Victory at the Chinese Grand Prix belonged by no small distance to Max Verstappen but the plaudits were earned in a Shanghai surprise by McLaren’s Lando Norris. The British driver’s debut Formula One win remains elusively out of reach but in China he demonstrated once more that it is only a matter of time before the flag finally falls for this exceptional talent who claimed a second place so unexpected that it left his team all but gobsmacked.
Norris had not even bet on himself to finish in front of the Ferraris but not only were the prancing horses vanquished as the 24-year-old came good but Red Bull too were given a reminder that without Verstappen their control of the sport would be far from complete.
