Max Verstappen rounded off a dominant weekend with victory in the first Chinese Grand Prix for five years to extend his world championship lead, a day after romping to sprint victory.
The three-time world champion controlled the race on Sunday, finishing 13.7 seconds ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris with Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez third, a further six seconds back.
It was another all-conquering display from Verstappen, who won his fourth Grand Prix this season and the 58th of his career.
He increased his lead over Perez at the top of the drivers’ championship to 25 points with Red Bull pulling 44 points clear of Ferrari in the constructors’ standings.
Only a rare brake failure and retirement in Melbourne denied Verstappen the chance of a clean sweep of all five rounds in 2024 as he marches towards a fourth consecutive world title.
“It felt amazing. The whole weekend we were incredibly quick. Just enjoyable to drive on every compound,” said Verstappen, who took his first victory in China.
The Ferrari pair of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz were fourth and fifth.
China’s first Formula One driver Zhou Guanyu was an enormous draw over the weekend as he made his home grand prix debut.
He was allowed to park his car on the grid in front of the grandstands after finishing 14th in the race and exited the cockpit in floods of tears to an ovation from the capacity crowd.
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