3 Things We Learnt After the Chinese Grand Prix
F1 flew out to the Chinese Grand Prix for the first time in 5 years. It was the first outing for hometown hero, Zhou Guanyu, as well as the first sprint race of the season. It ended up being a pretty eventful weekend full of penalties, fires and incidents. But what did we learn after the 2024 Chinese Grand Prix?
Sprint Races Can Be Interesting on the Right Circuits
Sprint weekends have never been my favourite F1 weekend. Partially because they make the Grand Prix too predictable but mainly because the sprint is so short that no one can make an impact during that time. The sprint at the Chinese Grand Prix was one that I enjoyed though. It felt like there were more opportunities for overtaking and the drivers were fighting to climb up the grid. F1 is still trying to refine sprint weekends but I think its success lies in picking the right circuits.
Some Teams Are Making a Step Forward
Alpine, McLaren, Kick Sauber and Aston Martin had a good weekend out at the Shanghai International Circuit. Hopefully, this is a sign of better things to come. Alpine had upgrades bolted onto Esteban Ocon’s car and he ended up finishing just one place outside of the points. Alpine has finally moved out of 10th for the first time this season and into 9th. Valtteri Bottas managed to get his Sauber into Q3 and was having a good race until his engine gave up and both drivers managed to make the top 10 during the sprint. The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso showed some amazing pace through the entire weekend. Even with a late pitstop during the race, he still managed to make his way up to P7.
Ferrari May Not Be a Shoo-In for P2
The form on the SF-24 has been amazing during the opening races of the season. The team have managed to fix some of the weaknesses they’ve faced in the past few years. China showed that there will be some tracks that the Ferrari won’t necessarily be strong at, with teams like McLaren having a much easier time of it out in Shanghai. Both Ferrari drivers didn’t make amazing inroads in the sprint or the race. I’m sure the team is eagerly awaiting their first set of major upgrades to get over some of this car’s limitations and is hoping that McLaren’s upgrade package doesn’t have the same impact that it did in 2023.