21/04/2024
NEWS STORY
Fernando Alonso: "We didn't quite have the pace today and it was a tricky race with a lot of things happening.
"Despite this, it was important to score some points and a bonus to get the fastest lap too. We made a good start and moved up to second, and for a moment I thought it would be nice to lead the race for a lap, but we couldn't make that happen. A few Safety Cars changed the strategy a little bit and we didn't have any more Hard tyres available, so that's why we made a switch to the Soft compound. Overall, it was a good race, but we have some work to do to improve our Sunday pace and match what we can do in Qualifying."
Lance Stroll: "We were on for a good result today. The Soft tyres had performed well at the start of the race and I made a couple of crucial overtakes to climb into the points. We timed our stop well under the VSC and I think ninth place was on the cards. Then, when the Safety Car came in, there was a chain reaction with all the cars ahead suddenly slowing. I didn't have enough time to react and avoid contact with Daniel [Ricciardo]. It's frustrating, because I ended up with the penalty, but the incident was caused by someone at the front of the pack braking suddenly. After the front wing change we were running last which meant our race was effectively over. It's a shame to lose out on the points, but we'll regroup ahead of another Sprint weekend in Miami."
Mike Krack: "Seven hard-earned points today after an eventful Chinese Grand Prix weekend. Fernando's three-stop race was compromised to some extent by the extended Safety Car periods, which negated the full benefit of the Soft tyres. Fernando's recovery in the final laps, making use of new Medium tyres, provided plenty of entertainment and brought him back to P7. We also picked up a point for the fastest lap. It was good damage limitation. Lance's strong race was undone by the incident under the Safety Car: we need to fully analyse what happened but it was a chain reaction caused by cars ahead. He was running well in the points, was on the best tyre strategy, and was set to score good points. We will regroup ahead of another Sprint weekend in Miami."
Check out our Sunday gallery from Shanghai here.