The 2024 Chinese Grand Prix (officially known as the Formula 1 Lenovo Chinese Grand Prix 2024) was a Formula One motor race that was held on 21 April 2024 at the Shanghai International Circuit in Shanghai, China. It was the fifth round of the 2024 Formula One World Championship and the first Grand Prix weekend of the season to utilise the sprint format. It was also the first Chinese Grand Prix since 2019 as the planned races from to were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the country.
Lando Norris of McLaren took sprint pole position in a heavily rain-affected sprint qualifying. Ultimately, both races were won by Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing, who also took pole position for the main race. Zhou Guanyu became the first Chinese Formula One driver to compete at his home race. Norris finished second in the main race, his 15th career podium, while Verstappen's Red Bull team-mate, Sergio Pérez, finished third, taking his final podium with Red Bull Racing. This is the most recent podium finish achieved by a Mexican driver .
Background The event was held at the Shanghai International Circuit in Shanghai for the 17th time in the circuit's history, and for the first time since the season due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the country, across the weekend of 19–21 April. The Grand Prix was the fifth round of the 2024 Formula One World Championship and the 17th running of the Chinese Grand Prix.
Championship standings before the race Ahead of the weekend race, Max Verstappen led the Drivers' Championship with 77 points, 13 points from his teammate Sergio Pérez in second, and 18 from Charles Leclerc in third. Red Bull Racing led the Constructors' Championship with 141 points, separated from Ferrari by 21 points and from McLaren by 72, in second and third, respectively.
Entrants
The drivers and teams were the same as the season entry list with no additional stand-in drivers for the race. Zhou Guanyu of Sauber became the first Chinese driver to compete at his home Grand Prix.
Tyre choices
Tyre supplier Pirelli brought the C2, C3, and C4 tyre compounds (the middle three in their range) designated hard, medium, and soft, respectively, for teams to use at the event.
Sprint format The weekend was the first of six in the season to follow the sprint format. The FIA was criticised by some drivers for choosing to run the sprint format at a venue that had not hosted a Formula One race for some years, with drivers concerned that one practice session would be insufficient for them to sufficiently prepare.
Practice The only free practice session was held on 19 April 2024, at 11:30 local time (UTC+8), and was topped by Lance Stroll of Aston Martin ahead of Oscar Piastri of McLaren and Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing. A brief red flag period was observed after a patch of grass at the side of the track in turn 7 caught fire.
Sprint qualifying Sprint qualifying was held on 19 April 2024, at 15:30 local time (UTC+8), and determined the starting grid order for the sprint.
Sprint qualifying report
In a session heavily affected by rain, Lando Norris of McLaren took sprint pole position ahead of Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso. Norris's pole position time was initially deleted due to a track limits violation at turn 17 in the preceding lap. However, the time was reinstated, as track limits violations at turn 17 did not result in an automatically invalid lap time (as defined by the race director's notes), and analysis showed that Norris lost time by exceeding track limits. This marked a second consecutive sprint pole for Norris having also achieved sprint pole at the 2023 São Paulo Grand Prix.
The start of the second segment of sprint qualifying (SQ2) was delayed after the same patch of grass that was burned during practice again caught fire. In SQ3, Sauber drivers, Zhou Guanyu and Valtteri Bottas saw their first appearances in the final segment of any type of qualifying for the season, with Zhou going on to qualify 10th and Bottas in 9th.
