THE BIG PICTURE: Umm, we got nothing.

EVENT: The first time China ever had any kind of atmosphere and apparently did not need to bus in "fans" to fill the stands. All because of hometown hero, Zhou Guanyu.

TRACK: Instead of repaving the track like most people expected, they instead essentially put sealant coat on it. Oooookaaaaay.

SPRINT QUALIFYING: SQ1 -- Dry. Predictable. Alpine continues to suck. Williams continues to struggle. SQ2 -- Dry to wet. Unpredictable. Russell is out. Zhou lights up the crowd going through. SQ3 -- Wet. Chaotic. It was anybody's pole. Norris takes it by having his lap deleted and then reinstated.

SPRINT: In the end, was it ever in doubt? Verstappen was just waiting his turn. And then he promptly crushed the field. Meanwhile, the battle for third through sixth was a whole chunk of fun.

SPRINT START: Super jump by Hamilton gets him in front of Norris who doesn't let up fighting the whole way only to succumb not just to Hamilton, but to five other cars.

QUALIFYING: Verstappen continues his domination from the Sprint race, Perez continues his impressive season, Alonso is his old self, McLarens are strong, Ferraris drop a notch even if Sainz has quite the comeback, Sauber continues to punch above their weight this weekend even if Zhou couldn't thrill the crowd this time, well, well, well Ricciardo outqualifies Tsunoda both times, and Hamilton is stunned.

RACE: Ditto the Sprint, except Verstappen never left a doubt this time.

START: Alonso does a great job warming his tires approaching the grid and it pays off as he jumps Perez for second around the outside, Norris tries everything to also get past Perez but can't pull it off, Hulkenberg jumps both Ferraris, and Verstappen begins his 56-lap march off into the sunset.

VERSTAPPEN: Complete and utter domination. If he's not already there, Max is approaching the Schumacher/Ferrari level of domination.

PEREZ: Yes, he is running a lot better this year. Yet, Sergio did not finish second.

RED BULL: Remember, they will continue to develop this year...

NORRIS: He has to be the most pessimistic driver in F1. But despite that, Lando continues to pull some great drives out of the hat.

PIASTRI: Starting to get routinely beaten by Norris.

MCLAREN: Once again, so close, yet so far.

LECLERC: Fiesty with his lame duck teammate.

SAINZ: Now, there is not a single driver who has been on every podium this year.

FERRARI: The drivers gave Fred Vasseur angina during the Sprint.

ALONSO: The debacle on the first restart was actually Fernando's fault. It was his lockup (surprisingly on soft tires) which led to the accordian effect since no one could pass which ultimately led to Stroll smashing into Ricciardo's butt.

STROLL: Despite what the Stewards said, it was not Lance's fault, even if he did look away for a split second. Eventually someone was going to run into someone in that situation. Stroll just happened to be that unlucky someone.

ASTON MARTIN: An interesting strategy they used for Alonso.

HULKENBERG: Another point for the Hulk.

ZHOU: Every person, no matter their walk of life, should have at least one moment in the sun. Guanyu finally got that moment in his third F1 season.

SAUBER: A three second pit stop. You heard that correctly. A three second pit stop. It appears they finally solved their wheel nut threading problem. Umm, never mind...

ALPINE: They are the pit stop failure for this race. And that mechanic is very lucky not to be injured.

RICCIARDO: We find it hard to believe it was truly the chassis before China. But Daniel did outqualify Tsunoda in both sessions and outran him in both races. Let's see what happens in Miami.

TSUNODA: Does Yuki now ask for a new chassis...?

WORD OF THE WEEKEND: Grass fire.

STAT OF THE WEEKEND: 100 -- Red Bull claimed their 100th F1 pole position.

HISTORICAL STAT OF THE WEEKEND: China is where Michael Schumacher scored his 91st and final F1 win in 2006. China is where Red Bull got their first F1 pole with Sebastian Vettel in 2009. China is where Vettel called Daniil Kvyat the Torpedo (it was not a compliment) in 2016.

TWEET OF THE WEEKEND: While showing a picture of Lance Stroll lifting the back of Daniel Ricciardo's car, @itirkaa11 wrote: Pretty sure that's not what they meant when they said Ricciardo needs a boost this season.

QUOTE OF THE WEEKEND: F1 TV commentator Jolyon Palmer on Max Verstappen, "This is dominant amongst dominance."

QUOTE OF THE WEEKEND RUNNERUP: After being given a suggestion on car settings, Lando Norris politely refused, "No, thank you."

SCHEDULE: Earlier, Oscar Piastri enjoyed his home grand prix in the city he grew up in. Zhou Guanyu just enjoyed his home grand prix in the city he grew up in. Next, Logan Sargeant will enjoy the Miami GP near the city, Fort Lauderdale, he grew up in.

Copyright © 2024 by Deep Throttle. All Rights Reserved.