.png "os2 trasparenza (1)")
One week after the inaugural Grand Prix of the 2025 season, the Formula 1 circus will head to China for the Chinese Grand Prix. Shanghai will host the first Asian race of the World Championship and the first Sprint Race of the season. It will also be the race where McLaren Racing arrives as the team to beat, alongside championship leader Lando Norris, fresh from securing pole position and victory in the last race in Melbourne. These results, however, were achieved—according to the British driver himself—while driving a car that remains difficult to handle and does not fully suit his driving style. In addition, the World Championship runner-up expects a strong comeback from rivals such as Red Bull Racing and Scuderia Ferrari:
"I hope we can do better and that things will be a little easier. We had a great race: our gap to our competitors midway through was about 15 seconds or so, and the Safety Cars probably helped bring them back into play. But we’re confident. This is a different weekend, so I wouldn’t say we are certain that things will be exactly the same as before. I expect Ferrari to be stronger this weekend, and we’ve seen how fast Red Bull is, so they are clearly still in the fight. I think when things are perfect, like in qualifying, we have an advantage, but they are not far behind at all".
As the race weekend approaches, Lando Norris also points out areas for individual improvement, along with the steps McLaren can take as a team:
"As a driver, you're always pushing the limits of your car and what it can do, so you're always looking for ways to improve. I'm trying to find things I can refine. My start was good, but was it perfect? No, and I know exactly where I lost performance at the start. From a car perspective, it's performing well, but it’s still extremely difficult to drive. We know that in certain conditions, like in the wet, Verstappen was as fast as we were; in the dry, we were a little better. So, it’s about making the car a bit more predictable and comfortable. We are in a good place, I can't complain, but both Oscar and I have similar feedback, which gives the team a clear direction on what we want to improve. The car is fantastic, but we always want more".
Norris also compared this year’s MCL39 to past McLaren models, explaining the challenges he faces behind the wheel:
"Some characteristics are still the same. It still doesn't suit my driving style at all. I’ve reached a point where I’ve simply accepted that you can’t have a car that fully adapts to you - it might suit some people, but not everyone. I’ve stopped asking for too much of what I want and now just focus on making the car as fast as possible. It’s probably a tough car to drive and to get right, but it’s clearly a step forward from last year. My job is to drive whatever car I’m given at the end of the day. That’s why I’m here, that’s why McLaren wants me - because they believe I can drive it better than others. It doesn’t suit me in terms of entry stability and braking performance; it’s quite weak in those areas. That’s not what I like, but at the same time, I’ve had to adapt my driving style every year. The McLaren I drive today is very different from the one I drove a few years ago - back then, we were behind, and now we’re at the front. Some things remain, though: I’ve only ever driven McLaren cars, so that’s all I know. I think our car is unique in some ways. Every time a driver has left McLaren for another team, whether it was Ricciardo or Sainz, they often mentioned how difficult or strange our car was to drive. But I’ve gotten used to it, and now I just drive whatever car I’m given. As long as it’s fast enough to fight for wins, I’m happy to drive it".
Oscar Piastri’s debut in this year's World Championship didn’t go as planned. The McLaren driver had the chance to break the long-standing home race podium curse for Australian drivers but made a costly mistake, going off track in the final part of the Grand Prix while trying to manage his MCL39 on slick tires in damp conditions. Piastri didn’t give up, though. After about ninety seconds, he got back on track and managed to secure ninth place with a last-lap overtake on Lewis Hamilton around the outside.
The two points he earned in Melbourne don’t truly reflect McLaren’s strength, as the team arrives in China as the favorite, especially after their strong pace in Australia. However, according to Oscar Piastri, part of the gap to their rivals was due to the competition underperforming:
"I’m quite confident; Melbourne’s pace was really encouraging. I think it was a good weekend, both from a car perspective and personally. The gap to our rivals in Melbourne surprised us, and not because we were exceptional. I think some of our rivals didn’t maximize their potential because they looked much more competitive in practice. We’re confident we can be competitive here in China. It’s a very different track from Melbourne, but last year we had a pretty good weekend, so I’m excited to see what we can do. I think we expect to be competitive. Let’s see how things change with the track since it has been resurfaced".
The Australian driver also refused to stir controversy over McLaren’s team orders during his home Grand Prix:
"I spoke with the team during the week, and I think we’ve found ways to improve in the future. There’s always the possibility of these kinds of calls going in both directions".
In the days between the Australian and Chinese Grand Prix, one of the biggest stories in Formula 1 has been the FIA’s introduction of new tests to monitor the flexibility of rear wings. The Federation has significantly tightened regulations, reducing the allowed flex from 2mm to just 0.5mm, with a temporary tolerance of 0.25mm for the Chinese Grand Prix due to the short notice given to teams. Many have viewed this decision as an anti-McLaren move, as the Woking-based team was already under scrutiny at the end of last season for allegedly overly flexible rear wings. This led to the term mini-DRS, referring to how the excessive flex of McLaren’s wing seemingly gave Norris and Piastri an additional DRS-like effect on straights, creating an advantage some critics considered illegal. However, Lando Norris dismissed any concerns about McLaren’s compliance:
"We don’t need to change anything. Our wing is fine. In fact, our wing is probably too good, and we’re probably not even pushing the limits enough. If this technical directive had been in place last weekend, we would have been fine. This isn’t aimed at us, but at other teams, which probably means we need to push a little more".
Lewis Hamilton made his Ferrari debut in Australia, qualifying on the fourth row and finishing tenth in the race. While not a spectacular start, the British driver remains upbeat:
"We’ll set up the car a little differently this weekend. Australia was the first race weekend, which is obviously different from test sessions, and I felt it was best to just observe the team’s operations and procedures. From this weekend onward, I’ll have a more active role in deciding exactly what setup changes I want. A lot has been made of my radio messages with Adami during the race. It was just a back - and-forth conversation - I was very polite, I didn’t swear. I was just struggling with the car and needed to focus. Adami has worked with World Champions before, and we’re just getting to know each other. There’s no issue between us. If you listen to other drivers’ radio messages, it’s much worse. Just think about how Verstappen has spoken to Lambiase in the past. But those heated exchanges never became a big story, while my conversation with Adami made headlines everywhere. We’ve discussed how to proceed, when and how to communicate information. Australia wasn’t the weekend we expected, but that doesn’t mean we should overreact. A small detail could have made a big difference in our result, but we move forward. Everyone is still motivated, and there’s good energy in the team. Australia won’t define our season".
The Chinese Grand Prix is already at risk of becoming the first major turning point of the season for Ferrari. While it is only the second of the 24 races on the calendar, seeing the very negative trend that was displayed in Melbourne continue would be a serious warning sign for the Maranello team. In interviews with journalists, it is always difficult to extract precise answers from a driver about what is working and what isn’t. But from Charles Leclerc’s words in the Shanghai paddock, there are some interesting observations:
"We have some idea of what happened. I won’t go into too many details, but these cars are very sensitive, and even the smallest change can have a big impact on how the car feels and behaves. But sometimes, you have no choice but to make that change, and that’s what we did. We’ll see how it goes here. I don’t think what happened will limit us in the future, but it happened in Melbourne on a track like that, so we’ll need to understand and predict if we’ll face similar problems throughout the year".
In other words, despite knowing that McLaren is ahead for now, Charles Leclerc believes that what happened in Australia could be dismissed as an exception.
"I know, and I think we know where we need to find performance with this car. In high-speed corners, we’ve made a big improvement. Low and medium-speed corners are the areas where we need to work a bit more right now".
Leclerc, of course, hopes that the Australian Grand Prix was a one-off:
"It’s certainly no consolation being ahead of Lewis. I don’t even remember how we started or finished. Both of us were very disappointed with the result; we just wanted to fight for the podium or the win. I want to win, that’s the only thing that matters. And I want both of us to fight for victories".
Referring to the issue that forced Ferrari to lift the car off the asphalt, the Monegasque driver keeps the mystery:
"I don’t think this will be a limit in the future, but it happened in Melbourne, and we need to understand and predict if we’ll have this type of problem more often during the year. We are not where you saw us in Australia; we are not yet at McLaren’s level, but we will be. And I’m sure we’ll bounce back this weekend".
The Chinese Grand Prix represents an event where Ferrari expects to make progress, particularly in understanding the new front suspension layout, which has switched to pull-rod:
"I think we’ve gained a lot, but there are still some things we’re adapting to and can still optimize. One of the goals of the weekend is to make better use of it".
Max Verstappen finished the first race of the season in Australia in second place, capitalizing on Oscar Piastri’s mistake and applying pressure to Lando Norris until the end of the race. The Verstappen-Red Bull Racing pairing in Melbourne represented the second-best team behind the dominant McLaren. Asked about the advantage McLaren has over the competition, Max Verstappen is very clear:
"I don’t think I’m bad in the wet, but I didn’t have the chance to fight. That’s how Formula 1 is, I have a lot of respect for the work McLaren has done since last year. They have a fast car everywhere".
The Chinese Grand Prix represents an important test for the RB21:
"For now, I believe we’ve figured out that we’re competitive in fast corners, but there aren’t many in China, and we struggle more in medium and low-speed corners. We’ll see how it goes and how we adapt to the new asphalt. Having only one free practice session won’t make it easy. The car needs to improve in many areas, and we’ll work to try to find a bit more performance. I’m very focused on ourselves and the work we need to do. I really like the layout of the track".
