Karun Chandhok has shared an ‘impressive’ feat the Sky Sports F1 pundit has heard Max Verstappen achieved while the Red Bull driver won the Chinese GP last Sunday.
The 26-year-old opened a 25-point lead in the championship last weekend after recording a Sprint and Grand Prix double. Verstappen won the first Sprint of the season at the Shanghai International Circuit, before sealing his fourth Grand Prix victory of 2024 from pole position.
Verstappen has taken pole for each of the first five Grand Prix this season as he, once again, dominates Formula 1 with Red Bull. The three-time defending champion had all of his rivals measured in Shanghai to win the Chinese GP by 13.773 seconds after two safety car periods.
Karun Chandhok found Max Verstappen’s Chinese GP race pace ‘impressive’
McLaren and Lando Norris took full advantage of the virtual safety car period Valtteri Bottas triggered when the Sauber driver had an engine failure. But the 24-year-old was not able to challenge Verstappen for the lead once the race resumed and would settle for second place.
Norris could cover the other Red Bull of Sergio Perez in third, who struggled to challenge the Briton, though. While Ferrari pilot Charles Leclerc ran to the chequered flag for fourth place. But the pace Verstappen had compared to Norris, Perez and Leclerc surprised Chandhok.
READ MORE: 5 unforgettable Chinese GP moments including Schumacher’s last win in F1
The former HRT and Lotus driver has praised Verstappen after learning that the Red Bull star never lapped the Shanghai International Circuit slower than Norris, Perez or Leclerc over the 56-lap race. Verstappen’s 1:38.406 fastest lap was also the second-best of the Grand Prix.
“Here’s an impressive stat I heard today,” Chandhok noted on X. “On not a single lap of the entire Chinese GP did Max do a slower lap time than the drivers who finished second, third or fourth.”
Max Verstappen warned F1 of his ‘insane’ race pace by dominating the Sprint
Verstappen had already warned the rest of the Formula 1 field of his race pace in the Sprint before dominating the Chinese GP. The Red Bull star ‘concerned’ Sam Bird during the Sprint after opening a 13-second lead to Lewis Hamilton in the last nine of the 19 laps on Saturday.
Additionally, 2016 drivers champion Nico Rosberg found Verstappen’s race pace in the Sprint ‘insane’ once he enjoyed clean air. That dominance only extended into the Grand Prix and it would have looked even worse for Verstappen’s rivals without a VSC and two full safety cars.
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