Category: Chinese Grand Prix 2024

Pace and Analysis- Chinese Grand Prix 2024

May 3rd, 2024

Qualifying Pace-

I have collated the fastest laps by each driver in qualifying, to show the average gap to the fastest driver. Whilst this extends the gap between drivers who made it to the top ten and those below, I’ve ruled using the overall fastest times a better grounding point for the true limit of the top cars, as the cars most likely to compete for points are my primary focus in these analyses.

Additionally, I have collected the data for the gaps between teammates. I did this by using their lap times set in the same qualifying session. I generally compare the last session both drivers competed in, however if both set their fastest times in earlier, I count these instead.

Race Pace-

I have calculated the average pace of the drivers, removing the first laps, laps in the pit lane and laps under the safety car as these are all too slow to be representative. Additionally, I removed any laps with major errors I noticed, for example spinning in the lap. In previous races, I excluded the laps after a safety car restart, as these tended to resemble the first laps, yet I counted them for China, as the long straights on the track seem to have negated the loss from cars being bunched up in the lap’s corners. I have only included drivers that completed at least 75% of the laps to not skew the season averages against drivers that never got the chance to run their cars on low fuel.
As different drivers have a varying number of race stints, this skews the overall pace. Generally, if a driver makes more stops, their pace will be faster on average. This will be considered in my final thoughts and analysis. Additionally, the average pace per stint and number of stints are recorded at the bottom of this article, for those interested in viewing more precise estimates of pace relative to other drivers on the same stint.

Analysis:

• This race offers the best direct comparison between teammates so far this season, as the opportune safety car caused most teammates to have the exact same strategy during the second half of the race.
• The undercut was very powerful during this race, however the safety car negated the advantage those who had stopped early had. This proved an advantage for Norris and Leclerc, who did not pit before the safety car, however, if there was no safety car, it is likely both drivers would have lost out.
• Verstappen was the only driver to complete lap twenty one of the race before the safety car was called.
• As seen on Twitter, I can confirm that every lap Verstappen completed was faster than the respective laps from Perez, Leclerc, and Norris. These drivers were never faster than Verstappen, not for a lap, not for a stint and probably not even for a corner.
• Piastri was significantly slower than Norris for the entire race, in every stint, even before he received damage. Whilst he has shown a lot of potential, he really needs to learn how to manage the tyres soon. This is an essential skill to be successful in the sport, if Oscar is the generational talent many have claimed, he can’t use inexperience as an excuse for bad race pace.
• This was the first weekend that Alpine did not look like the slowest car. I would say, well done, but they are the Renault works team, they don’t really have too many excuses for their performance this year.

Further Resources-
Qualifying Pace:

Driver	Fastest Qualifying Time
Max Verstappen	93.66 (0%)
Sergio Perez	93.982 (+0.344%)
Fernando Alonso	94.148 (+0.521%)
Lando Norris	94.165 (+0.539%)
Oscar Piastri	94.273 (+0.654%)
Charles Leclerc	94.289 (+0.671%)
Carlos Sainz	94.297 (+0.680%)
George Russell	94.433 (+0.825%)
Nico Hulkenberg	94.604 (+1.008%)
Valtteri Bottas	94.665 (+1.073%)
Lance Stroll	94.838 (+1.257%)
Daniel Ricciardo	94.934 (+1.360%)
Esteban Ocon	95.223 (+1.669%)
Alexander Albon	95.241 (+1.688%)
Pierre Gasly	95.287 (+1.737%)
Zhou Guanyu	95.505 (+1.970%)
Kevin Magnussen	95.516 (+1.982%)
Lewis Hamilton	95.573 (+2.042%)
Yuki Tsunoda	95.746 (+2.227%)
Logan Sargeant	96.358 (+2.881%)

Average Race Pace:

Driver	Pace
Max Verstappen	99.779 (0%)
Sergio Perez	100.42 (+0.643%)
Lando Norris	100.664 (+0.887%)
Fernando Alonso	100.771 (+0.995%)
Charles Leclerc	100.979 (+1.203%)
George Russell	101.19 (+1.414%)
Carlos Sainz	101.204 (+1.428%)
Lance Stroll	101.365 (+1.590%)
Pierre Gasly	101.576 (+1.802%)
Oscar Piastri	101.64 (+1.865%)
Zhou Guanyu	101.777 (+2.002%)
Nico Hulkenberg	101.854 (+2.080%)
Lewis Hamilton	101.888 (+2.114%)
Esteban Ocon	101.946 (+2.172%)
Alexander Albon	102.154 (+2.380%)
Kevin Magnussen	102.567 (+2.794%)
Logan Sargeant	102.641 (+2.869%)