Regarding the on-track power balance, Max Verstappen believes that there is balance behind McLaren:
"The only thing I’m sure of is that we’re not the fastest. Between us, Ferrari, and Mercedes, I expect a bit of rotation in the role of second-best depending on the characteristics of the circuits we race on".
In Australia, Liam Lawson had a quiet debut with Red Bull Racing. Eliminated in Q1, the New Zealand driver, promoted by the Racing Bulls, completed the race after 47 laps due to his own mistake. Arriving in China, Liam admits the difficulties he faced in Melbourne:
"It was definitely a tough start, but it’s important to have another consecutive race to dive straight into things. Overall, it wasn’t a super clean weekend. Obviously, because of the weather, plus other issues we had, it was a really difficult start. As for Horner and Marko, they’ve been very supportive since I joined the team, and I think, given how Melbourne went, they’ve been quite understanding. Now we all want to achieve the same goals, and we’re trying to take the right steps to achieve them".
Lawson and Red Bull Racing are preparing to bounce back for the Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai, but the New Zealand driver clarifies an aspect related to the setup in the previous race at Albert Park:
"We had more aerodynamic downforce, and it might seem like a disastrous decision, but it wasn’t. We lost a bit of balance in the first stint, and when we came into the pits for the medium tire, we made an adjustment to the wing, which made a difference in the second stint since we had good pace on the medium, but I only did three laps. Of course, even though the balance wasn’t perfect, we had to make the most of it anyway".
Within Red Bull Racing’s box, there is great anticipation for the Chinese race. Due to its structure and the events that marked it, according to Chris Horner, the Australian Grand Prix does not represent a significant benchmark for the remainder of the season. The Shanghai circuit, more technical than Melbourne, anticipates the first major test of 2025, represented by the Suzuka circuit. Even this weekend, with better weather, the true power dynamics between the teams may become clearer.
"It’s hard to set expectations for China. Even in our best days, Albert Park historically has never played to our advantage. We’ve only won here twice in 20 years, which shows it’s a pretty difficult track for us. We’re looking forward to going to China to learn more about the car and some of its limits. McLaren will be fast, no doubt, but it will be interesting to see the balance between the teams: China will probably be the first representative race of many of the upcoming events. In Bahrain testing, we made some substantial setup changes. We wanted to go to extremes to understand the setup parameters, so we could have the knowledge of the car when we go racing,” added the Brit. “I think the characteristics of this car are much more neutral than the RB20. It’s calmer, and there are no violent jolts like last year’s car. This gives us a good platform to develop the car over the season".
The weekend of the Chinese Grand Prix is eagerly awaited to understand if the dominance shown by McLaren in Australia over the rest of the competition is truly as large as it seemed in Melbourne. If the Shanghai track confirms this outcome, the predictions for one of the most balanced Formula 1 seasons ever could turn into a soliloquy of the MCL39, with Norris and Piastri free to challenge each other for the World Championship. Among those who fear the possibility of such a scenario is Mercedes driver George Russell. The British driver predicted Red Bull Racing's dominance after the first Grand Prix in 2023, and he nailed that prediction. In Australia, George Russell suggested that McLaren might already stop developing the 2025 car and focus on the one that will come from the new regulations, such is the size of their advantage. Speaking with journalists in China, the British driver says that McLaren’s current margin over its competitors is greater than what Red Bull Racing had in 2023.
"I think their car is definitely capable of winning every race. Their car can win them all, but in the end, I don’t think that will happen. We’ll see. The gap they have this year over everyone is greater than what Red Bull ever had. But when Max was in that car, it was reliable every single lap he did in Q3, he never had problems. We hope to be there to capitalize, as we did in Melbourne, since in theory that race should have been a one-two for them".
Finally, George Russell believes that Red Bull Racing’s advantage in 2023 was 0.3 or 0.4 seconds, while McLaren’s advantage currently is definitely greater. With the Shanghai International Circuit having been resurfaced since F1’s last visit, the track offers plenty of grip as the times drop. Lewis Hamilton sets the early pace in the first quarter - despite a slide through the hairpin on his previous lap - before being displaced by former Mercedes team mate George Russell. The picture continues to change as the track evolves further, with Russell working his way down to a pace-setting 1'32"377 by the halfway point - half a second up on nearest challenger Leclerc and over a second quicker than last year’s pole position time. Some issues arise for some during the second half of the session; Leclerc experiences a spin through Turn 3, while Ferrari team mate Hamilton unwittingly gives a nod to his 2007 pit lane excursion when he goes slightly wide on his way to the pits. The red flag is then thrown when Jack Doohan pulls off track after reporting an issue with the power steering in his Alpine, prompting a flurry of action as the green light arrives with only seven minutes remaining. A queue of cars forms in the pit lane, the majority keen to get a soft tyre run on the board. After those times come in, Leclerc looks to have set the pace before Norris surges into P1 with a lap of 1'31"504, four-tenths clear of Leclerc’s previous benchmark. Piastri, meanwhile, slots into third after going wide at the final corner on his effort. Hamilton takes fourth place ahead of Russell, while Nico Hulkenberg is an eye-catching sixth for Kick Sauber.
Albon follows in seventh, with Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso, Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli and the Racing Bulls of Yuki Tsunoda completing the top 10. Bearman, Lance Stroll in the Aston Martin, Haas’ Esteban Ocon, Alpine’s Pierre Gasly and the Williams of Sainz take 11th through to 15th respectively, while Max Verstappen is down in 16th for Red Bull Racing after aborting his lap on the soft tyres, meaning that he does not get a representative effort on the board. Behind the Dutchman are Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar, Lawson in the Red Bull, the Kick Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto and Doohan, who is unable to rejoin following his car issues. With the weekend’s only practice session now complete, the drivers and teams have a brief opportunity to assess their data before turning their attentions to Sprint Qualifying, which is scheduled to get underway at 3:30 p.m. local time. After a sole Free Practice hour comfortably topped by Australian Grand Prix polesitter and race winner Norris, attention swiftly turns to the first grid-deciding session of the Shanghai weekend - namely Sprint Qualifying. As per Sprint regulations, medium tyres are mandated for SQ1, meaning all 20 drivers emerge from their garages with the yellow-marked rubber - just 12 minutes on the clock for times to be set and spots in SQ2 to be secured. Amid sunny, pleasant conditions, Piastri sets the early benchmark with a time of 1'31"712s, putting him half a second clear of the field - a high-flying Alonso holding P2 from Hamilton, Leclerc and Norris, who runs slightly wide at the final hairpin.
At the other end of the order, Doohan is on the bubble in P15 after Alpine’s technical troubles in FP1, with Tsunoda, Sainz, Bearman, Bortoleto (time deleted over track limits) and Ocon the drivers who have work to do on their final runs to the chequered flag. At this point, the stewards note a potential impeding incident involving Tsunoda and Russell, as the Japanese racer expresses his frustration over the radio regarding a close call at Turn 14, along with a separate moment between Stroll and Bearman. As the clock ticks down and the final laps come in, Hamilton surges to the top of the timesheets on a 1'31"212, putting him a couple of tenths clear of Norris, with Leclerc finishing third over Piastri, Verstappen, Russell, and Antonelli. A brilliant late effort from Bearman sees the Haas rookie round out the top 10 positions, just behind Antonelli, Alonso, and Hadjar, while Tsunoda, Sainz, and Bortoleto also get themselves out of danger with cleaner second laps. There is no such joy for Lawson, though, who finishes at the foot of the SQ1 order after losing his time to track limits.
"Mate, I’m really sorry".
He says over the radio, referencing tyre struggles, as he joins the Alpines, Ocon, and Hulkenberg on the sidelines. After a short break, the remaining drivers filter back out on track, again with mandated medium tyres and now with a reduced 10-minute window to post their times - news from the stewards confirming that there will be no further action over the aforementioned incidents. During the first sequence of SQ2 laps, Norris leads the way on a 1'31"174, from Piastri, Verstappen, and Antonelli, with the Ferraris of Leclerc and Hamilton a little further back in P5 and P6. Meanwhile, seventh-placed Russell laments that his tyres just aren’t working. Bortoleto, Hadjar, and Tsunoda hold the final SQ3 spots after the first runs, meaning Stroll, Sainz, Albon, Alonso, and Bearman are the drop zone drivers - the timesheets subsequently light up in a blur of green and purple sector times as they all push to improve. In the end, Albon is the only driver from that pack to get out of danger and secure safe passage to SQ3, going seventh with an impressive final time, while Norris remains fastest thanks to his original lap and Russell improves to second via a smoother run. Alonso cannot quite make the final segment in P11, with Bearman 12th for Haas, Sainz struggling to 13th, Bortoleto winding up 14th and Hadjar classifying 15th via a mistake at the start of his final run.
"I don’t know what’s going on".
Laments a particularly frustrated Sainz over the radio. In the gap after SQ2, intriguing radio messages between the Ferrari pit wall and Leclerc are aired - the Monegasque being asked to swap positions with Hamilton as the phase draws to a close. But before anyone can read further into that situation, the green light switches on at the end of the pit lane and SQ3 begins, with this outing eight minutes in duration and mandating the red-marked soft tyres. Piastri kicks things off with a blistering 1'30"929, a couple of tenths up on a happier-looking Russell and teammate Norris, who has made a mistake through Turn 13 and lost out all the way down the back straight. McLaren has competition, though, with Hamilton pumping in a 1'30"849 as the session develops to secure provisional pole, which he ultimately keeps despite a similarly impressive lap from Verstappen (just 0.018s slower). Those improvements bump Piastri to third, Leclerc to fourth, and Russell to fifth, while Norris is only sixth after another error on his second lap. Antonelli winds up eighth, with Tsunoda, Albon, and Stroll completing the top 10. Hailing from China, at a circuit where he has triumphed an impressive six times in his career, Lewis Hamilton achieved his first true result with Scuderia Ferrari. The British driver claimed pole position in the Sprint Qualifying and will start from the front row next to his longtime rival, Max Verstappen. This was a surprising result, aided by a double mistake from the McLaren drivers. Their cars are undoubtedly still the fastest, but Oscar Piastri and especially Lando Norris were unable to extract the maximum potential from the MCL39, which at times seemed difficult to handle.
