Max Verstappen notched his first ever Chinese Grand Prix win as Red Bull continued a dominant start to the F1 World championship.
Max Verstappen ticks Shanghai off the list
The Dutch star was delighted with the effort of the team and pulling off a first win in Shanghai.
“I think today went really well and I was very happy with everything, we had great pace in the whole race although of course with the deployment of the safety car, the gap that I had made was shortened and we then had to gain that back,” Verstappen said in comments Oracle Red Bull Racing provided to the South African.
“Today the car was very well balanced, every time that we needed to be quick we were and it felt much more consistent to drive in comparison to the Sprint, even for the restarts and overall I am really pleased with the performance that we had as a team.
“Every race is different in terms of emotions, this one was particularly enjoyable because the whole weekend went so well, especially considering that it was a Sprint weekend which is always much more hectic. A weekend like this is as much as you can ever hope for.
“A win in Shanghai was definitely on my list, to be here and to win in front of such an amazing crowd is very special and I am pleased that the race is back on the calendar.”
Sergio Perez wanted more despite Max Verstappen win
Sergio Perez came in third. A result that disappointed the Mexican driver.
“The safety car cost us a little today, it would have been close but unfortunately it came at the wrong time for us and put us on the back foot and we lost two places,” Perez said.
“Fighting with Charles damaged my tyres a little too much and it made it hard. The level of degradation was a little too trying on this track to make better progress, so we struggled. I wanted more today, I did expect a little more from the race, the Sprint looked very promising but today we were not able to capitalise on that.
“We made some changes that potentially took away some of our performance. We will review those for Miami to make sure we keep this progression going to keep these better weekends. We are having a lot stronger weekends and it’s just a matter of now being able to lead from lap one and do our own race, hopefully that will come soon.”
Big weekend for Red Bull
CEO & Team Principal of Red Bull Christian Horner said that the Chinese Grand Prix is always special and marks the great progress of the team.
“It was a phenomenal weekend for the Team, 117 wins and 15 years since our first victory here marks a very big moment for us and one I am very proud of on a personal level,” said Horner.
“We are very happy with the progress. Max has just been fantastic, all season long and again with Checo on the podium sums up a great all round performance.
“We were on an aggressive two stop and we were a little unlucky with the safety car which played into Lando and Charles favour, but that’s the way it goes sometimes. So they got a free stop and were able to jump Checo on track. He managed to pass Charles but unfortunately, he didn’t have enough to catch Lando.
“Maybe we took a bit too much out tyres early on, but it was a great drive by both drivers and a great race by the whole Team.
“The pit crew were on their game today with the double stack and that is a measure of the tone set by the Team in general, everyone continues to fire on all cylinders both here and back at home in Milton Keynes.
“I would also like to thank Exxon Mobil for their continued support and congratulate them on 50 years of Mobil 1. We literally would not be able to get out of the gate without them!”
