Which Formula 1 driver made the most of the Chinese Grand Prix weekend?
It’s time to give your verdict on which driver did the best with the equipment at their disposal over the last three days.
Review how each driver got on below and vote for who impressed you the most at Shanghai International Circuit.
Driver performance summary
| Driver | Q stage | Q pos. | Q gap to team mate | SR grid pos. | SR pos. | GP grid pos. | GP pos. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Max Verstappen | Q3 | 1 | -0.322s | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Sergio Perez | Q3 | 2 | +0.322s | 6 | 3 | 2 | 3 |
| Lewis Hamilton | Q1 | 18 | +0.489s | 2 | 2 | 18 | 9 |
| George Russell | Q3 | 8 | -0.489s | 11 | 8 | 8 | 6 |
| Charles Leclerc | Q3 | 6 | -0.008s | 7 | 4 | 6 | 4 |
| Carlos Sainz Jnr | Q3 | 7 | +0.008s | 5 | 5 | 7 | 5 |
| Lando Norris | Q3 | 4 | -0.108s | 1 | 6 | 4 | 2 |
| Oscar Piastri | Q3 | 5 | +0.108s | 8 | 7 | 5 | 8 |
| Lance Stroll | Q2 | 11 | +0.186s | 15 | 14 | 11 | 15 |
| Fernando Alonso | Q3 | 3 | -0.186s | 3 | 20 | 3 | 7 |
| Esteban Ocon | Q2 | 13 | -0.240s | 17 | 13 | 13 | 11 |
| Pierre Gasly | Q2 | 15 | +0.240s | 16 | 15 | 15 | 13 |
| Alexander Albon | Q2 | 14 | -0.974s | 18 | 17 | 14 | 12 |
| Logan Sargeant | Q1 | 20 | +0.974s | 20 | 18 | 20 | 17 |
| Daniel Ricciardo | Q2 | 12 | -0.303s | 14 | 11 | 12 | 18 |
| Yuki Tsunoda | Q1 | 19 | +0.303s | 19 | 16 | 19 | 19 |
| Valtteri Bottas | Q3 | 10 | -0.336s | 9 | 12 | 10 | 20 |
| Zhou Guanyu | Q1 | 16 | +0.336s | 10 | 9 | 16 | 14 |
| Kevin Magnussen | Q1 | 17 | +0.448s | 12 | 10 | 17 | 16 |
| Nico Hulkenberg | Q3 | 9 | -0.448s | 13 | 19 | 9 | 10 |
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Vote for your driver of the weekend
Which driver do you think did the best job throughout the race weekend?
Who got the most out of their car in qualifying and the race? Who put their team mate in the shade?
Cast your vote below and explain why you chose the driver you picked in the comments.
Who was the best driver of the 2024 Chinese Grand Prix weekend?
- No opinion (1%)
- Kevin Magnussen (0%)
- Nico Hulkenberg (4%)
- Zhou Guanyu (0%)
- Valtteri Bottas (0%)
- Yuki Tsunoda (0%)
- Daniel Ricciardo (3%)
- Logan Sargeant (0%)
- Alexander Albon (0%)
- Pierre Gasly (0%)
- Esteban Ocon (0%)
- Fernando Alonso (23%)
- Lance Stroll (1%)
- Oscar Piastri (0%)
- Lando Norris (43%)
- Carlos Sainz Jnr (0%)
- Charles Leclerc (2%)
- George Russell (0%)
- Lewis Hamilton (3%)
- Sergio Perez (0%)
- Max Verstappen (19%)
Total Voters: 93
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When this poll is closed the result will be displayed instead of the voting form.
2024 Chinese Grand Prix
- Alonso and Sainz incidents prompt changes to Formula 1’s rules
- Aston Martin fail in bid to have Alonso’s Shanghai penalty reviewed
- Mercedes cleared over Hamilton pit stop infraction as ‘nearly all teams in breach’
- Aston Martin petitions FIA to review Alonso’s penalty for Sainz collision
- “You need to be more on it”: 12 unheard radio exchanges from the Chinese GP
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Nulla Pax (@nullapax)
21st April 2024, 11:13
Whoops – first voter.
Funny to see my pick at 100% and no other driver with a score – LOL
Fernando was epic today but Lando was good all weekend.
MichaelN
21st April 2024, 11:30
Norris had a great weekend, with his start in the sprint being the only real con.
earthling (@34rthl1ng)
21st April 2024, 11:33
Lando Norris was pretty good and got a deserved podium ahead of both Ferrari but P2 was gifted by the SC timing.
MacLeod (@macleod)
22nd April 2024, 8:11
I want to vote for Lando untill i remembered his poor performance (error) in the sprint. So i switched to Max so he is the one with the least errors this weekend.
Moi
21st April 2024, 11:44
Should rename this to driver-of-the-weekend-who-isnt-Verstappen.