"I thank the fans; the crowd here is fantastic. I didn’t expect this result, but I’m really happy and proud. The last race was a disaster for us. We knew the car had pace, but we couldn't unlock it. We came here to a track I love, a beautiful place, with perfect weather, and the car came alive from the start. The team did a great job preparing the car".
Lewis Hamilton is genuinely satisfied and also sincerely surprised to have put all rivals behind him:
"I’m a little shocked, I can’t believe we got pole. This is just the Sprint, but we have good pace for the race as well. Where did I make the difference? I don’t know, I need to look at the data. But my first sector was strong; that’s probably where I improved the most. But it was a gradual improvement throughout the whole track. There’s still room to improve. I’ll try to find it in the next qualifying session. Seeing the number one on the red car is incredible. Sprint race? I don’t know what to expect. It’ll be my first real race simulation, just like Sunday will be my first real race in a Ferrari. I hope to hold on, but McLaren is fast, as is Max. But we’re in a good position".
The final remark is for the fans in Shanghai, who erupted in cheers as Lewis Hamilton took the lead in the SQ3 standings:
"The crowd here has always been amazing with me. From the very first days, and I’ve been coming here for many years, I’ve always found incredible support, and I’m truly grateful. From the moment you land until you leave, through the highs and lows, every year, they follow and support you. It’s really something extraordinary. Even though it’s not the main pole position, this result is very inspiring to aim for a good performance tomorrow".
The mood inside Scuderia Ferrari’s garage is split in half. While Lewis Hamilton celebrates his pole position, Charles Leclerc cannot be satisfied with his fourth-place finish in SQ3. The Monegasque driver is 0.2 seconds behind his teammate and is also preceded by Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri. More importantly, Leclerc never seemed able to match Hamilton’s speed.
"I struggled on my side of the garage. From the beginning, I felt a step behind Lewis, who was simply faster today. I struggled a lot in corners 2-3, where I struggled last year too; that’s a bit of a shame. Apart from that, we’re all close. It’s a shame to start from fourth, but Lewis is on pole, and we hope to have a good race together tomorrow. Tyre management in FP1? Very difficult. We struggled to get everything into the right window. But in the end, I felt a little better in qualifying, although not as much as I would have liked".
However, there are still opportunities for redemption:
"There’s still work to be done for tomorrow’s qualifying. However, the race will be a different story. How to reset? First of all, there’s the sprint race, which I think will be very tricky for the tyres, so we’ll need to focus on that. Then we’ll see how the next qualifying goes".
At least for now, Frederic Vasseur can smile. After a disappointing start to the season in Melbourne, Scuderia Ferrari has bounced back strongly. And now there’s an opportunity to move up in the World Championship standings after a poor showing in Australia.
"We’re clearly pleased with this afternoon’s result. After the difficult qualifying last week in Australia, today’s performance energizes the whole team, and it’s certainly very positive for Lewis, who has been consistently fast, having set the best time in SQ1 as well. Charles was competitive too, and this result puts us in a position to have both cars in the top two rows and try to score good points tomorrow".
The French manager, however, does not hide his concern that the MCL39 is still more competitive and faster than the Ferrari, even though Piastri, Norris, and the team didn’t perform perfectly in SQ3:
"We can’t overlook that McLaren has great pace both on the fast lap and in race configuration, but we need to stay focused and execute to the smallest details. Tomorrow’s Sprint will also be important as it will give us useful information for Sunday’s Grand Prix".
George Russell secured fifth place at the end of Sprint Qualifying. The British driver doesn’t hide his surprise at the unexpected ending, which saw Lewis Hamilton achieve Ferrari’s first-ever pole position, celebrated by his former teammate.
"It was difficult to extract the most from the tyres during Sprint Qualifying. At one point in SQ2, we were out of the top 10, and the next moment, we were second, even though both laps were similar. This shows how close the gaps were today, but I think P5 is a result that reflects our potential. I was quite satisfied with my lap in SQ3, and it’s not a bad starting point. It’s always tough to do Sprint Qualifying with so few laps in the only free practice session, so we can be happy with our efforts. Let’s see what happens tomorrow in both the Sprint and the qualifying. It was a surprise to see the McLarens struggle a bit in SQ3, and we have four different teams in the top five. We definitely have the chance to recover positions in the Sprint and challenge those ahead of us, we hope we can do it".
Andrea Kimi Antonelli starts his weekend with a seventh-place finish in Sprint Qualifying. A good result compared to his elimination in Q1 during the traditional Australian qualifying, but one that still leaves a bitter taste. The Italian driver was over 0.5 seconds behind his teammate.
"I struggled. On the mediums, the pace was better. The second lap had the tyres in an optimal range. With the softs, I really struggled. I struggled with grip, especially in Turn 1. I lost a lot there compared to the mediums. It’s a shame. It could have been better, but there’s another qualifying tomorrow. I need to learn about the tyres, and going out in Q1 in Melbourne didn’t help with learning how to warm the tyres and get them in the right window".
The results of Sprint Qualifying bring back memories of when Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton were used to being side by side at the start, with only asphalt ahead of them. Hamilton’s pole position is a surprise, but so is the first row conquered by Max Verstappen, considering that Liam Lawson, in the other Red Bull Racing, will start from last. The Dutch driver waited until the last available moment in Q3 to set a lap with the most rubber on track, and he set the record in the third sector.
"I’m very happy with the first row. It was very difficult to switch from the medium compound to the soft without any references, and I think we were quite far off the rivals in Free Practice. So I’m very happy with my performance, the lap was good, and I was even 0.018 seconds from pole. The McLarens looked really fast, it won’t be easy to keep them behind in the Sprint, but maybe it will be fun".
At Red Bull Racing, they thought that by distancing Sergio Perez, they’d find a driver who could consistently bring results and challenge Max Verstappen. However, their calculations didn’t quite work out. After the struggles of his debut weekend in Australia, Liam Lawson started the Shanghai weekend even worse. In Sprint Qualifying, the New Zealand driver qualified in P20, last. An embarrassing result. After the session, Liam was understandably down and confirmed what he had already told his engineers via radio at the moment of elimination, expressing his frustration about not being able to get the tyres to work properly.
"Obviously, it’s a shame. Initially, it didn’t go too badly, the first lap was good. We tried to build on that pace, but we stayed out, and I struggled to bring the tyre temperature down before starting the second lap. So we started with the tyres too hot, and during the lap, I struggled. It’s frustrating. We had decent pace, and that shows we should be much further up. We have the Sprint tomorrow to learn something and want to do a better job in qualifying to put the car where it should be".
After McLaren’s results in the Australian Grand Prix, with Lando Norris taking pole position and the win, the lead-up to the Chinese Grand Prix once again saw the Woking team and the British driver as the favorites for another victory, starting from the Sprint Qualifying. However, this did not happen. The English driver will start from sixth place, mainly due to a mistake in his final fast lap, which proved decisive in the fight for pole, highlighting what the young driver had mentioned in the press conference, describing the MCL39 as a car still difficult to drive:
"I made a mistake, I touched the curb in the last corner. We weren’t fast enough, and I struggled a lot with the car. Too many mistakes, today the car was too difficult to drive".
A more positive result for Oscar Piastri, who will start from third position in the Sprint Race, although the Australian driver still has some regrets:
"Unfortunately, I was fast at the wrong time. Q1 and Q2 went well, but in Q3 we tried something different, and we went out very early, trying to do two laps, and I’m not sure it was the best choice. I think the car’s pace is still very good, and I’m confident we can fight for the podium tomorrow".
The Sprint Race format, however, allows plenty of room for recovery for the two Woking cars, who remain favorites for the Grand Prix win. However, a change in approach will be needed to exploit the car’s potential, which still feels a bit nervous. In this regard, Andrea Stella, McLaren’s team principal, acknowledges that they didn’t do a perfect job.
"Our first day here in China ends with a somewhat disappointing result, although during Free Practice we managed to work well, completing many important elements for the Sprint weekend. We struggled to put together perfect laps in SQ3, so we couldn’t capitalize on the good pace of the car. This reminds us how much competition there is on the grid: not fully exploiting the performance can cost us several positions. Now we have the opportunity to use the available information to maximize the car’s pace and ensure we’re ready to start from tomorrow’s Sprint".
