There was a lot of anticipation for the first weekend Sprint in China, given the unknowns linked to the return of the Asian stage absent since 2019. Max wins again Verstappen who takes advantage of the Sprint to collect as many points as possible. The double race allows the Dutchman to achieve a double victory, in the Sprint and in the Sunday race. His dominance is increasingly consistent but the fight behind him is closer. Ferrari is perhaps the big defeat of this stage, paying above all for the temperatures and a particularly fit Lando Norris. Let's see who managed to get the best scores in China with the Fanta F1 weekend rankings.
Red Bull ahead, Ferrari stops
It wasn't a particularly easy weekend for Ferrari. On Friday, rain compromised the final phase of Sprint qualifying, especially for Carlos Sainz, in contrast to what was done in previous weekends. Both in the Sprint and in the race things are no better. The SF-24 not only pays off in comparison with Red Bull but also with rivals that have been further behind so far, such as Lando Norris' McLaren. The team misses the podium for the first time since the beginning of the season, a sign that, without updates, the SF-24 is still vulnerable in certain aspects. Despite this, at the moment the Red team remains second force in the constructors' championship, also due to the dual nature of McLaren which enhances with Norris, but which instead fails to ignite with Oscar Piastri.
Compared to previous races, Norris showed a significantly better pace, perhaps favored by the low temperatures. The English team hasn't brought any updates yet either, but even without they manage to get in front of the team without any problems Mercedes. On the eve of the weekend in China, Toto Wolff had warned his rivals, declaring that in Suzuka the team had made a notable step forward, which had gone unnoticed. In China, however, it was Lewis Hamilton who made the difference in the team, author of an excellent comeback from P18 to P9.
The race tested the teams especially on strategies. The ones who paid the price were mainly Sergio Perez's Red Bull, and Fernando Alonso's Aston Martin, who climbed from third to seventh position. The other Aston fared decidedly worse, but due to an error by Stroll which not only threw away his race but also that of Daniel Ricciardo, in the first weekend of recovery for the Australian. The contacts and safety triggered a series of penalties that compromised the scores of many drivers at Fanta F1. So let's look at the scores.
Scores at Fanta F1 in China
Max Verstappen + 40 points
Lando Norris +33 points
Charles Leclerc + 24 points
Sergio Perez + 21.5 points
Lewis Hamilton + 19 points
Carlos Sainz + 17 points
George Russell +16 points
Fernando Alonso + 10 points
Logan Sargeant +6 points
Oscar Piastri + 5.5 points
Nico Hulkenberg + 5.5 points
Esteban Ocon + 5 points
Alexander Albon + 5 points
Guanyu Zhou + 3 points
Pierre Gasly + 1 point
Kevin Magnussen – 6 points
Valtteri Bottas – 7 points
Lance Stroll – 8 points
Daniel Ricciardo – 9 points
Yuki Tsunoda – 10 points