In which case, either Norris or Hulkenberg. Alonso deserves an honorable mention for the gamble on the softs, even if it didn’t work out for him.
grapmg
21st April 2024, 15:18
That’s Max biggest problem this year nobody votes him DOTD anymore. The downside of winning everything.
MadMax (@madmax)
21st April 2024, 16:03
With a car more than 1s faster managing and cruising around will not make you win any drivers vote.
miciek (@micio)
21st April 2024, 18:44
Nobody votes for Max because he isn’t challenged by anyone so he isn’t really racing.
Stephen Crowsen (@drycrust)
21st April 2024, 18:58
I voted for Max. Masterclass! Okay, I don’t think he got the fastest lap point, I think Fernando got that. So Max walked away with the most points available bar one. All the other drivers need to study how he drives a car because he totally dominates the track.
EffWunFan (@cairnsfella)
22nd April 2024, 4:44
I voted Max too, despite preferring not to. No argument with those that chose Fernando or Lando though.
I felt that although Lando’s mistakes were limited (primarily to the Sprint start), this was still more obvious than any error my Max. Fernando may have driven further beyond the car’s limits than others at times this weekend, but for me he doesn’t always do himself favours by pushing so hard.
Nick T.
21st April 2024, 16:08
That wasn’t a gamble. It’s because he just switched to his hards (the best tire for AM) and only had mediums left when the SC came out. So, there was no way he was going to get to the end on those…however, AM didn’t think he’d be so disadvantaged by yet another SC coming and doing so many unnecessary laps. Had they know that, they would have gambled on getting mediums to the end.
It cost him 5th place. No way are Sainz and Russell finishing ahead if not for the SC. It’s standard FA luck. Only driver with worse luck in his career was Kimi.
Crawliin-from-the-wreckage- Special Unhinged Edition (@davedai)
22nd April 2024, 1:36
Or Ferrari’s Chris Amon.
Mario said Chris was the unluckiest driver he ever saw. So unlucky he said
that if he was gravedigger people would stop dying.
He did win Le Man’s with Bruce McLaren though Those Kiwis do produce some decent drivers.
Jere (@jerejj)
21st April 2024, 12:38
DOTW & DOTD: NOR
RBAlonso (@rbalonso)
21st April 2024, 13:47
Objectively it’s Max.
He’s beaten his team-mate and the only small blot is 4th in the wet. Hardly a disaster.
Alonso, Sainz and Leclerc all had incidents. Perez and Piastri were beaten convincingly. Russell was out in q2 and made little impression in the sprint. Hamilton was good in the sprint but otherwise had a very difficult weekend.
For me that leaves Bottas, Ricciardo and Norris. Norris made a driving error at the start which the other 2 didn’t. Bottas was behind Zhou in the sprint. Daniel maybe shouldn’t be driver of the weekend but versus expectation he looked good.
But it’s Max.
Crawliin-from-the-wreckage- Special Unhinged Edition (@davedai)
22nd April 2024, 1:41
Of course it is.
I disagree with those saying it’s easy.,
Hmmmm.well seem to be some drivers can’t handle it. Will I spin it or bin it? Aerial acrobatics? Wonder how far I can shift the barrier after I hit it?
Life’s not easy not is winning a GP.
Asd
21st April 2024, 13:50
Why so many votes for Lando? He totally butchered his sprint race. Alonso was stellar!
David (@nvherman)
21st April 2024, 14:56
It’s a sprint. No one cares.
David BR (@david-br)
21st April 2024, 14:13
Norris. Really shouldn’t be I suppose as he messed up the sprint start, but in terms of proper qualifying and races, he was the pick. And I really can’t think of anyone else. Max, sure, but who knows? Just too easy for Red Bull even with Pérez trying his hardest not to do anything with the car.
David
21st April 2024, 15:41
Would have voted Norris if not for his poor start in the sprint, given to Alonso, despite the odd strategy.
Jim from US (@jimfromus)
22nd April 2024, 1:14
ALO as he is getting the most out of his car.
GmP (@gmp)
22nd April 2024, 5:38
How did Alonso get 20% of the votes (at time of writing)?
In sprint: good qualification got him upto 3rd, but in the sprint dropped to dead last. Had to retire because not by mechanical issue but because of an accident he created himself.
In race: good qualification again to 3rd, in the race dropped to 7th. He is in a top-9 car (we don’t count Lance anymore), Lewis was far behind, so Alonso worst place would be 8. Only driver he could get was Piastri, so he became 7th.
Yes, from the top-9 he did OK, but second best after Lando? No way.
Pjotr (@pietkoster)
23rd April 2024, 13:43
Hamilton of course. Amazing sprint qualifying, amazing sprint podium and in the race from pos 18 to 9 unbelievable what a driver. The Goat!