On Saturday, March 22, 2025, as the lights go out for the 19-lap encounter, Hamilton smoothly holds the lead into the first corner while Piastri attempts to challenge Verstappen and Norris goes side-by-side with Russell. This does not pay off for the championship leader, however, with a lock-up dropping Norris down to P9. Russell and Tsunoda both make gains by Lap 2, with the Mercedes taking P4 from Leclerc while Tsunoda moves up two places from his P8 grid slot to be running in P6 for Racing Bulls. Up at the front, meanwhile, Hamilton looks comfortable, stretching out a gap of 1.1s on Verstappen. While Verstappen looks to close the gap to his former title rival, replays show his Red Bull teammate Liam Lawson going wheel-to-wheel with Alpine’s Jack Doohan in a scrap for P18, the New Zealander clearly in fighting mode following a disappointing Sprint Qualifying on Friday. By Lap 6, Hamilton is still over a second clear of Verstappen, but the Dutchman has Piastri chasing him down in the McLaren, with the gap standing at around 0.7s. Behind them, the other drivers running in points-paying positions are Russell, Leclerc, Tsunoda, Antonelli, and Lance Stroll.
Out of those positions is Norris, the McLaren driver having tyre issues as he struggles to close in on the Aston Martin of Stroll. Also facing concerns with their tyres is Hamilton, the seven-time World Champion suffering graining on his front left, allowing Verstappen to edge closer to the Ferrari. As Lap 11 ticks down, the picture evolves again as Hamilton stretches out the gap, while Verstappen is now facing pressure from Piastri, the Australian just over half a second back. Elsewhere, there is plenty of action across the field, with Lawson picking off Carlos Sainz before the Williams makes a visit to the pits for a fresh set of medium tyres, dropping him to the back of the field.
"How can we help?"
Norris is asked by his race engineer on Lap 13, leading the championship leader - still unable to catch Stroll for eighth - to respond:
"I'm flat out".
His McLaren teammate Piastri, meanwhile, tries to find a way past Verstappen into Turn 1 before backing off, with the World Champion commenting:
"Both of my front tyres are dead".
By Lap 15, Verstappen can hang on no longer, with Piastri edging past the Red Bull to sweep into second. The action heats up behind the top three, with Leclerc scrapping with Russell for P4. But there are no such troubles for the other red car as Hamilton takes the chequered flag by a whopping 6.889s ahead of Piastri, while Verstappen has to settle for third. Russell ultimately wins out in that late fight with Leclerc, holding off the Ferrari by just over half a second, with Tsunoda taking some valuable points in sixth for Racing Bulls after the squad misses out last weekend in Melbourne. Antonelli crosses the line in seventh, while Norris eventually takes eighth to claim the final point on offer. Stroll and Aston Martin teammate Fernando Alonso miss out in ninth and tenth, as do Alex Albon in eleventh for Williams - who drops down from his P9 starting slot - and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly in twelfth. Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar, Lawson, and the Haas pair of Ollie Bearman and Esteban Ocon follow from P13 to P16 respectively, with Sainz in P17. Kick Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto takes P18 after making contact with Doohan at the end of the event, while Hulkenberg is P19 and the aforementioned Doohan claims P20. Lewis Hamilton's victory in the Sprint Race at Shanghai marks a historic moment, as it is his first-ever win in a sprint race and also the first win for Scuderia Ferrari in this format. While it doesn't hold the same weight as a traditional Grand Prix victory, it’s a great way to start this new chapter together and, above all, to erase the disappointment experienced in Melbourne. A disappointment that was met with criticism, which the British driver did not appreciate at all.
"The first race was tough, but obviously, many people underestimated how difficult it is to come to a new team, adapt, get used to each other, and understand communication. The amount of criticism and people talking nonsense was incredible. People with no experience. Coming here and feeling at ease - because I didn’t feel comfortable in Melbourne - has been amazing. We worked really well with the team and the mechanics to optimize the car. Today went great, I had a good start, and there’s so much grip on this asphalt, so it’s tough to manage the tires. But that was the same for everyone. I don’t feel the pressure. I know it’s the first year, and I know everyone wants to win, but I’ve said it before: one day didn’t go well, but we have to take it step by step, not take a bigger step than we can handle. Rome wasn’t built in a day. We have to take it one step at a time, be diligent, and keep pushing. It’s important to stay focused and keep calm. This is a marathon, not a sprint. We need to take our time".
On his 19th attempt, Scuderia Ferrari won the Sprint Race, thanks to Lewis Hamilton, who, in just his second weekend with the team, claimed pole position at the end of Sprint Qualifying and then won the race. Charles Leclerc, on the other hand, started from fourth but lost ground, finishing in fifth. The Monegasque driver was overtaken by George Russell on the second lap:
"I was conservative. But in the first part of the race and even in the middle, I didn’t have great pace. Certainly, it’s a point lost. Historically, this track, like Melbourne, has always been a bit tough for me, but that’s not an excuse, I haven’t been on Hamilton’s level so far".
Leclerc knows he must bounce back starting from Qualifying later that day:
"After these races, I hope to look forward to the upcoming events, but now I must focus on collecting as many points as possible here. In this race, for example, I could have finished fourth, and this afternoon I hope to find a bit more feeling with the car to qualify better".
The first victory for Ferrari-Hamilton has arrived in China. It’s just a Sprint Race, but the way the English driver dominated, starting from pole position, is enough to make all Ferrari fans around the world dream. The team principal, Frederic Vasseur, must keep their feet firmly on the ground. After the race, he praised the work done by the British superstar and Charles Leclerc, who finished fifth after starting fourth, while already focusing on the upcoming Qualifying session.
"We shouldn’t draw too many conclusions from this race because it’s still too early. I don’t want to say that Lewis had an easy race, but he managed it from the start. At some point, he let Verstappen close in a bit, but also made him damage his tires. He had clean air throughout the race, so he could push towards the end and finished with a 7-second gap to Piastri. The most important thing for me is that we had a good race. Charles also managed well at one point but then came back strong at the end. Now we move forward".
After the pole position achieved in Sprint Qualifying, Vasseur was not surprised by Hamilton’s pace:
"When you get pole, you expect to win. You can’t start from pole and expect to finish third. I think the pace was good, the car had good balance, and that’s the most important thing. As I said, when you do well in qualifying, you can’t expect to not have a good race. But it’s true that in these conditions, if you’re second at the start, it becomes more difficult because you have dirty air, you damage your tires, and when you get close to someone else and can’t overtake, you have problems. Lewis managed the race well: he let Verstappen catch up, and Verstappen damaged his tires in that phase, while Lewis had a bit of a reserve in hand. Was qualifying crucial? Yes, it’s a little less true for a long race because with strategy there’s a bit more room for variation. But we’d certainly prefer to start from pole again tomorrow, no doubt about that".
The French manager defended Charles Leclerc’s performance, which was below par:
"Did he struggle? No. He was two-tenths behind yesterday, that’s true. But today, if you start from fourth or fifth, you’re very concerned about tire management, which prevented him from pushing in the early laps. Russell, on the other hand, was pushing hard, but then we saw that at the en dhe was just trying to survive. Without having done a proper race simulation, it was hard to have clear expectations of how much energy could be put into the tires right away".
After a mistake during Sprint Qualifying, Lando Norris couldn’t get a good result in the Sprint Race. In fact, he performed even worse, dropping from sixth on the grid to eighth at the chequered flag. He only managed to grab a point in the final stages, after spending the whole Sprint Race behind Lance Stroll. The championship leader paid for a poor start: after misjudging the braking point at turn 6 - set up on the outside hoping to surprise George Russell - he was passed by Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Yuki Tsunoda, and Lance Stroll. Norris thus condemned himself to an anonymous Sprint Race, further complicated by tire management issues, asking the team for help several times without much success.
"I lost positions at the start, and that didn’t help. But I was slow, I didn’t have any pace beyond that. However, Oscar had a great race, we need to look at the data to understand how to improve. Why this difference? He adapted better to these conditions".
The first Sprint Race of the 2025 season generated a little, big excitement for Scuderia Ferrari fans. The victory, made possible by Lewis Hamilton's performance, who, after starting from pole position, blocked Max Verstappen's attempts to overtake him. From that point on, the British driver practically dominated for all 19 laps, with Max Verstappen only catching up to him mid-race. However, the Dutchman asked too much from his tires, allowing Oscar Piastri to close in and pass him for second place a few laps from the finish.
"I was patient, I knew there were a lot of uncertainties about how the tires would degrade towards the end, and they were as bad as I expected. I had to wait for the right moment, hoping the others would start struggling towards the end, and that’s what happened with Max. Lewis, on the other hand, had clean air, and that helped him, but it also affected me. Still, the result was really good".
Even when he doesn’t win, Max Verstappen is excellent at maximizing the potential of his car and securing results that could make a difference at the end of the season. In the Sprint Race, for example, the Dutchman followed Lewis Hamilton for several laps without forcing an overtaking move even when he was in DRS range. Max immediately realized that his rival had more competitiveness, and he focused on defending himself from Oscar Piastri. He kept the Australian behind, despite being less competitive, for as long as he could. But tire degradation ultimately favored Piastri. The reigning World Champion ended up with a third-place finish, which, given the circumstances, was a satisfactory result.
"I saw that Lewis was managing the tires quite well ahead. It wasn’t about trying to overtake him, it was just about keeping Oscar behind me: Hamilton’s DRS was enough to stay in second place, basically. I didn’t fight Oscar on the straight, I let him pass. Then, in reality, I think we both started struggling a lot, but I don’t think I would’ve been able to keep him behind. Luckily, the drivers behind (George Russell and Charles Leclerc) started fighting towards the end of the race. In general, the pace wasn’t great, so third place is a decent result for us. We had too much tire degradation because I think our base pace wasn’t fast, so when you try to defend, you end up killing the tires".
