Max Verstappen has extended his lead at the top of the Drivers' Standings with victory at the Chinese Grand Prix.
Despite two safety cars, the Dutchman was able to lead from start to finish with minimal fuss as he moved 25 points clear of Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez.
However, Lando Norris capped off an encouraging weekend in the McLaren by holding off Perez for second, strengthening his hold of fifth in the standings.
How did Verstappen and Norris react?
Although Verstappen began the three days of racing by only qualifying in fourth for the Sprint race, he responded in dominant fashion, admitting that his Red Bull was "incredibly quick" in comparison to the rest of the field.
Speaking to Sky Sports, he said: "It felt amazing I think all weekend we were incredibly quick and it was just enjoyable to drive, every single compound as well, the restarts I think we survived that well. These kind of weekends are of course amazing to feel and to achieve basically what we did this weekend is fantastic."
Our points scorers in Shanghai 👀#F1 #ChineseGP pic.twitter.com/vUZTzCqmPd
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"You hear the noises a little bit [after asking the team to check if he had ran over some debris in the latter stage of the race] but I've had it in the past where I've retired quite close to the end and there was a bit of debris from a car and when the tyres are getting cold and old it's very easy to puncture them so I just wanted to double check."
As for Norris, he admitted that expectations were low for Sunday's race, even though his McLaren was fourth on the grid.
The British driver said: "I'm surprised, I'm very happy, very happy for the team. Good pit stops, today it worked out, I don't know how, I wasn't really expecting it.
"I got comfortable, I managed the tyres, It's a lot easier task than yesterday. I could just push the car and it felt great and comfortable so good day, good points and another podium, so very happy."
McLaren team principal Andrea Stella added: "We came here thinking this was a damage limitation event, and yet pole in the sprint, it would have been P2 in the sprint without that first corner, then good qualifying for the race and then podium.
"In fairness, we maintained the second position [through the Safety Car] due to great driving by Lando."
DRIVER STANDINGS: The scores after Shanghai 👀
— Formula 1 (@F1) April 21, 2024
Five rounds down, 19 to go! #F1 #ChineseGP pic.twitter.com/csAIQDWy82
Hamilton "grateful" with ninth position
Lewis Hamilton - a seven-time world champion - could only put his Mercedes in 18th position on the grid, yet the Briton - in what Toto Wolff described as 'a not ok car' - was still able to deliver two points for ninth place.
Hamilton said: "I'm grateful to just get to the points. I didn't expect a lot more this weekend.
"I think we, hopefully, have some step forwards coming in the next race until then we will be back in the factory next week to put us in a good position for Miami and hope we have a better weekend.
Despite also finishing in second spot in the Sprint race, Hamilton is all the way down in ninth place in the standings, 14 points adrift of his teammate George Russell who is in seventh.
Darren Plant
