The Chinese Grand Prix provided lots of excitement and several drivers thrived on their return to Shanghai.
The Sprint Race format appears to be an improvement on last year’s layout, although the wet end to Sprint Qualifying may have added more excitement than many anticipated, with Lewis Hamilton ultimately the beneficiary as he secured a valuable podium finish.
Commentating on Sunday’s Grand Prix for Sky Sports F1, Nico Rosberg wanted to highlight a driver who starred across the weekend.
We’ve reached a point where Max Verstappen’s performances in his Red Bull are so consistently brilliant that he barely gets mentioned during a race.
There’s always a lot more exciting storylines going on behind him and during the Chinese Grand Prix, Nico Rosberg wanted to celebrate the man who finished directly behind him on Sunday: Lando Norris.
The young Brit didn’t expect to be challenging for a podium in Shanghai but comfortably finished in 2 ahead of Sergio Perez.
If any driver finishes ahead of a Red Bull, they deserve to be widely praised.
What might be even more encouraging for team principal Andrea Stella is the fact that McLaren looked quicker than Ferrari throughout the weekend.
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Nico Rosberg hails Lando Norris during the Chinese Grand Prix
Lando Norris’s weekend got off to the perfect start, securing pole position for the Sprint Race by a huge margin in a rain-affected final session.
A slightly poor getaway ended up ruining his race as he tried to match Lewis Hamilton around the outside of the sweeping first turn and ran off the track, but he did secure a couple of points ahead of teammate Oscar Piastri.
It was Norris’s performance during the main race of the Chinese Grand Prix weekend that caught Rosberg’s attention.
He started fourth but quickly took advantage of Fernando Alonso using up too much of his tyre life trying to hold off Sergio Perez.
Norris then gambled on strategy and during the safety car period moved up to second and likely thought he was battling with Charles Leclerc in fourth.
However, he nor the Mexican driver ahead of him could match Norris’s pace and while he never challenged Verstappen out in front, he comfortably secured the 15 podium of his career.
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Lando Norris produces masterclass drive for McLaren in China
As the end of the race was approaching, Rosberg said: “Am I allowed to interfere with the vote for driver of the day?
“My suggestion is Lando Norris. He’s driven so incredibly well today, he’s so fast and look at where his teammate is.
“Yes, we know he has damage now but even before the damage, [Oscar] Piastri was struggling so much with those tyres, Lando has been very close to the Red Bulls.
“It’s been an incredible drive today.”
The German former world champion’s thoughts were echoed by Sam Bird on BBC Sport commentary who said: “I’m so impressed by Lando Norris’ drive today, I did not expect to have a McLaren up in second place, we all just thought that [Max] Verstappen and [Sergio] Perez first and second easy, but the way the race has panned out with the safety cars has been perfect for McLaren and Norris’ strategy, and they’ve executed it to absolute perfection.”
Rosberg and Bird’s words will please Norris but he’ll be desperate to go one better than his result during the Chinese Grand Prix.
He’s come so close to winning races before but has now racked up his 15 podium finish without standing on the top step.
Considering the dominance of Mercedes and Red Bull throughout his F1 career, it’s not a huge surprise that he’s yet to achieve that feat.
However, the likes of Pierre Gasly, Esteban Ocon and even his McLaren teammate at the time Daniel Ricciardo have all earned that accolade during his time in the sport.
The post ‘Incredible drive’: Nico Rosberg hails 109-race F1 star after Chinese Grand Prix, he was ‘so fast’ appeared first on F1 Oversteer.