battled back from 18th on the grid to finish in ninth place.

Meanwhile, Chinese driver Zhou Guanyu finished 14th and race bosses allowed him to park on the grid after the chequered flag.

And the Sauber driver waved to his fans before bursting into tears after an emotional weekend.

While Verstappen was untroubled, there were plenty of battles behind with some excellent racing, albeit for the lower positions.

There were safety cars first when Valtteri Bottas’s car stopped and then when Kevin Magnussen and Yuki Tsunoda tangled, sending debris across the track.

Source: Motorsport - thesun.co.uk