Sprint qualifying classification DriverConstructorSprintgridSQ1SQ2SQ314 Lando NorrisMcLaren-Mercedes1:36.3841:36.0471:57.9401244 Lewis HamiltonMercedes1:37.1811:36.2871:59.2012314 Fernando Alonso1:36.8831:36.1191:59.915341 Max VerstappenRed Bull Racing-Honda RBPT1:36.4561:35.6062:00.0284555 Carlos Sainz Jr.Ferrari1:36.7191:36.0522:00.2145611 Sergio PérezRed Bull Racing-Honda RBPT1:36.1101:35.7812:00.3756716 Charles LeclercFerrari1:36.5371:35.7112:00.5667881 Oscar PiastriMcLaren-Mercedes1:36.5421:35.8532:00.9908977 Valtteri BottasKick Sauber-Ferrari1:37.1121:36.056 2:01.04491024 Zhou GuanyuKick Sauber-Ferrari1:37.544 1:36.307 2:03.537101163 George RussellMercedes1:37.3101:36.345N/A111220Haas-Ferrari1:37.033 1:36.473N/A121327Haas-Ferrari1:36.9241:36.478N/A13143 Daniel RicciardoRB-Honda RBPT1:37.3211:36.553N/A141518 Lance StrollAston Martin Aramco-Mercedes1:36.9611:36.677N/A151610 Pierre GaslyAlpine-Renault1:37.632N/AN/A161731 Esteban OconAlpine-Renault1:37.720N/AN/A171823 Alexander AlbonWilliams-Mercedes1:37.812N/AN/A181922 Yuki TsunodaRB-Honda RBPT1:37.892N/AN/A19202 Logan SargeantWilliams-Mercedes1:37.923N/AN/A20107% time: 1:42.837Source:
Sprint The sprint was held on 20 April 2024, at 11:00 local time (UTC+8), and was run for 19 laps.
Sprint report
Verstappen won the sprint ahead of Hamilton and Verstappen's teammate Sergio Pérez. Sprint polesitter Norris dropped down to sixth behind Leclerc and Sainz of Ferrari in fourth and fifth, respectively. Alonso, who started in third, retired from a puncture after a collision with Sainz.
Following the sprint, Alonso was given a ten-second penalty for the collision.
Sprint classification DriverConstructorTime/RetiredPoints11 Max VerstappenRed Bull Racing-Honda RBPT19 32:04.66048244 Lewis HamiltonMercedes19 +13.04327311 Sergio PérezRed Bull Racing-Honda RBPT19 +15.25866416 Charles LeclercFerrari19 +17.48675555 Carlos Sainz Jr.Ferrari19 +20.6965464 Lando NorrisMcLaren-Mercedes19 +22.08813781 Oscar PiastriMcLaren-Mercedes19 +24.71382863 George RussellMercedes19 +25.696111924 Zhou GuanyuKick Sauber-Ferrari19 +31.951101020Haas-Ferrari19 +37.39812113 Daniel RicciardoRB-Honda RBPT19 +37.840141277 Valtteri BottasKick Sauber-Ferrari19 +38.29591331 Esteban OconAlpine-Renault19 +39.841171418 Lance StrollAston Martin Aramco-Mercedes19 +40.299151510 Pierre GaslyAlpine-Renault19 +40.838161622 Yuki TsunodaRB-Honda RBPT19 +41.870191723 Alexander AlbonWilliams-Mercedes19 +42.99818182 Logan SargeantWilliams-Mercedes19 +46.352201927Haas-Ferrari19 +49.630132014 Fernando Alonso17 3Fastest lap: Max Verstappen (Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT) – 1:40.331 (lap 3)Source: Notes – Fernando Alonso was classified as he completed more than 90% of the sprint distance. He also received a post-sprint ten-second time penalty for causing a collision with Carlos Sainz Jr. The penalty made no difference as he was already classified in the last position.
Qualifying Qualifying was held on 20 April 2024, at 15:00 local time (UTC+8), and determined the starting grid order for the main race.
