It’s fair to suggest that things look pretty bleak if you’re taking bets with your team before the race on how far behind your nearest competitors you’ll finish.
O you of little faith, Lando Norris!
The Brit had reason for his pessimism. Long before the Formula 1 circus rolled into town, his McLaren’s prospects were all but written off on the slow, sweeping corners of the Shanghai International Circuit.
This place would be McLaren’s kryptonite. The weekend was all about damage control, we had been warned.
Success seemed purely about staying in touch with the Ferraris. Do you even dare to think about entering the Red Bull stratosphere? That wasn’t in the equation, not here.
Max Verstappen took a dominant victory at the first Chinese Grand Prix in five years
Lando Norris (right) performed excellently and finished second, ahead of Sergio Perez
It was the perfect weekend for Verstappen, who also won the sprint race on Saturday
Perhaps it was that friendly bet within the confines of the garage about how close Norris could keep the nose of his car behind the Scuderia pair’s bumpers that spurred him on.
More likely it was a case of the 24-year-old producing a quite brilliant drive, one that extracted every precious drop of performance from his machine.
This was a bet that Norris was happy to end up on the losing side of, as it followed a shock second-place finish at yesterday’s Chinese Grand Prix.
“I thought 35 seconds (behind Ferrari) and I was completely wrong,” said Norris with a big grin. ‘I’m so happy to be wrong with myself and my own bets, but good day to everyone.
‘I’m happy for the whole team, they deserved it. Good pit stops. It just worked today.
‘I don’t know why, it wasn’t the race I expected today, but I just felt comfortable and was able to handle the tires a lot, which was an easier task than what I could do yesterday.
‘And I could just push, the car felt great and I felt comfortable. So a good day, good points and another podium. So happy.’
Norris is often beaten with the stick for always being the bridesmaid but never the bride. The fact that the Bristolian earlier this season became the driver with the most podium finishes without a single race win in the history of the sport did not appease the critics.
Lewis Hamilton finished ninth, but complained about the pace of his Mercedes on Sunday
Daniel Ricciardo was on his way to a points finish until he was hit from behind before Lance Stroll made a safety car restart
But this display should not be tarnished with that brush. Not at all given the circumstances.
It may not have been enough to topple Max Verstappen, who produced a clinical display to claim his fourth win from five races this season. But again, good luck finding a driver who has been able to do that lately.
However, it was enough to deny Red Bull a front row lockout, with Norris leaving Sergio Perez behind to complete the podium.
There was a brief moment where that order looked somewhat in doubt after Norris made a rare miscalculation at Turn 14, a hairpin with bad wind that kept the drivers out of action all weekend.
That opened the door, just a little bit, for Perez. But Norris’s race pace was so strong that he soon slammed it back into the Mexican’s face.
Where does this result come from? There’s little chance of us mere mortals working that out, since the genius who pulled it off can’t even find the answer.
“I don’t know what changed, we were just faster than we thought,” said Norris. ‘We didn’t have as many problems in these longer corners as we did in the first corner (which has always been a big weakness for us).
‘We don’t make it up. We give our honest opinion about where we want to go. I think if we went into a weekend and we knew we were going to be strong, we would have said so.
‘We have been behind Red Bull all year and also behind Ferrari, so there is no reason to suddenly think we have to be in front.
‘Nothing really indicated that we would have a great race today.
Zhou Guanyu missed a points finish in his first home race at the Chinese Grand Prix
The sight of the man standing next to Norris on the top step of the podium may now be tiring for some, but Verstappen is more than worth the admiration he receives.
It looks like no one can stand between him and a fourth straight world title after his clinical and calculated victory in China.
Remarkably, the flying Dutchman has now won exactly half of all races since the smell of burning rubber and the sound of revving engines last filled the air in this part of the world five years ago.
‘It felt great. We were incredibly fast all weekend. Just fun to drive on any compound,” said Verstappen.
‘We survived the restarts well and the car was basically on rails and I could do whatever I wanted with it.
“Weekends like this are a great feeling and to achieve what we did this weekend is fantastic.”
It’s been fifty races since Lewis Hamilton was the one drinking champagne from the top step of the podium. It must feel like a lifetime ago, considering his tough assignment these days.
Fernando Alonso was second at the start, but fell to seventh towards the end
Verstappen (left) has won 38 of the last 49 races as he continues his dominance
Hamilton was able to salvage some positives and, crucially, points from the weekend after starting 18th on the grid.
It was a slow recovery through the field, with Hamilton complaining that ‘this car is so slow.’ So slow and difficult to handle, in fact, that Hamilton suggested it felt like ‘something was broken’.
His rescue mission culminated in a commendable ninth place finish; not one that makes a seven-time world champion jump for joy, but one that could have been so much worse considering the mountain he set himself to climb after his qualifying mistake.
He will be keeping his fingers crossed until the next race in Miami on May 5, where he hopes upgrades to his car can keep him fighting for more than just points.
However, recent history suggests he should not get his hopes up.
‘I’m grateful that I can dive into the points. I didn’t expect much more this weekend,” said Hamilton. ‘Hopefully we will have a step forward at the next race. Until then, we’ll be back at the factory next week and try to position the car better for Miami and have a better weekend.”