Red Bull vince but he doesn't win by a landslide in China, thanks to a Lando Norris who is brilliant to say the least. The Englishman managed to do what no one had done so far this season, that is, to slip between the two Red Bulls, exploiting an excellent strategy, but above all showing excellent pace in the race by beating Ferrari, exceptionally off the podium. A race conditioned by safety and accidents which led to a series of penalties. Let's see in the first Sprint weekend of the season, in China the tops and flops at Fanta F1.
Top of the Sprint weekend in China
Land Norris: in China Lando Norris demonstrated the true potential of McLaren, arriving on the eve of the weekend with rather low expectations, but with a warning for Ferrari. Neither team has yet brought major updates, and this played in favor of Norris' McLaren, which managed to impose itself on the Red especially in qualifying. In the race Lando made up for the terrible start in the Sprint, with a pace even higher than that of the second Red Bull on the pitch, that of Perez. Second podium of the season for Lando who now relaunches the challenge against Ferrari. Voted best driver by Sky but also at world level, Lando brings home quite a few points in this Sprint weekend in China.
Lewis Hamilton: the best weekend so far for Hamilton who, after second place in the Sprint, also reached the points zone despite starting from P18. This comeback brings him many points at Fanta F1, changing the fate of the weekend for the Englishman who still has a long season ahead of him.
Charles Leclerc: for the first time this season Ferrari seemed to be in real difficulty in China. Not only in qualifying but also in the race, both Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz struggled to get their tires up to temperature, suffering attacks from their opponents. The podium doesn't arrive but for the first time Leclerc proves to be more consistent than his teammate, and above all in the race, he achieves the best possible result given the conditions.
Sprint weekend flop in China
Lance Stroll: “it's unbelievable”. We will use a quote from the good Stroll to describe his race weekend. He could have reached the top 10, but he gets fooled by his haste and on the restart from safety he destroys Daniel Ricciardo's race, crashing into him badly. The resulting penalty sinks him even further. A bad show.
Logan sargeant: being betrayed by our cornerstone at Fanta F1 hurts. He finishes last but thanks to the penalties which effectively nullify this bonus.
Oscar Piastri: his teammate is punctually beating him. Even today with a McLaren capable of placing second, as Lando demonstrates, Piastri is unable to get close to the times of his teammate to whom he pays 2 seconds. There are many, too many. And we need to start asking ourselves where this difference comes from. Looking at Ferrari and the gap between the two drivers, this difference in performance puts the fight for second place in the constructors' championship at risk.