Starting seventh and finishing seventh, Andrea Kimi Antonelli was caught out by Yuki Tsunoda at the start but made use of Lando Norris’s mistake shortly afterward to move back into seventh position.
"The first lap really set the tone for the rest of the race. I think the pace, especially in the beginning, was good, but after staying so close to the car in front, I struggled, especially with dirty air, and the tires suffered a lot. Surely, the approach I’ll have tomorrow in the race will be a little different, especially in terms of tire management. Then, I think we’ll change something in the setup, just to help in case I find myself behind another car, but it will depend a lot on today’s Qualifying".
After a thrilling Sprint Qualifying session, and Hamilton’s impressive pole-to-victory conversion in the Sprint itself, attention in the paddock soon turns to Saturday’s main Qualifying hour, which will set the grid for the Chinese Grand Prix. With tyre compounds no longer mandated, unlike the Sprint regulations earlier in the weekend, all 20 drivers head out on the red-marked soft tyres for the opening Q1 phase - 18 minutes on the clock to put laps in and secure places in Q2. As the first flying laps arrive, Piastri holds P1 on a 1'31"591, ahead of Hamilton, Russell, and Antonelli, while Norris, Tsunoda, and Doohan (who suffers an early spin in the middle sector) all lose lap times for exceeding track limits. Putting his first lap in slightly later, Verstappen subsequently moves to the top of the list with a 1'31"424, but Leclerc’s hopes of doing the same are ended by a moment on his opening run - meaning he has to wind himself up and go again. Strong laps from the Racing Bulls see Tsunoda and Hadjar move into high-flying P4 and P5 positions, with Albon and Bearman similarly impressive in sixth and seventh respectively for Williams and Haas, and both Kick Saubers show early top 10 pace. Norris is the final driver to get a lap on the board after his tricky start, going seventh behind the Racing Bulls machines, around half a second slower than Verstappen’s benchmark, with Leclerc only 13th and under pressure for his final run to the chequered flag. While replays show Hamilton wrestling his Ferrari through the first corner ahead of the anticipated mad dash to the finish, Ocon, Gasly, Sainz, Lawson, and Doohan are the drivers in the drop zone - the Red Bull newcomer at serious risk of another early exit.
"Just so it is clear, we do need this next lap".
Comes the message from the Mercedes pit wall to Russell, who sits 10th with a 1'32"0 flat, only a tenth or so above the drop zone - highlighting the importance of the final runs as drivers bolt on fresh softs. While Verstappen watches on from the pits, a timing screen full of green and purple sector times ends with a much-improved Norris in P1 over the starring Hadjar and Tsunoda, Russell, and the Dutchman himself. There are no shocks to report at the other end of the order, with Gasly narrowly missing out on a Q2 spot to Stroll in P16, followed by Bearman, teammate Doohan (via a late mistake), Bortoleto, and Lawson, whose challenges since earning promotion continue. After a short break, the remaining 15 drivers return to the track and kick off their efforts to reach the pole position shootout. Norris states his intentions from the outset by pumping in a 1'30"787 - around half a second clear of teammate Piastri. Verstappen moves into a solid third, from Russell, Tsunoda, and Antonelli, while the Ferraris of Hamilton and Leclerc are slightly lower down the order in P7 and P8 - sandwiching Albon’s Williams - and Hulkenberg holds the final, coveted Q3 position. That means Stroll, Ocon, Hadjar, Alonso, and Sainz are the drivers at risk as another round of non-stop improvements ensues - even if there is some drama for Antonelli, who reports over the radio that the magic is stuck on his steering wheel, referring to Mercedes’ brake bias system. As per Verstappen in Q1, Norris watches on from the pits after his blistering early time, with both of those drivers again safely making it through alongside Piastri, the still-rapid Racing Bulls of Hadjar and Tsunoda, Russell, and Ferrari duo Leclerc and Hamilton. Antonelli progresses in P9 despite his magic issue and a moment through the sweeping first turn, with Albon the last to reach Q3 in P10 - denying Ocon, Hulkenberg, Alonso, Stroll, and teammate Sainz, who is steadily adjusting to his new surroundings. When Q3 begins, Verstappen is quick to head back out and get the timesheets rolling on a 1'30"925. McLaren, though, are soon back on top - Norris setting a 1'30"793 and Piastri going even better on a 1'30"703. Sprint pole-sitter Hamilton holds fourth after the first runs, from Russell and Leclerc, while Hadjar and Tsunoda are the ‘best of the rest’ in the Racing Bulls cars - as Albon navigates Q3 with fewer fresh soft tyres than his rivals and Antonelli loses a time for track limits. A close call in the pits prior to the final runs involves Hadjar being released into Verstappen’s path, with that incident to be looked at by the stewards, but not before one last blast to settle pole position. In another tense sequence of events, while Norris abandons his final Qualifying lap, several of those around him manage to improve - Piastri producing a 1'30"641 and Russell jumping up the order to join him on the front row. Norris’ bail out leaves him third, over Verstappen, Hamilton, and Leclerc, with Hadjar, Antonelli, Tsunoda, and Albon completing the top half of the field ahead of what promises to be a fascinating Chinese Grand Prix. Once again, a McLaren in pole position, just like in Australia, but this time with Oscar Piastri, who, on his 48th career Grand Prix (the same as Gerhard Berger), set the fastest time in Qualifying, becoming the 107th pole sitter in Formula 1 history.
"The first real pole position took a long time to come. I was fortunate to get a pole for a Sprint in Qatar during my rookie season and repeated it a year ago in Brazil, but the pole for the Grand Prix feels completely different because many points are awarded tomorrow. In Qualifying, the adrenaline skyrockets, you feel the car come alive, and then after the lap, you wait for the others to finish theirs. Lando has had a lot of poles recently, and I’m happy to have achieved it today".
Lando Norris had a very negative day. In the Sprint Race, he made a mistake on the first lap, ending up in eighth place, and in Qualifying, he missed even the first row and lost the comparison to Oscar Piastri. The English driver is looking forward to redemption in the race on Sunday:
"Definitely, the potential was higher, but I wasn’t able to extract it fully. Oscar did a great job, I’m happy for him, it’s his first pole in Formula 1, and it’s always a nice feeling. He was quick, did a great job, but the points are awarded tomorrow, so let’s see. We have a lot of work to do tonight to try and understand where to improve because my race this morning was really bad".
At the moment, McLaren cars are the best on track, a fact carried over from the end of the 2024 World Championship. However, both the standings and the results so far don’t confirm a clear superiority from the Woking team. When the cars line up on the starting grid, Max Verstappen is just 2 points ahead of Lando Norris in the standings, and Mercedes is just 1 point behind McLaren. This is an unimaginable situation after the Qualifying in the Australian Grand Prix, but the crazy race in Melbourne and the weekend with the Sprint Race in China have so far masked McLaren's superiority, if it really is superiority. After the race, we’ll understand where the Woking team stands. For now, Andrea Stella is enjoying Oscar Piastri’s first pole position in Formula 1.
"The team and both drivers worked hard in Qualifying to ensure the pace we knew we had in the car, but first of all, I want to congratulate Oscar on his first pole in a Grand Prix. He put together a beautiful lap in Q3 after two solid sessions in Q1 and Q2, he gave his best when it mattered most, and we once again witnessed a very high level of competition from the other teams. After Ferrari’s excellent result this morning, Mercedes was very close in the afternoon. Oscar and Lando have put us in a great position for tomorrow's race, which will undoubtedly be hard-fought, and now we’re focused on getting the most out of the car when needed".
After the joy of winning the Sprint Race, the afternoon in China wasn’t as happy for Lewis Hamilton. The British driver couldn’t replicate the good performances he had shown so far on the Shanghai track and had to settle for fifth place in Qualifying, which defined the starting grid for the Chinese Grand Prix. Once again, Lewis Hamilton had the upper hand over his teammate Charles Leclerc - a constant this weekend - but both Ferraris will start from the third row. Not the best possible position, considering the unknowns regarding tire wear, a variable that could penalize cars that will be stuck in traffic, without clean air in front of them.
"I could have been a couple of tenths higher, but I really struggled to find the car's balance this afternoon. What changed compared to yesterday? Everyone else improved. We made a couple of changes, some small adjustments to the car, but in the end, we had a lot more oversteer. We made some modifications to improve our race performance, but the car became quite twitchy on a single lap. The lap wasn’t as clean; I probably should have been one or two tenths quicker. The position isn’t ideal, but I’m optimistic for tomorrow. I’d like to have a good start, pass at least one car, and gradually climb up. Tonight, we’ll try to think of a plan, and I’ll try to execute it".
It’s not exactly a black weekend, but it’s close. Charles Leclerc finishes Qualifying with the sixth-best time, placing behind his teammate, Lewis Hamilton, in a Q3 session that seems to erase the few certainties that had been established after Ferrari's strong performance in Sprint Qualifying and the Sprint Race. What hurts perhaps the most is the gap, with the Monegasque driver trailing the poleman Piastri by almost 0.4 seconds and his teammate by just under 0.1 seconds: for this reason, Leclerc is preparing for a complicated Chinese Grand Prix.
"In my opinion, the others improved, and we didn’t improve as much. Today, it was clear that we were struggling more because yesterday I wasn’t happy with my lap at all, whereas today I’m much more satisfied with how we put everything together. As I said after the Sprint race, I didn’t expect a miracle because I struggle on this track, but compared to how I felt, I gave almost everything I had in this lap. Unfortunately, there’s not much more, which is a shame".
