This place was supposed to be McLaren’s kryptonite. The weekend was all about damage limitation, we were warned.

Success looked like merely keeping in touch with the Ferraris. Daring to even think about entering the stratosphere of Red Bull? 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 admirably to finish 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 over how close Norris could keep the nose of his car behind the bumpers of the Scuderia pair 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 out of his machine.

This was one bet Norris was delighted to end up on the losing side of given it came as a result of a shock second place at yesterday’s Chinese Grand Prix.

‘I thought 35 seconds (behind Ferrari) and I was very wrong by that,’ said Norris with a big grin. ‘So happy to be wrong with myself, and my own bets, but a good day for everyone.

‘I’m happy for the whole team, they deserved it. Good pit stops. Just today worked out.

‘I don’t know why, it was not the race I was expecting to have today, but just got comfortable and could manage the tyres a lot, which was an easier task than what I could have yesterday.

‘And I could just push, the car felt great and I felt comfortable. So a good day, good points and another podium. So very happy.’

Norris often finds himself beaten with the stick of always being the bridesmaid but never the bride. The fact that the Bristolian became the driver with the most podium finishes without a single race win in the sport’s history earlier this season did little to quieten those critics.

Lewis Hamilton finished in ninth but bemoaned the pace of his Mercedes on Sunday

Daniel Ricciardo was on for a points finish until he was hit from behind before a safety car restart by Lance Stroll

But this display should not be tarnished with that brush. Not in the slightest, given the circumstances.

It may not have been enough to overthrow Max Verstappen, who produced a clinical display to claim his fourth win from five races this season. Then again, good luck finding a driver who has been able to do that in recent times.

It was sufficient, however, to deny Red Bull a front row lock-out, with Norris edging out Sergio Perez, who completed the podium.

There was a brief moment where that order looked in some doubt after Norris made a rare miscalculation at turn 14, a hairpin bend with a wicked wind which caught drivers out all weekend.

That opened the door, ever so slightly, for Perez. But so strong was Norris’ race pace that soon he slammed it shut again in the Mexican’s face.

So, where did this result come from? There’s scant chance of us mere mortals working that out given the genius who pulled it off can’t even find the answer.

‘I don’t know what changed, we were just quicker than we thought,’ said Norris. ‘We didn’t struggle as much in these longer corners like turn one (which) have always been a big weakness for us.

‘We’re not making it up. We’re giving our honest opinion on where we want to be. I think if we were to go into a weekend and we knew we’re going to be strong, we’ve said it.

‘We’ve been behind Red Bull all year and we’ve been behind Ferrari so there’s no reason for us to suddenly think we should be ahead.

‘Nothing really pointed to us having an amazing race today.

Zhou Guanyu missed out on a points finish in his first home race at the Chinese Grand Prix

The sight of the man stood next to Norris on the top step of the podium may be a tiresome one for some by now, but Verstappen is more than worthy of the adulation he is receiving.

It looks as though no one can stand in the way of him and a fourth successive world title after his clinical and calculated victory in China.

Remarkably, the flying Dutchman has now won exactly half of all the races held since the smell of burnt rubber and the sound of revving engines last filled the skies in this part of the world five years ago.

‘It felt amazing. The whole weekend we were incredibly quick. Just enjoyable to drive on every compound,’ said Verstappen.

‘We survived the restarts well and the car was basically on rails and I could do whatever I wanted with it.

‘Those kind of weekends are amazing to feel and to achieve what we did this weekend is fantastic.’

It has been 50 races since Lewis Hamilton was the one swigging champagne off the top step of the podium. It must feel like a lifetime ago given his arduous assignment these days.

Fernando Alonso was up to second at the start but dropped down to seventh by the end

Verstappen (left) has won 38 out of the last 49 races as he continues his domination

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 left complaining that ‘this car is so slow.’ So sluggish and difficult to handle, in fact, that Hamilton suggested it felt like ‘something is broken’.

His rescue mission culminated in a commendable ninth-place finish; not one that leaves a seven-time world champion jumping for joy but one that could have been so much worse given the mountain he gave himself to climb following his error in qualifying.

His fingers will remain firmly crossed until the next race in Miami on May 5, where he hopes upgrades to his car can leave him fighting for more than single points.

Recent history, though, suggests he shouldn’t be getting his hopes up.

‘I’m grateful to get into the points. I didn’t expect a lot more this weekend,’ said Hamilton. ‘Hopefully we have a step forward coming at the next race. Until then, we will be back at the factory next week and try and position the car better for Miami and have a better weekend.’