Verstappen hails ‘amazing’ weekend in China as he takes victory amid multiple restarts

Max Verstappen has called his weekend at the Chinese Grand Prix “amazing” after storming to victory in Sunday’s race, following on from his win on Saturday during the first Sprint of 2024.

The Dutchman made a strong getaway from pole, as the 56-lap encounter began, and from there faced a mostly unchallenged drive to the win, despite plenty of drama unfolding behind him when a Safety Car was called midway through the event after Valtteri Bottas pulled off track with a mechanical issue.

READ MORE: Verstappen charges to victory over Norris and Perez in action-packed Chinese GP

After an initial restart, separate incidents between cars further down the field led to the Safety Car again being deployed, but Verstappen managed to maintain his composure during both restarts and was left thrilled to win at the Shanghai International Circuit for the first time.

“It felt amazing,” the world champion reflected on his race after jumping out of the car. “All weekend I think we were incredibly quick. It was just enjoyable to drive every single [tyre] compound as well.

“Restarts, I think we survived that well. The car was basically on rails, I could do whatever I wanted to with it, and those kinds of weekends are of course amazing to feel and of course, then, to achieve what we did this weekend is fantastic.”

There was a slight moment of concern for Verstappen in the final stages of the race as the Red Bull driver ran over some debris, seemingly from the endplate that had recently come off Zhou Guanyu's car after the Kick Sauber made brief contact with Kevin Magnussen’s Haas.

AS IT HAPPENED: Follow all the Chinese Grand Prix action as Verstappen takes victory

Asked if he had been worried that this could lead to him not making it to the finish – despite holding a sizeable gap to Lando Norris in second – Verstappen explained: “I mean you hear always noises a little bit. Of course I’ve had it in the past that I’ve retired quite close to the end.

“There was a bit of debris I think from a car. You know when the tyres are getting cold and old it’s very easy to puncture them and I just wanted to double check.”

Having now extended his lead at the top of the drivers’ championship, Verstappen is hopeful of continuing his run of form at the next race on the calendar in Miami, which takes place from May 3-5.

READ MORE: Verstappen charges to victory over Hamilton in dramatic Shanghai Sprint

“It should normally be a good race for us,” he commented. “Normally a little bit more straightforward with the strategy, but it’s always a quite difficult track. I’m excited, it’s always quite a crazy weekend there, so it’s going to be quite a busy one.”