Verstappen third in great catch-up race in China: “Very happy”

Published on 09 April 2017 by Mike Motilall

Max Verstappen managed to pull off an excellent third place finish in a thrilling race at Chinese Grand Prix. Leaving from P16, the Dutchman had a flying start and was in seventh after the first lap. Under tremendous pressure, Verstappen was able to fend off team mate Daniel Ricciardo in order to lay claim to the final podium spot. Mercedes driving Lewis Hamilton took pole quite decisively, Sebastian Vettel in his Ferrari followed in second.

“I am of course very happy to be on the podium”, says a big smiling Verstappen on the podium. “I didn’t expect this, especially since I started from sixteenth. It was very challenging. I think that I overtook nine cars in the first lap. I was pleased with that. After that I drove a good race and I think we made the perfect choices with the pit stops. The car did have much under steer, which wasn’t ideal. During qualifying yesterday, I didn't have much track time to get the balance right, that’s why I needed to nurse the car to the finish.”

In the closing stages of the race, things got exciting between team mates Verstappen and Ricciardo. The Dutchman was clearly suffering from back marker Grosjean ahead of him: “I just wanted some clean air. I was already struggling with the front tyres and that was not helping. But eventually we still finished on the podium. I am very happy.”

After a washed out Friday and a dry Saturday, there are once again wet conditions on the Shanghai International Cicruit prior to the race. Almost all the drivers are preparing themselves for the start on the intermediate tyres. Carlos Sainz is an exception and starts the race on the super-softs. Due to an issue with a spark plug, Max Verstappen was only able to qualify in nineteenth, but because of penalty’s given to his peers, he will be starting from P16.

Verstappen has a flying start and is seventh after the first lap. Lance Stroll gets knocked off track by Perez and the Canadian gets stuck with his Williams in the gravel. During a virtual safety car, the Williams is retrieved. Many drivers decide to change to the regular tyres, because they consider the track to be dry enough. When the pack is let loose on lap four, Antonio Giovinazzi crashes on the straight at the start/finish line. The Italian causes severe damage to his Sauber but gets out unscathed. The safety car gets out on the circuit and all the front runners, including Verstappen, pit to change to the regular tyres. Max switches to the super-soft tyres and emerges on track in fourth position. Hamilton is the lead driver, followed by Ricciardo and Raikkonen.

On lap eight the safety heads back in. Verstappen is quick on the draw and in a matter of a few corners he makes little work of Raikkonen. He then sets his sight on Ricciardo, who is second. The Dutchman is closing in on him very quickly and on lap eleven Max passes his team mate on the inside with a beautiful move. In clean air Verstappen is quickly the fastest man on track with a 1:40.405.

Vandoorne drops out with his McLaren on lap nineteen, as Kvyat is also forced to park his Toro Rosso alongside the track two laps later. Max is running some four seconds behind leading driver Hamilton and over five seconds up on team mate Ricciardo. Vettel passes the Ossie on lap 22 with a brave move during which the cars even touch. The Ferrari-driver then starts closing in on Verstappen quite rapidly. Max outbrakes himself on lap 28 at the end of the long straight, handing over his position to Vettel, who is now running in second. Verstappen decides to pit one lap later and changes to a new set of the super-softs. He re-emerges in sixth on track. On new rubbers, Verstappen is the fastest one on track at that moment and is also on Bottas’ tail. On lap 33, Max makes a sweet move and passes the Mercedes to snatch fifth.

McLaren is still not out of the woods regarding their problems when Alonso also retires his car on lap 35. At the same time, Vettel pits for other tyres and gets back on track in front of Verstappen. When Raikkonen pits on lap 40, Max is third again.

Ricciardo mounts some pressure on Verstappen in the closing stages of the race. Because back marker Grosjean is ahead of both drivers, Verstappen is losing grip and the Ossie is then able to close the gap. On the final lap, Ricciardo launches one more attack but out brakes himself. Verstappen snatches the final podium spot after a strong race. A supreme Hamilton takes the victory home ahead of Vettel in P2. Raikkonen and Bottas round up the top six.

Chinese Grand Prix - Shanghai International Circuit - Sunday 9 April

RACE RESULTS:

01 44 Lewis Hamilton      Mercedes                   	56 1:37:36.158
02  5 Sebastian Vettel    Ferrari                    	56 +6.250s
03 33 Max Verstappen      Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer  	56 +45.192s
04  3 Daniel Ricciardo    Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer  	56 +46.035s
05  7 Kimi Räikkönen      Ferrari                    	56 +48.076s
06 77 Valtteri Bottas     Mercedes                   	56 +48.808s
07 55 Carlos Sainz        Toro Rosso                 	56 +72.893s
08 20 Kevin Magnussen     Haas Ferrari               	55 +1 lap
09 11 Sergio Perez        Force India Mercedes       	55 +1 lap
10 31 Esteban Ocon        Force India Mercedes       	55 +1 lap
11  8 Romain Grosjean     Haas Ferrari               	55 +1 lap
12 27 Nico Hulkenberg     Renault                    	55 +1 lap
13 30 Jolyon Palmer       Renault                    	55 +1 lap
14 19 Felipe Massa        Williams Mercedes          	55 +1 lap
15  9 Marcus Ericsson     Sauber Ferrari             	55 +1 lap
NC 14 Fernando Alonso     McLaren Honda              	33 DNF
NC 26 Daniil Kvyat        Toro Rosso                 	18 DNF
NC  2 Stoffel Vandoorne   McLaren Honda              	17 DNF
NC 36 Antonio Giovinazzi  Sauber Ferrari             	3 DNF
NC 18 Lance Stroll        Williams Mercedes          	0 DNF