Charles Leclerc then tries to explain that there were small changes in the conditions that might have affected the behavior of the SF-25:
"We need to analyze the data before talking because there were some changes. The tire pressures are different, and the weather conditions changed, the wind shifted a lot. But the conditions are the same for everyone. Perhaps the different pressures hurt us more than the others, but we need to look at where we placed the car and why we lost performance".
The final remark concerns expectations for the race, which, despite the good pace and manageable tire wear shown in the Sprint Race, could prove particularly difficult for Ferrari:
"Lewis has been very strong this weekend, but we have to be careful because there’s a big difference between being at the front with clean air and being where I was, in traffic with dirty air. I think we will struggle more in the race to show the pace we showed this morning. What’s positive? Well, the Sprint Race win is positive, but looking ahead, I think it will be a tough race".
Just like the drivers, Ferrari’s team principal, Frederic Vasseur, is confident they can recover:
"We’re all very united, and I think everyone could have done a better job today. We struggled a bit in Q2, but then in Q3, we managed to take a step forward. Did we make any changes after the Sprint? I don’t want to get into that, as it could open the door to thousands of comments, but it’s true that tire degradation in the Sprint was higher than expected. For some, it was a more significant factor, for others less, but it was definitely high. The pressure change from Pirelli? For us, it wasn’t a problem. Tomorrow’s race will be long with a lot of degradation, and we need to keep everything under control, it will be a race where tire degradation will matter more than speed".
The first eight drivers in Qualifying are separated by 0.5 seconds, a scenario that, according to Vasseur, will likely remain consistent:
"There are huge performance differences from one session to another, and even from one tire set to another, these are all factors we’ll need to analyze and keep under control because it will be like this for everyone throughout the season, and it will be key".
Apart from Oscar Piastri, the big protagonist of this Chinese Grand Prix Qualifying is undoubtedly George Russell. The British driver confirms his excellent start to the season with a strong performance in Australia and surprises by taking second place at the end of Q3. However, Russell, interviewed after the Qualifying session, doesn’t get too carried away, instead focusing on aiming for third place and not challenging the two McLarens for the victory.
"We need to be realistic, the goal is the podium. Anything more would be a bonus. Right now, the McLarens are in a league of their own, and we don’t need to do anything crazy to try and beat them because we could end up behind the Ferraris and Max. We’ve said that from the beginning. Third place in Qualifying or in the race, for now, is the goal, and it’s a fight between us, Red Bull, and Ferrari. But if the McLarens make mistakes, then we need to be there to take the opportunity. I’ll do my best".
An eighth-place starting position and still a good amount of new insights to gather for the rest of the season. Andrea Kimi Antonelli ends the Chinese Grand Prix Qualifying with a fourth-row result, which is likely below the expectations and potential of Mercedes, especially considering George Russell’s second place. Nevertheless, the Italian driver’s face, though not particularly satisfied, shows he knows he has gained another important point in understanding these incredible Formula 1 cars.
"Today I definitely found a bit more confidence with the car. Going back to what happened yesterday (in the Sprint Qualifying, editor's note), I struggled a bit to understand how to prepare the tires properly for the launch lap. Sometimes I started a bit too cold and didn’t have the right grip during the lap. So it was really difficult to find the right window to make the tires work".
Even the now-experienced George Russell admitted after the checkered flag that he had experimented a bit to find the best way to warm up the tires during the launch lap.
"Let’s say there’s still a lot of work to be done in this aspect, but let’s see what we can do tomorrow. Is the goal points? I think we have the pace to get into the top six. Today in the Sprint, I was stuck behind another car (Tsunoda’s Racing Bulls, editor's note), and that didn’t help, but we managed to improve the car. So I think we’ll be in a better window for tomorrow".
From the front row, anything can happen in a race that’s still to be discovered, as Mercedes’ team principal Toto Wolff points out:
"Tomorrow’s race looks very interesting. We expect the McLarens to be strong, while Ferrari stood out in this morning’s Sprint. Starting from the front row, we’ll try to maintain our position in the early stages and see where we end up. No one has tested the hard tire yet, so that’s an unknown".
The Austrian manager also adds a comment on Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s performance, who missed out on the third row due to an error in the final sector of his second run in Q3:
"Kimi was going strong, but he was unlucky to lose time on his last lap in the final sector. Without that mistake, he could have fought for the third row. It was still his first Q3 of his career, so it’s all experience".
Second in Sprint Qualifying, third in the Sprint Race, and fourth in Qualifying. All this with his teammate, Liam Lawson, almost always stuck in last place. Max Verstappen is giving it his all to keep Red Bull Racing on top, but even the Dutch driver is starting to give in to the undeniable facts: the other cars are faster than his RB21. Interviewed at the end of Q3, Max Verstappen doesn’t hide his pessimism regarding the Grand Prix and in general about the performance of the car he is driving.
"Win? Yes, if everyone ahead of me retires. We’re not fast enough. I think the lap went well, but it’s very difficult to get a consistent balance on every lap and every corner. So it was tough, but we’re working on it, trying to do better".
The problem, according to the Dutch driver, doesn’t lie in the drivability of the car or the fact that he’s not comfortable with it. Simply put, the RB21 isn’t fast enough. A problem that might be even more concerning:
"I feel comfortable, let’s put it that way, like I’m confident attacking the corners, but sometimes my input is not what I’m getting from the car. This makes it hard to tackle each corner. Also, in the race, when this happens, it’s more likely that the tires degrade more than the cars around you. And that’s not ideal. When you’re fundamentally lacking pace, there’s not much you can do".
Finally, Max Verstappen makes some even more brutal comments about Red Bull Racing and his teammate Liam Lawson, who is struggling to adapt to the new car:
"Are we the fourth force? For me, that’s how it is. Lawson? I think he would do better with the Racing Bulls car. Our car is extremely complicated".
When Red Bull Racing decided to choose Liam Lawson as Max Verstappen’s teammate, they were confident that the young New Zealand driver would show his great adaptability, which had helped him perform well in DTM, SuperFormula, and in Formula 1 with Racing Bulls. However, the Anglo-Austrian team’s wishes are now facing a very negative reality, as Lawson, despite driving a Red Bull Racing car, has been eliminated in Q1 both in Australia and China (and in this weekend’s Sprint Qualifying and Qualifying for the Grand Prix). Clearly, the seat of the New Zealand driver is already in question, and even Christian Horner doesn’t hide that, in the coming days, reflections will be made about Lawson’s performance:
"Today was a tough day for him, we’ll take a look and analyze everything. For tomorrow, we’ll try to give him the best possible car. His performance? I repeat, we’ll analyze everything, and for tomorrow, we’ll do everything we can".
Lawson honestly admitted that he is in a tough spot at the end of today’s qualifying:
"It’s difficult to get into the right window with this car. I wish I could say I’ll manage to do it with time, but I know I don’t have the time to do so. So I just have to improve".
It’s not surprising that the first name to replace Liam Lawson is Yuki Tsunoda. The Japanese driver was asked if he would be ready to take his chances with Red Bull Racing:
"Yes, why not? From the Japanese Grand Prix? Of course, 100%. The car is faster than ours".
On Sunday, March 23, 2025, with the formation lap completed in particularly breezy conditions, the five lights switch on and then release the grid away for the 56-lap race - Russell initially attacks polesitter Piastri on the run to Turn 1, only to back out at the apex and get jumped by Norris. Behind, drama ensues through that sweeping first complex, with Hamilton and Leclerc both managing to find a way past Verstappen, only for the Monegasque to bounce off the Turn 2 kerb, run into the back of his new teammate, and pick up front wing damage.
"We have 20 to 30 points loss on the front. If we can survive, we wait for the first stop".
Leclerc is told over the radio.
"We can survive".
Comes his response, as he remains in P5 over Verstappen, Antonelli, Tsunoda, Hadjar, and Ocon, who passes Albon. Elsewhere, replays show Bortoleto suffering a snap as he chases Bearman through Turn 7, sending him into the gravel and back to the pits for a fresh set of hard tyres, while Alonso retires his Aston Martin after shouting that:
"I cannot brake".
Over the radio. As the race settles down, Piastri leads Norris by just over a second, keeping his teammate outside of the crucial Drag Reduction System (DRS) window, with similar margins developing between the cars behind - Russell still third from Hamilton and the wounded Leclerc. Verstappen, meanwhile, laps the best part of a second slower than the frontrunners. At this point, another message from the Ferrari pit wall tells Leclerc that they are thinking about Plan B. After countering that he wants Plan A:
"If it stays like this".
He is told:
"There will be too much traffic, so we stick to Plan B".
Gasly is the first driver to pit for new tyres under normal circumstances on Lap 11 with a move to hards, triggering plenty more swaps in the middle of the pack next time around - Tsunoda managing to jump Antonelli via a powerful undercut. When it comes to the frontrunners, Hamilton and Verstappen are the first to make a move, also taking on the white-marked hards, while Piastri, Norris, Russell, and Leclerc continue, along with Albon, Stroll, Sainz, Bearman, Lawson, and Hulkenberg.
"I think it’s going to go one stop".