All Stints:

Best Stints	Pace
Verstappen 3rd (25L/NH)	99.194
Alonso 4th (12L/NM)	99.572
Norris 2nd (25L/NH)	99.743
Perez 3rd (25L/NH)	99.849
Verstappen 2nd (7L/NH)	99.982
Leclerc 2nd (25L/NH)	100.079
Alonso 3rd (11L/NS)	100.259
Zhou 4th (15L/NS)	100.287
Sainz 2nd (27L/NH)	100.408
Stroll 5th (20L/UH)	100.485
Gasly 4th (17L/NM)	100.519
Russell 3rd (25L/NH)	100.591
Perez 2nd (6L/NH)	100.622
Verstappen 1st (11L/NM)	100.978
Piastri 3rd (25L/NH)	101.274
Hamilton 3rd (25L/NH)	101.276
Alonso 2nd (8L/NH)	101.38
Hulkenberg 3rd (25L/NH)	101.394
Russell 2nd (8L/NM)	101.45
Ocon 3rd (25L/NH)	101.457
Ricciardo 2nd (5L/NM)	101.477
Gasly 3rd (6L/NH)	101.486
Albon 3rd (25L/NH)	101.535
Perez 1st (11L/NM)	101.607
Zhou 3rd (8L/NH)	101.739
Stroll 2nd (10L/NM)	101.846
Gasly 2nd (8L/NH)	101.86
Norris 1st (19L/NM)	101.875
Magnussen 3rd (25L/NM)	101.928
Hulkenberg 2nd (11L/NH)	102.126
Leclerc 1st (19L/NM)	102.163
Sargeant 2nd (7L/NM)	102.222
Bottas 2nd (9L/NH)	102.223
Ocon 2nd (10L/NH)	102.255
Hamilton 2nd (10L/NM)	102.256
Sargeant 3rd (25L/NH)	102.295
Alonso 1st (9L/NM)	102.455
Tsunoda 2nd (11L/NM)	102.582
Piastri 1st (14L/NM)	102.583
Zhou 2nd (11L/NH)	102.606
Russell 1st (9L/NM)	102.62
Sainz 1st (15L/NM)	102.636
Stroll 1st (7L/NS)	102.825
Albon 2nd (10L/NM)	102.884
Bottas 1st (7L/NM)	103.053
Ocon 1st (7L/NM)	103.249
Hulkenberg 1st (6L/NM)	103.272
Albon 1st (7L/NM)	103.32
Gasly 1st (9L/NM)	103.381
Ricciardo 1st (12L/NM)	103.396
Tsunoda 1st (6L/NS)	103.53
Hamilton 1st (7L/NS)	103.549
Sargeant 1st (11L/NS)	103.799
Magnussen 1st (15L/NH)	103.812
Zhou 1st (6L/NM)	104.029

Key: 1L= One Lap, 2L= Two Laps, NH= New Hards, UM= Used Mediums, NM= New Mediums, NS= New Softs

Chinese Grand Prix 2024- Five Star Drivers

Apr 21st, 2024
1. Max Verstappen-
Max was dominant this weekend, easily having the pace over all the other cars. Surviving two safety car restarts with no trouble, Verstappen drove one of his classic, relaxing Sunday afternoon drives. The dominance of Red Bull this weekend was scary, these Ferrari upgrades cannot come soon enough.

2. Lando Norris-

Whilst bottling the chance to win the Saturday Sprint, Lando was the MVP this weekend. His pace in the wet qualifying was scarily good and ensured that Perez was out paced, out strategized, and out raced. The driver of the day award was well deserved.

3. Fernando Alonso-

Fernando had an amazing couple of qualifying sessions, ending up third. He then ran second throughout the early portion of the race. Whilst dropping down due to a car lacking race pace and bad strategy, Fernando recovered through the field with a series of varied and decisive overtakes, finishing seventh and taking the fastest lap to boot.

