F1. China 2024 Review

By Aiden McLaughlin, Gavin Huet and Chelsea Wintle

Driver of the day

Gavin – Lando Norris in the McLaren of course… always been a big fan myself… yep…

To be fair I think the results over the weekend caught even Lando out, he was not expecting to get one over the Ferraris never mind fighting Red Bulls. Starting in P1 in the sprint race Lando was put into his place by Lewis Hamilton who took a bad Mercedes and out drove the McLaren driver through the first corner. But Lando learnt his lesson and ended the main race on the podium in P2 behind Max Verstappen, whilst keeping the other Red Bull of Sergio Perez firmly behind him. A really well managed race – preserving tyres, keeping ahead of Sergio, and most importantly keeping out of trouble. Is this the start of an upwards trajectory for Lando, or just another scene in a highlights reel of a good, but ultimately underwhelming driver?

Chelsea – Lando Norris didn’t expect to be on the podium, but managed it, and made it look easy. A solid, consistent run with well-placed pit stops meant he bisected the Red Bulls and showed what a mature driver he really is. Fernando Alonso provided the most entertainment, but couldn’t back it up with points, finishing seventh after starting the race in third.

Aiden – It must be getting to the stage where McLaren/Lando Norris are looking to get a voodoo doll of Max Verstappen, or maybe even one of the RB20. This was Norris’ eighth P2 in F1 and seventh in the last 18 races. Splitting the Red Bulls is always a great achievement and Norris topped off another impressive event (he took pole in the sprint race in wet conditions) by driving an excellent race on a weekend that he expected his car to struggle, given the long corners at the Shanghai International Circuit.

 

Moment of the weekend

Gavin – On lap 20 Valterri Bottas had to stop his Sauber with engine failure. For some reason it took the race directors a little while to go from double waved yellows to virtual safety car to full safety car. The race restarted on lap 27 only to immediately get another safety car when Lance Stroll decided to use the other cars as a brake for his Aston Martin while Kevin Magnussen in the Haas spun Yuki Tsunoda’s RB around. With drivers trying to jostle for position and changing tyres and being out of sequence on the track, a glorious couple of minutes ensued in which I don’t think anyone knew what was going on which finally put me on a level playing field with all the pundits.

Special mention to Fernando Alonso as he put his right rear tyre in the gravel as he entered the main straight whilst on a charge late in the race, but unlike Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz during qualifying Fernando kept the Aston Martin on the track with some amazingly quick reflexes. Age is really just a number.

Chelsea – Fernando Alonso appeared to defy physics late in the race when he ran wide at turn 16 and hit gravel. Instead of careering into the barriers or spinning into traffic, he miraculously regained control of the Aston Martin and completed the race. With the news he’s staying on at Aston Martin through to 2026 at least, he’ll continue to be a delight to watch in the upper midfield for a while yet.

Aiden – Zhou Guanyu has been a busy boy ever since the Japanese Grand Prix finished a fortnight ago. He was thrust straight into the build-up for this, his home Grand Prix, for countless media and fan engagement sessions and even as Ted Kravitz was doing his ‘Notebook’ programme for Sky Sports, he was off to meet more fans, accompanied by the two security guards that had flanked him all weekend. How good then, that he was given the privilege of parking his car in front of the main grandstand after the race had finished, something usually reserved for the top three finishers. As the crowd rose to acknowledge him, he waved to them, and suddenly it was too much; he burst into tears and squatted, placing his hands over his face. In a tough business, it was great to see his human side come out and for him to release all that emotion.

 

Hot take of the weekend

Gavin – RB ended the day with two retirements. In a season in which Daniel Ricciardo and Yuki Tsunoda can’t really afford to not finish the race due to being out of contract soon this was not an ideal result for them. They were not at fault here but that is racing and the end result is the same: zero points. Contract negotiations will be interesting… for Liam Lawson…

Chelsea – After the first safety car restart, bunching at turn 14 led to Ricciardo braking sharply to avoid hitting fellow Aussie Piastri. Sadly Lance Stroll wasn’t quite as sharp on the brakes, and ploughed into the rear of the RB, eventually leading to Ricciardo’s retirement. Aside from continuing Ricciardo’s bad run, it also drew focus back to Stroll Jr – how long will it make financial sense to keep him on the team? Nepo babies are a hot topic of late, but with an exciting driver’s market and contract talks already underway, surely Papa Stroll would let his eyes wander?

Aiden – As much as I missed Martin Brundle’s comforting presence on Sky Sports UK’s coverage, and as much as I’ve cringed at some of Nico Rosberg’s occasional pundit appearances in the past, I actually enjoyed his co-commentary alongside David ‘did you know I used to commentate on darts for the BBC’ Croft. With most of the Sky team seeming to be scheduled to do about 16 of the 24 races, rotation is inevitable. Jenson Button, Anthony Davidson and Karun Chandhok have all taken the number two seat beside Crofty at times for the main race, but last weekend it was the 2012 Chinese Grand Prix winner’s turn – if you didn’t know that before the weekend, you sure do now – and he brought something different. He disagreed with Crofty plenty, criticised, complimented, brought great driver insights, took an early punt on Lando finishing second and then rushed off to clip the ticket again by interviewing the top three for Formula One after the chequered flag. I’m guessing we might not see him again until he appears on a random boat barefooted in Monaco having leisurely made his way from home across the principality to join Simon Lazenby and co, but unlike before, I’ll be looking forward to it.

 

Cold take of the weekend

Gavin – That Mercedes car really is no good. Lewis Hamilton surprised everyone by getting second place in the Sprint Race but it was a struggle for the rest of the weekend. The team continue to try to understand the car but every time they make progress it ends up with them regressing even further. Team principal Toto Wolff said the car is “not OK” and there are upgrades on the way, but looking at the state of the team you can imagine that Lewis is thinking his move to Ferrari cannot come soon enough. If you can’t even catch an Alpine then you know you are in serious trouble.

Chelsea – t’s a cold take because it’s hardly a hot take, but why is it so hard to appreciate someone in their prime? I fell for F1 in 2016, in peak Lewis Hamilton era, and could not wait for him to be de-perched. Now I dream of his comeback, even a podium, even through good luck or bad weather or the second coming. Yet Max Verstappen is dominating to an almost unfathomable extent and we can’t stop moaning. I’m sure at some point I will enjoy his dominance, but he’s not helped by the fact that he finishes so far ahead of his competitors that we barely see him on screen.

Aiden – Does anyone remember Lance in Home and Away? I’m talking early Home and Away, when Donald Fisher was headmaster and foster kids dominated the programme. Well, Lance was pretty useless. When his best friend Martin began attending night classes and got a girlfriend, Lance felt left out and ran away but nobody even noticed he was gone. Now we have the F1 version. Would anyone actually notice in 2025 if Lance (Stroll) was gone? Dear Lance (Stroll), when there is a safety car restart, you need to be careful. Ploughing straight into the back of Daniel Ricciardo’s car and then calling him an ‘idiot’ isn’t really on. By the way, Home and Away’s Lance subsequently ran away and joined the army; is conscription a thing in Canada?

 

Bonus picture of the week

Zhou Guanyu (1.75m tall) meets NBA legend Yao Ming (2.29m tall).

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