Russell comments amid those tyre changes, reporting that the graining is clearing up. The answer comes when Piastri and Russell pit together on Lap 15 and rejoin the track in the aforementioned group of yet-to-pit drivers, with Norris and Leclerc following suit a lap later - that sequence putting Williams driver Albon in a temporary lead on his birthday. Piastri retains track position as the various pit stops filter through, while Russell is another provisional undercut winner when he sweeps around the outside of Norris and his cold tyres through Turns 1 and 2, where Stroll’s Aston Martin gets between them. It does not take long for Norris to fight back, though, with the championship leader settling into a rhythm and clearing Russell down the start/finish straight with DRS on Lap 18, meaning the top-five positions return to their pre-stop order. A few laps later, after some back and forth over the radio, Hamilton moves to the side of the track and lets Leclerc through for P4 - the latter, who does not take the opportunity to fit a new front wing in the pits, feeling he has a better shot of challenging Russell. Verstappen sits in a low-key sixth, ahead of Stroll and Bearman, who are now the last drivers on their starting sets of tyres, with Tsunoda and Ocon holding the final top-10 places over Antonelli (nursing floor damage picked up on the first lap), Hadjar, Albon, Gasly, Doohan, Sainz, and Lawson - the Kick Saubers cut adrift at the back.
"Give me some feedback, guys".
Hamilton radios after dropping behind Leclerc, requesting information as to where he is losing time - the seven-time World Champion not looking anywhere near as comfortable as he does in Sprint Qualifying and the Sprint race. In the sister Ferrari, Leclerc soon catches Russell and begins to put pressure on the Briton, with that all-important DRS range approaching. However, his bid to complete a move is made more difficult by the Mercedes pulling away like a dragster out of Turn 12. On Lap 27, Bearman finally pits for fresh rubber after a fierce scrap with Stroll, which involves a big lock-up for the rookie at the final hairpin - meaning the Canadian is now the final driver yet to stop but still pumping in personal best after personal best as the laps tick by. Up front, McLaren are wary of the three-second gap between Norris and third-placed Russell, and ask their driver to use some pace. Norris replies that he does not want to push into the dirty air of Oscar again, to which his engineer confirms that Piastri will be asked to help by going faster. In the laps that follow, McLaren’s radio juggling helps Norris pull some five seconds clear of Russell, who has in turn put a couple of seconds between himself and Leclerc - the Ferrari driver’s cause not helped by a mistake at Turn 14. With the race well into its second half, does Pirelli’s two-stop forecast play out? Or can the frontrunners look after their tyres enough to make the chequered flag with just one pit lane visit?
"So far, it looks like the tyre is robust".
Norris is told in a follow-up message. Adding further tension to the mix, Norris is told that there could be some rain in the closing laps of the race in the Class 1 category - nowhere near as much as the deluge seen in Australia, but still something for teams to keep an eye on up and down the paddock. Racing Bulls are one team committed to a two-stop plan, bringing Hadjar and Tsunoda in for fresh hard tyres in quick succession, while Stroll finally moves over to mediums after an impressive 37 laps on his original, white-marked rubber.
"Good pace now, Max. Better late than never".
Verstappen is amusingly told as the race wears on and he closes in on fifth-placed Hamilton. But before the Dutchman can catch the Ferrari, his former title rival pits for a second time and bolts on more hard tyres. Do Piastri, Norris, Russell, Leclerc, and Verstappen stay out?
"I think we can go to the end".
Piastri comments, with Norris being told to be patient as he manages graining and the gaps between his teammate ahead and Russell behind. As the top five remain on track and ponder that question, Hamilton lights up the timesheets by going around a second a lap faster. However, sitting some 17 seconds adrift of Verstappen, he has only 14 laps available to reclaim the position he lost in the pits. A few seconds down the road, Ocon holds seventh in what is turning into a fine race for himself and Haas, ahead of Antonelli, Albon, and teammate Bearman, who storms past a host of rival cars after his out-of-sync stop - adding ciao over the radio while doing so. There is further scrapping in the midfield when the Racing Bulls go to battle with Doohan - Tsunoda finding a way past, but Hadjar going off the track with the Alpine at the final hairpin on Lap 46. Doohan is later hit with a 10-second penalty for forcing another driver off the track, and picks up two penalty points post-race for good measure. As Hadjar ploughs on, Tsunoda suddenly gets forced into a third pit stop of the day when part of his own front wing comes loose down the start/finish straight - ending any hopes he has of adding to his Sprint points. Back at the front, drama develops at McLaren, with Norris reporting that his brake is going long and the pit wall confirming that it will get worse and worse through to the finish - potentially putting their 1-2 at risk.
As that situation worsens, Verstappen continues to receive praise from his race engineer about his improved level of pace and, having arrived at the rear of fourth-placed Leclerc, puts a move on the Ferrari through the twisty Turn 1/2/3 complex on Lap 53. From there, Piastri sees out the last few kilometres to bag McLaren’s second win of 2025 (and third in a row stretching back to last year’s Abu Dhabi finale), while Norris crosses the line just 1.3 seconds ahead of Russell after almost losing his brakes entirely. Verstappen is a solid fourth over Leclerc and Hamilton, with Ocon one of the stars of the race to claim P7 in front of Antonelli, Albon, and Bearman - Haas’ double score meaning Alpine are now the only team yet to get on the board this season, with Gasly a frustrating 11th. Two races, two victories for McLaren with two different drivers. The 2025 World Championship begins like this, and the feeling is that the rivalry between Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri will last a long time. Today, it is the Australian driver who climbs to the top step of the podium, erasing the mistake made in Melbourne and dominating the race from start to finish. Looking at the race, which was rather low on excitement, it seemed that Piastri was controlling the rest of the field effortlessly. A feeling that, between the lines but not too much, the driver himself confirms after the Grand Prix.
"I believe I managed when it was necessary, it was a very different race from what we expected, with only one pit stop. The first stint was very conservative, but I pushed enough to create a small advantage. Then, with the hard tires, not pushing too early was very important. I'm very satisfied with how I managed the race and how the whole team worked. It was a great result".
Piastri also speaks about the growing rivalry with Norris, which could have a very significant meaning this year:
"I don't want to finish second, obviously. I'm here to win, and I think Lando is an incredibly strong teammate. The rest of the grid? We have a very fast car, but this weekend we had to work hard to make it easier to drive. It wasn't behaving perfectly, I think it was noticeable. However, clearly, the pace was incredibly fast anyway. We managed to control it well. There are still aspects to work on, but in the end, I'm very happy with the level of the whole team".
There could have been a victory, but in the end, second place is not a result to reject. These are the post-race thoughts of Lando Norris, who was never really close to Oscar Piastri but was nonetheless relieved by the final result of a race that could have ended differently. The English driver had to struggle towards the end of the race due to a brake issue that put him in difficulty, allowing George Russell to close in on him in the final kilometers before the chequered flag. A problem that created some negative thoughts for the McLaren driver, but he was still satisfied to have reached the finish line, collecting crucial points, and defending the lead in the Drivers' World Championship standings.
"Russell would have passed me on the next lap, so I was lucky. But brakes are something you really need; they save your life. In the last two laps, the problem got worse, and I only had three or four seconds of advantage, so I was pretty nervous. I think the team knew about the problem much earlier than they communicated it to me, maybe because they wanted to keep me calm. From that point of view, it wasn't a positive race, but we're lucky to have seen the chequered flag, and doing it with a 1-2 makes us very happy. It was what we wanted to achieve this weekend, and that's what we got. So, yes, it was a very positive day for the team".
Norris also responds to the question about his chances of victory without the brake issue:
"I would have liked to challenge Oscar today, but he drove well, and I had the right pace, especially because with dirty air, it’s much more difficult, as we saw all weekend. I believe the pace was there, but Oscar fully deserved this victory. Too bad about my brakes at the end, but that's life, and we move on. The season? It's going to be exciting. It's tough, but I still feel good. With the terrible car conditions yesterday and the day before, I felt like I was behind all weekend in terms of driving and balance. But today, things came together much more for me, and the difference in pace between today and yesterday was significant".
The mistakes made by Lando Norris in Shanghai and Max Verstappen's determination limit the damage for Red Bull Racing: after the Chinese Grand Prix, the Dutch driver loses only one point to the English driver, who now has an 8-point lead in the Drivers' World Championship standings. However, it's clear that Red Bull Racing is not yet at McLaren's level and may not even be on par with Mercedes.
At the start of the Chinese Grand Prix, Max Verstappen didn't get off to a good start and didn't seem able to regain the fourth position. Lewis Hamilton's two pit stops and Charles Leclerc's difficulties at the end of the race gave the Dutch driver the chance to move up to fourth, thanks to a well-managed second half of the race. However, Helmut Marko didn’t hide that next week will be important at Milton Keynes, as there will be an emergency meeting to try to unlock some potential on a less competitive and literally lost RB21 with Liam Lawson.
"This week there will be a meeting in Milton Keynes to discuss when and how we can close the gap. Until then, it's about scoring as many points as possible. We're worried, but we're not throwing in the towel".
According to the Austrian manager, Verstappen could have been on the podium with a better first lap and less caution with the Medium tires:
"In the second stint with the hard tire, we were as fast as the leaders. We lost the race because of the first stint with the medium tire. Maybe in Max’s mind, there was still the idea that the medium tire was rather vulnerable as it happened in the sprint race. Perhaps he was too cautious for that reason".
While George Russell climbs to the podium, completing a practically perfect weekend, Andrea Kimi Antonelli struggles to score points, finishing 42 seconds behind his teammate in Shanghai. A gap that can be explained not only by the experience difference between the two drivers but also by a problem with the floor of the W16 car of the Italian driver, an issue that emerged only at the end of the Chinese Grand Prix.
