2019 Chinese Grand Prix

2019 Chinese Grand Prix
Race 3 of 21 in the2019 Formula One World Championship ←Previous race Next race→
Layout of the Shanghai International Circuit
Race details
Date	14 April 2019
Official name	Formula 1HeinekenChinese Grand Prix2019
Location	Shanghai International Circuit Shanghai,China
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	5.451 km (3.387 miles)
Distance	56 laps, 305.066 km (189.559 miles)
Weather	Partly cloudy
Pole position
Driver	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes
Time	1:31.547
Fastest lap
Driver	Pierre Gasly	Red Bull Racing-Honda
Time	1:34.742 on lap 55
Podium
First	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes
Second	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes
Third	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari
Lap leaders

The2019 Chinese Grand Prix(formally known as theFormula 1 Heineken Chinese Grand Prix 2019) was aFormula One motor racethat took place on 14 April 2019 at theShanghai International CircuitinShanghai, China.The race was the 3rd round of the2019 Formula One World Championship,and marked the 16th time that theChinese Grand Prixhad been run as a round of the Formula One World Championship. The race also marked the 1000th World Championship race since thefirst World Championship racewas held at theSilverstone Circuitin1950.This is also the lastChinese Grand Prixuntil2024as the 2020–2023 Grands Prix were not held due to theCOVID-19 pandemicin the country.

Background

Championship standings before the race

Heading into the race,Valtteri Bottaswas leading the Drivers' Championship by one point fromLewis Hamilton.Bottas's teamMercedeswas leading the Constructors' Championship by 39 points fromFerrari.

Entrants

Further information:2019 Formula One World Championship § Entries

The drivers and teams were the same as the season entry list with no additional stand in drivers for either the race or practice.

Free practice

Sebastian Vettelwas fastest in the first practice session withValtteri Bottasfastest in the second practice.Bottas was again fastest in FP3 on Saturday, however the session was brought to a premature end whenAlexander Albonlost control of hisToro Rossoand hit the wall on the exit of the final corner, smashing into the wall rear-first with an impact of 49g.He would not compete in qualifying due to the damage sustained from the accident and therefore started from the pitlane.

Qualifying

The first qualifying session ended with no incidents withValtteri Bottassetting the fastest lap of the session ahead ofCharles Leclercand teammateLewis Hamilton.Qualifying ended with the elimination ofLance Stroll,George Russell,Robert Kubica,Antonio GiovinazziandAlex Albon,the last two of whom failed to set a time in the session.

The second qualifying session ended without incident withLewis Hamiltonsetting the fastest lap on themedium compound tyre.Valtteri Bottas,Sebastian Vettel,Charles LeclercandMax Verstappenalso set their laps on themedium compound tyre.Daniil Kvyat,Sergio Pérez,Kimi Räikkönen,Carlos Sainz Jr.andLando Norriswere eliminated from qualifying.

The third qualifying session ended without incident with most drivers having two chances to set a fastest lap. After the first runs,Valtteri Bottaswas quickest withLewis HamiltonandSebastian Vettelrounding off the top 3. When setting up their second runs,Max Verstappenwas overtaken at turn 14 bySebastian Vetteland bothRenaultcars, this prevented him from crossing the line before the end of the session.Pierre Gaslyand bothHaascars were also unable to start a lap before the session ended as a result. At the end of the session,Valtteri Bottaswas on pole position 0.023 seconds ahead ofLewis Hamiltonin second.Sebastian Vettelqualified third. The rest of the top ten consisted of, in qualifying order,Charles Leclerc,Max Verstappen,Pierre Gasly,Daniel Ricciardo,Nico Hülkenberg,Kevin MagnussenandRomain Grosjean.

