2024 Chinese GP

Lewis completed his second stop on lap 22 after the retirement of Valtteri Bottas (Sauber) caused a virtual safety car. He switched from the Medium tyre compound to the Hard compound.

Shortly after the stop, the safety car was deployed, which George also used for his second stop. He also opted for the Hard compound.

After several incidents in the field shortly before the restart, the safety car remained on the track. When the race was restarted on lap 33, Lewis passed Esteban Ocon (Alpine) and moved up into the points in P10.

A few laps later, Lewis also overtook Nico Hülkenberg in the Haas and chased Piastri, whose McLaren likely picked up some damage in the melee on the first safety car restart.

In the closing stages of the race, both drivers managed their tyres to defend themselves against Alonso, who rushed through the field from behind on fresh Medium tyres after another pit stop.

Lewis had no chance against the charging Spaniard, but George was able to stay ahead of him. In the end, George and Lewis saw the chequered flag after 56 laps in P6 and P9.

From Shanghai, it's now on to Miami, where the second sprint weekend of the 2024 F1 season is scheduled for Round 6 in a fortnight's time.

Lewis Hamilton

I went forwards and got into the points, but it was a tough race. Ultimately, I made a bad set-up change to the car yesterday and I paid the price for it. I plan to make sure I don’t do that in the future! The car does seem to work in a small window, and I did think it was the correct thing to do. Sadly, it made today very difficult. The team did a great job with the pit stops though and George did well to score some solid points. I’m sure the next race in Miami will be better.

Whilst I didn’t have the best race, it’s still been awesome to see the incredible fans here. They are some of the best anywhere in the world. I am so grateful to see them again after several years away and it made for a brilliant atmosphere.

Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director

It was always going to be a tough race for us. We're not quick enough currently and we didn't qualify well. Our finishing positions were exactly where we'd forecast them to be this morning. George couldn't really have got more out of it; he got a good start which put him ahead of the Ferraris, but we'd taken a bit too much out of the rear tyres in that first stint and had to box earlier than planned. That early stop would have been more painful to deal with, but the two Safety Car periods were helpful for us and neutralised the tyre age offset. The race from there on was straightforward. We were not quick enough to attack Sainz but had the pace to stay ahead of Fernando.

Lewis's race wasn't easy as he didn't gain much off the line on the Soft tyre. He then got stuck in a traffic jam on the inside line around Turn 2 and lost to cars on the wide line. We had made some changes to his car after the Sprint and clearly, they didn’t improve the car. It made Qualifying and the race difficult. He was struggling to turn the car and having to use the power to do so, which was hurting the rear tyres. We decided to pit him under the Virtual Safety Car to offset to other cars, but most of our competitors did the same once the Safety Car was deployed. We benefitted from a couple of cars dropping out ahead but, considering the early part of the race, it was a relief to get some points. We will work hard to ensure we do a better job at the next race in Miami.