Qualifying report Verstappen set the fastest lap time in all sessions, earning Red Bull Racing's 100th pole position in their history. He was joined by teammate Pérez in the grid's front row ahead of Alonso and Norris in third and fourth respectively. The session was red-flagged in Q2 after Sainz spun out to the barriers in the last turn, breaking off his front wing and was able to continue but change for a new one until Q3 started. Hamilton exited in Q1 for the first time since the 2022 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
Qualifying classification DriverConstructorQ1Q2Q311 Max VerstappenRed Bull Racing-Honda RBPT1:34.7421:33.7941:33.6601211 Sergio PérezRed Bull Racing-Honda RBPT1:35.4571:34.0261:33.9822314 Fernando Alonso1:35.1161:34.6521:34.148344 Lando NorrisMcLaren-Mercedes1:34.8421:34.4601:34.1654581 Oscar PiastriMcLaren-Mercedes1:35.0141:34.6591:34.2735616 Charles LeclercFerrari1:34.7971:34.3991:34.2896755 Carlos Sainz Jr.Ferrari1:34.9701:34.3681:34.2977863 George RussellMercedes1:35.0841:34.6091:34.4338927Haas-Ferrari1:35.0681:34.6671:34.60491077 Valtteri BottasKick Sauber-Ferrari1:35.1691:34.7691:34.665101118 Lance Stroll1:35.3341:34.838N/A11123 Daniel RicciardoRB-Honda RBPT1:35.4431:34.934N/A121331 Esteban OconAlpine-Renault1:35.3561:35.223N/A131423 Alexander AlbonWilliams-Mercedes1:35.3841:35.241N/A141510 Pierre GaslyAlpine-Renault1:35.2871:35.463N/A151624 Zhou GuanyuKick Sauber-Ferrari1:35.505N/AN/A161720Haas-Ferrari1:35.516N/AN/A171844 Lewis HamiltonMercedes1:35.573N/AN/A181922 Yuki TsunodaRB-Honda RBPT1:35.746N/AN/A19202 Logan SargeantWilliams-Mercedes1:36.358N/AN/A107% time: 1:41.373Source: Notes – Logan Sargeant qualified 20th, but was required to start the race from the pit lane as his car was modified during parc fermé conditions.
Race The race was held on 21 April 2024, at 15:00 local time (UTC+8), and was run for 56 laps.
Race report Logan Sargeant started the race from the pit lane after his Williams team broke parc fermé conditions. As the race began, Fernando Alonso moved his Aston Martin ahead of Sergio Pérez of Red Bull Racing to slide into second place behind the other Red Bull Racing of Max Verstappen, who proceeded to create a large gap. Pérez soon regained the position as brief contact between Nico Hülkenberg of Haas and Alonso's Aston Martin teammate Lance Stroll was observed and investigated by stewards. A similar instance between Alexander Albon and Pierre Gasly of Alpine was also investigated.
The drivers began their first routine pit stops on lap nine. However, Pierre Gasly pulled away from his box sooner than expected, before all four tyres were fitted, causing an engineer to fall over. While no major injuries were reported, Alpine was fined €10,000 after the race for the unsafe procedure. While Max Verstappen made his stop, Lando Norris stayed out, allowing him to briefly inherit the lead of the race. Soon, Valtteri Bottas's Sauber ground to a halt, his engine expiring as he went into turn 11. Marshals struggled to move the car as it appeared to be stuck in gear, facilitating double-waved yellow flags before it was decided that a virtual safety car period was required. During this period of time, numerous drivers who had not yet made their pit stops opted to change their tyres as the virtual safety car period transitioned into a full safety car period. During this period of time, drivers decided to box once more, with Zhou Guanyu in particular suffering a slow stop.
The safety car was called in on lap 26. During the restart, Alonso locked up into turn 14, creating a concertina effect which culminated into Lance Stroll hitting the rear of Ricciardo's car, pitching it upward from the impact and pushing it into the McLaren of Oscar Piastri. Both Ricciardo and Piastri suffered major damage to their diffusers, with the former being forced to retire a few laps later. Piastri carried on but with reduced performance. Stroll was given a ten-second penalty and two penalty points by the steward. In an interview following the race, Ricciardo, who had a chance to score his first points of the season, revealed that he was displeased with the crash, criticising Stroll's lack of responsibility regarding the incident. After the restart, RB's Yuki Tsunoda was sent into a spin by Kevin Magnussen in turn 6. Tsunoda suffered terminal rear-right damage and retired on the spot, and marshals also had trouble moving the car. Magnussen continued and completed the race at 15th place, but was demoted to 16th after being given a 10-second penalty for causing the collision Stewards investigated a safety car infringement involving Sargeant and Hülkenberg, penalising the former with a ten-second penalty.