Qualifying classification

Pos.	No.	Driver	Constructor	Qualifying times			Final grid
				Q1	Q2	Q3
1	77	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes	1:32.658	1:31.728	1:31.547	1
2	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1:33.115	1:31.637	1:31.570	2
3	5	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	1:33.557	1:32.232	1:31.848	3
4	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	1:32.712	1:32.324	1:31.865	4
5	33	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing-Honda	1:33.274	1:32.369	1:32.089	5
6	10	Pierre Gasly	Red Bull Racing-Honda	1:33.863	1:32.948	1:32.930	6
7	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Renault	1:33.709	1:33.214	1:32.958	7
8	27	Nico Hülkenberg	Renault	1:33.644	1:32.968	1:32.962	8
9	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas-Ferrari	1:34.036	1:33.150	No time	9
10	8	Romain Grosjean	Haas-Ferrari	1:33.752	1:33.156	No time	10
11	26	Daniil Kvyat	Scuderia Toro Rosso-Honda	1:33.783	1:33.236	N/A	11
12	11	Sergio Pérez	Racing Point-BWT Mercedes	1:34.026	1:33.299	N/A	12
13	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Alfa Romeo Racing-Ferrari	1:34.125	1:33.419	N/A	13
14	55	Carlos Sainz Jr.	McLaren-Renault	1:33.686	1:33.523	N/A	14
15	4	Lando Norris	McLaren-Renault	1:34.148	1:33.967	N/A	15
16	18	Lance Stroll	Racing Point-BWT Mercedes	1:34.292	N/A	N/A	16
17	63	George Russell	Williams-Mercedes	1:35.253	N/A	N/A	17
18	88	Robert Kubica	Williams-Mercedes	1:35.281	N/A	N/A	18
107% time:1:39.144
—	99	Antonio Giovinazzi	Alfa Romeo Racing-Ferrari	No time	N/A	N/A	191
—	23	Alexander Albon	Scuderia Toro Rosso-Honda	No time	N/A	N/A	PL2
Source:

Notes

• ^1–Antonio Giovinazzifailed to set a time during qualifying and was permitted to race at the stewards' discretion.
• ^2–Alexander Albondid not take part in qualifying after crashing in FP3 and was permitted to race at the stewards' discretion.He was required to start from the pit lane after changing his survival cell.He also received a five-place grid penalty for an unscheduled gearbox change.

Race

Lewis Hamiltonwon the race ahead of his teammateValtteri BottasandFerrari'sSebastian Vettel.

At the start of the race Bottas got a bad start allowing Hamilton to lead into the first corner. At the fourth cornerDaniil Kvyat,Carlos Sainz Jr.andLando Norriscollided which would cause Norris and Kvyat to retire later in the race, despite Kvyat receiving a drive-through penalty as the stewards blamed him for the incident. On lap 11Charles Leclercwas ordered by Ferrari to let his teammate Vettel past.Nico Hülkenbergretired on lap 17 with anMGU-Kproblem.Daniel Ricciardomanaged to score his first points of the season and his first points forRenault.Pierre Gaslygot the first fastest lap of his career.It was alsoMercedes' third 1–2 finish of theseasonand the first time that a team has managed a 1–2 in the first three races of a season sinceNigel MansellandRiccardo Patresedid so forWilliamsin1992.

Thepodiumcelebration

Race classification

Pos.	No.	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	56	1:32:06.350	2	25
2	77	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes	56	+6.552	1	18
3	5	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	56	+13.774	3	15
4	33	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing-Honda	56	+27.627	5	12
5	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	56	+31.276	4	10
6	10	Pierre Gasly	Red Bull Racing-Honda	56	+1:29.307	6	91
7	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Renault	55	+1 lap	7	6
8	11	Sergio Pérez	Racing Point-BWT Mercedes	55	+1 lap	12	4
9	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Alfa Romeo Racing-Ferrari	55	+1 lap	13	2
10	23	Alexander Albon	Scuderia Toro Rosso-Honda	55	+1 lap	PL	1
11	8	Romain Grosjean	Haas-Ferrari	55	+1 lap	10
12	18	Lance Stroll	Racing Point-BWT Mercedes	55	+1 lap	16
13	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas-Ferrari	55	+1 lap	9
14	55	Carlos Sainz Jr.	McLaren-Renault	55	+1 lap	14
15	99	Antonio Giovinazzi	Alfa Romeo Racing-Ferrari	55	+1 lap	19
16	63	George Russell	Williams-Mercedes	54	+2 laps	17
17	88	Robert Kubica	Williams-Mercedes	54	+2 laps	18
182	4	Lando Norris	McLaren-Renault	50	Collision damage	15
Ret	26	Daniil Kvyat	Scuderia Toro Rosso-Honda	41	Collision damage	11
Ret	27	Nico Hülkenberg	Renault	16	Power unit	8
Fastest lap:Pierre Gasly(Red Bull Racing-Honda) – 1:34.742 (lap 55)
Source:

Notes

• ^1– Includes one point for the fastest lap.
• ^2–Lando Norriswas classified as he completed more than 90% of the race distance.

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings

	Pos.	Driver	Points
1	1	Lewis Hamilton	68
1	2	Valtteri Bottas	62
	3	Max Verstappen	39
1	4	Sebastian Vettel	37
1	5	Charles Leclerc	36
Source:

Constructors' Championship standings

	Pos.	Constructor	Points
	1	Mercedes	130
	2	Ferrari	73
	3	Red Bull Racing-Honda	52
3	4	Renault	12
1	5	Alfa Romeo Racing-Ferrari	12
Source:

• Note:Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.