"I had felt something strange from the first lap, I was struggling a lot with the rear, and the car had significant oversteer, which I wasn't expecting because yesterday it was the opposite. In the Sprint, I was struggling with the front. I felt the car wasn’t like it was yesterday, but I didn’t know about the damage until the end. Apparently, when Leclerc lost a piece of his wing, I hit it with the floor, which made things harder. Honestly, I'm not satisfied with my start, especially with yesterday's qualifying. In Japan, it will be important to do a good qualifying, put everything together to start further ahead, and then I’ll try to analyze what I could have done better in this race to improve for Suzuka".
Lewis Hamilton goes from winning the Sprint Race to finishing in a disappointing sixth place in the Chinese Grand Prix: the Ferrari driver wasn’t competitive, to the point that the Maranello team engineers asked the English driver to let Charles Leclerc through, who was faster despite a front wing damaged by contact at the start with Hamilton (calculations suggest that the Monegasque lost 20 to 30 points of downforce).
Lewis was the only one among the front drivers to make two pit stops, a strategy that didn’t yield the expected results, allowing Max Verstappen to close in and pass Charles Leclerc towards the end. The English driver doesn’t criticize the engineers' strategic choice, and instead says:
"I'm glad we tried something different, because I was struggling with performance anyway. Even though I had much fresher tires at the end, Verstappen was turning lap times similar to mine. On this track, a pit stop costs a lot of time, so in the end, the strategy didn’t work, and we have a lot to learn".
The fact is that Ferrari couldn’t keep pace with their rivals in terms of adjustments and changes made after the Sprint Race. Even an alleged sacrifice of performance in Qualifying didn’t yield benefits in the race. In fact, even though Lewis Hamilton rules out that everything can simply be attributed to raising the car height to prevent excessive floor wear, he says:
"I don't know who said we changed the height. We made other changes, yes (the height, too), but not a huge one, just a small thing, but putting all the pieces together, the car got much worse. Leclerc tested some things in Bahrain, I hadn’t tested them, but we both followed that route, and it wasn’t the right one".
Charles Leclerc finished fifth in the Chinese Grand Prix, 23 seconds behind Oscar Piastri's McLaren. A disappointing result, in line with a rather underwhelming weekend for the Monegasque driver at the Shanghai circuit. But the race today changed from the very first corner, when Leclerc collided with Lewis Hamilton’s car, breaking the lateral edge of his front wing and losing 20 to 30 points of aerodynamic downforce, as reported by his track engineer Bryan Bozzi. Despite the damage to the wing, Charles Leclerc seemed, especially in the first half of the race, much faster than he had been on Friday and Saturday, even managing to pressure George Russell at one point, before falling back and being overtaken by Max Verstappen. It almost seemed like the damaged wing had given more performance to the SF-25. Obviously, that wasn’t the case, and speaking with the press after the race, the Monegasque driver even suggested that the unfortunate contact at the start had cost him the chance to win.
"Everything was very difficult to manage, and in the end, I’m disappointed because 30 points [of aerodynamic downforce] is really a lot. I think today, honestly, the win was there because the pace was really good. Unfortunately, what happened at the start is nobody's fault".
Leclerc then analyzes the Turn 1 contact with clarity:
"I went to the inside, I wasn’t planning to overtake, but I didn’t think Lewis would close. Obviously, it’s not his fault, he has every right to do that, and I was in his blind spot. We touched, but fortunately, it wasn’t the end of the race. After that, we had a good pace, good tire management".
However, Ferrari, even at its best, was never able to challenge Mercedes:
"Mercedes out of Turn 12 was a missile, so it was impossible to overtake. We struggled more than the others, so it was very easy to pass us. In fact, Max didn’t take long, but that’s how it went. We took the available points today, and we’ll look forward. The pace? Today, I think it was really good. As I said: having 30 less downforce from my side is really a lot. We didn’t see the car’s true pace today. I felt more comfortable, I made some changes. I knew that in qualifying, this is not one of those tracks I like, so I knew I’d be a bit behind. I had confidence for the race, and it was confirmed. Unfortunately, with the damage, it was hard to do better".
Ferrari started from the third row with both cars and confirmed their positions at the chequered flag. Ferrari Team Principal Frederic Vasseur commented on the enigmatic performance of the Scuderia Ferrari cars:
"Leclerc couldn’t have done more with the damage he had, and we certainly could have done more without that inconvenience. We didn’t get the maximum. Hamilton's race is harder to explain, especially after yesterday's Sprint where he had a great pace; today, however, he struggled a lot more. The choice to do two stops with Hamilton? It seemed like the safest option at that point in the race given the degradation he had. No one had used the hard tires during the weekend, so we were all going in blind. Are we paying the price for having to raise the car with a full fuel load? We’re talking about millimeters, and everyone does it".
As if that wasn’t enough, Charles Leclerc’s rough weekend could get even worse. The Monegasque driver is at a high risk of disqualification because his car is reported to weigh 799 kg, one less than the minimum, after the Chinese Grand Prix. Pierre Gasly is facing the same risk, though unlike the Ferrari driver, he would not lose any points. Here’s the statement from the FIA’s technical delegate, Jo Bauer:
"After the race, car number 16 was weighed and its weight was 800.0 kg, which is the minimum weight required by TR Article 4.1. As the front wing was damaged (the missing FW endplate was recovered and weighed with the car), the car was re-weighed with an official spare front wing assembly of car 16 and its weight was 800.5 kg. After this, fuel was drained out of the car and 2.0 liters of fuel were removed. The car was drained according to the draining procedure submitted by the team in their legality document. The car was weighed again on the FIA scales (with the official spare front wing assembly of car 16) and the weight was 799.0 kg. The calibration of the scales was confirmed and witnessed by the competitor. For information, the spare front wing was 0.2 kg heavier than the damaged one used during the race. As this is 1.0 kg below the minimum weight requested in TR Article 4.1, which also has to be respected at all times during the competition, I am referring this matter to the Stewards for their consideration. After the race, car number 10 was weighed and its weight was 800.0 kg, which is the minimum weight required by TR Article 4.1. After this, a fuel mass check was carried out and 1.1 kg of fuel were removed. The car was drained according to the draining procedure submitted by the team in their legality document. The car was weighed again on the FIA scales and the weight was 799.0 kg. The calibration of the scales was confirmed and witnessed by the competitor. As this is 1.0 kg below the minimum weight requested in TR Article 4.1, which also has to be respected at all times during the competition, I am referring this matter to the Stewards for their consideration".
As if that wasn’t enough, shortly after, the FIA issued a statement explaining that the skid mounted on Lewis Hamilton’s car did not comply with the technical checks, as it was excessively worn:
"The skid wear of car number 44 was checked. The rearmost skid was measured according to the team’s legality documents submission in accordance with TD039 L, item 1.2 b) i). Measurements were taken along the stiffness-compliant area at three different points of the periphery (inner arc). The recorded measurements were 8.6 mm (LHS), 8.6 mm (car centerline), and 8.5 mm (RHS). As this is less than the 9 mm minimum thickness required by TR Article 3.5.9 e), I am referring this matter to the stewards for their consideration".
Incredible: Scuderia Ferrari is at high risk of returning to Maranello without points, due to a potential shocking double disqualification, which would come for two different reasons. After the irregularities regarding the minimum weight found on Charles Leclerc’s car, even Lewis Hamilton’s SF-25 failed the FIA’s post-race checks immediately after the Chinese Grand Prix. And indeed, just a few minutes later, Charles Leclerc was officially disqualified from the race results.
To add further embarrassment to Scuderia Ferrari, there was, of course, also the disqualification of Lewis Hamilton: in this case, the decision was made due to the excessive wear on the skid. Changing the subject, for a Max Verstappen who struggles but finishes the Chinese Grand Prix in fourth place, making a great comeback with the Hard tires, there's a Liam Lawson already in crisis. While rumors suggest a possible replacement at Red Bull Racing, perhaps as soon as the next Japanese Grand Prix in Suzuka, between the New Zealand driver and the more experienced Yuki Tsunoda, the team principal of the Anglo-Austrian team, Christian Horner, speaks about the problems of Sergio Perez's successor. He does not rule out any possibilities for the near future.
"We decided to take Liam off the starting grid by changing the setup in the parc fermé to try some radical setup changes. With these cars, testing is very limited, so it made sense to say: Okay, look, let's start from the back and try to learn something on the track. We did that, we gathered data for 56 laps with a radically different setup, and these are important pieces of information for the people working at the factory, which could help improve our performance in the upcoming races".
Horner also commented on the New Zealand driver's performance, finishing the race in P15 but later moving up to P12 due to penalties for Leclerc, Hamilton, and Gasly:
"Liam Lawson is a great driver; he’s one who fights hard, pushing strongly. Right now, he’s struggling to find the limit with this car and extract the maximum performance. And, of course, as a team, we’re trying to support him in the best way possible. We’ll see with him in the debriefing what information we can give to the engineers".
However, there is also an acknowledgment of the enormous difficulty faced by the former Racing Bulls driver, who in three qualifying sessions has never gone beyond P18 (and was twice last in China):
"You always aim for the highest performance, and fast cars are never easy to drive. We know we need to find some performance in the car, but we also need both drivers if we want any chance of fighting for the Constructors' Championship. So, at the very least, we need to race with two cars in play. We want to make sure we collectively get the best out of both drivers and bring both cars as far forward as possible. But Formula 1 is an activity that naturally puts you under pressure. The pressure is always here, and Liam Lawson knows this well. Hopefully, he will react accordingly".