Max Verstappen capped a dominant weekend with victory at his first Chinese Grand Prix in five years on Sunday, extending his lead in the world championship a day after his sprint victory. The three-time world champion, returning to the Shanghai International Circuit for the first time since 2019, took control of the race, 13.7 seconds ahead of McLaren driver Lando Norris, with Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez third. It was only when Fernando Alonso was denied a bonus for the fastest lap on a 5.451km track on the outskirts of China’s big city that he set a new tyre, that he was denied the weekend’s 100 % chance of points.

It was another all-conquering performance from Verstappen, who added to his sprint victory by winning his fourth grand prix of the season.

It was just a rare brake failure in Melbourne that cost Verstappen his chance of sweeping all five races in 2024 as he moves firmly towards a fourth successive world title.

“It feels great, we were incredibly fast all weekend,” said Verstappen, who took his first win in China.

“It feels great, it’s such a pleasure to drive in every yard. The car is on track and I can do whatever I want with it.”

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz were fourth and fifth respectively, with Mercedes’ George Russell sixth and Alonso seventh after a late charge.

McLaren’s Oscar Piastri was eighth, chased by Lewis Hamilton, who started from 18th on the grid to ninth.

Nico Hulkenberg of Haas earned points and finished 10th.

Norris was delighted to start from fourth on the grid and finish second.

“Surprised, I’m delighted – everything went well today, I didn’t expect that,” the Briton said.

“It shows the team has done a good job and it’s paying off. I bet we would have been a little further behind Ferrari today, I thought it would be 35 seconds, but I was wrong.”

Perez finished on the podium for the fourth time in five rounds this season but had been running in second place until the safety car cost him his position.

“Yes, it cost us quite a bit, we lost two positions (under the safety car) and it was a hard battle. The life of the tires was drastically shortened,” said the Mexican.

China’s first Formula One driver Zhou Guanyu made his domestic grand prix debut at the weekend, attracting huge attention.

After the race, he was allowed to park his car on the grid in front of the grandstands and left the cockpit in tears amid loud applause from the spectators.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)