4. Nico Hulkenberg-

Hulkenberg continued his strong start to the season to secure yet another point for Haas. Nico qualified in the top ten and made no major errors to finish in the best possible position for his car. Haas have been the big surprise of the season and are beginning to look like rockstars.

5. Esteban Ocon-

Ocon has performed well during the season, dragging that tractor into positions it has no right being in. This week, that position was eleventh, just outside of the points. Whilst seldom on screen, I noticed Ocon making moves on the timing screen. How he did so in that car is anyone’s guess, but it deserves a shout out.

Tally:
1. Max Verstappen- 4
2. Carlos Sainz- 3
3. Nico Hulkenberg- 2.5
4. Sergio Perez- 2
5. Charles Leclerc- 2
6. Lando Norris- 2
7. Yuki Tsunoda- 2
8. Oscar Piastri- 1
9. George Russell- 1
10. Fernando Alonso- 1
11. Lance Stroll- 1
12. Oliver Bearman- 1
13. Zhou Guanyu- 1
14. Esteban Ocon- 1
15. Kevin Magnussen- 0.5
Chinese Grand Prix 2024 Review

Apr 21st, 2024

A decent race in Shanghai this weekend was buoyed by the stellar commentary of Nico Rosberg. He has the perspective of someone who deeply understands the sport, able to analyse moment-to-moment actions quickly and reasonably, alongside possessing a balanced perspective on the long-term picture of the race. He is not afraid to call out Crofty when he makes flawed observations, which afforded me the usual activity of shouting at my TV whenever I disagree with him. To accredit David Croft, he can be great at delivering hype during exciting battles, but it helps to have a more analytical voice to balance the coverage out.

Regardless of Nico Rosberg’s commentary, I enjoy this track. There are a variety of corners, all wide enough to allow for possible overtakes. This allows for drivers to attempt different lines and find unique opportunities to make those vital moves fans enjoy. The crowd also delivered, the hype for Zhou Guanyu, F1’s first Chinese driver, rivalling the support from Japanese or Dutch fans. Seeing Zhou crying at the end after finally racing at home was an incredibly wholesome moment. Whilst Zhou has not been an outstanding driver, a country that possesses over a billion people and one of the most important markets in the world needs a star to cheer.

Two weeks ago, McLaren were ruing their disappointment in Japan. But this week, their disappointment dissipated, as they unexpectedly proved the second fastest team. Whilst not having the pace to challenge Verstappen, Lando Norris maximized his pace to finish in second, a fantastic result for the team. Post-race, Lando was hopeful of achieving his long-awaited win this year and if McLaren can develop their car well, his first win seems inevitable and deserving for a driver of evident talent.

Two other topics that warrant mentioning are the arbiters of entertainment, Ferrari and Fernando. Whilst both suffered a regretful weekend, Ferrari lacking pace and Aston Martin strategy, the best overtakes all seemed to be those committed by Fernando and Charles. Fernando instantly ended Sergio Perez’s chance of winning the race by overtaking him at the start and the Ferrari’s picked their way through the slower cars. Charles humbled his on-form teammate, whilst in the meantime Alonso’s teammate humbled himself. The second half of the race proved weak for both drivers, Leclerc slowly realizing that he hadn’t been given the pace to fight Norris and Aston foolishly pitting Alonso onto soft tyres, then requiring another pit stop to finish the race. But both drivers used their talent to maximize the situations, Leclerc finishing just off of the podium and Alonso making decisive moves in his final stint to wrap up a healthy haul of points.

In conclusion, we had a decent weekend of F1 with good commentary, a solid track and a surprising second place. It’s good to have Shanghai back on the Formula One calendar, though hopefully next year we have a fight for the win.
Chinese Grand Prix 2024 Predictions

Apr 18th, 2024
Sprint-
1. Charles Leclerc
2. Max Verstappen
3. Sergio Perez
Pole Position: Max Verstappen
1. Sergio Perez
2. Max Verstappen
3. Charles Leclerc
Bold Prediction: Both Haas cars in Q3

Category: Chinese Grand Prix 2024

Pace and Analysis- Chinese Grand Prix 2024

Chinese Grand Prix 2024- Five Star Drivers

Chinese Grand Prix 2024 Review

Chinese Grand Prix 2024 Predictions