By Ryan Wu
Looking Good for McLaren
After a strong qualifying performance, Oscar Piastri set himself up for success by achieving pole position for McLaren at the China Grand Prix. His teammate, Lando Norris, followed close behind in third, separated only by Mercedes’ George Russell.
From first and third in the qualifying order, McLaren moved into a 1-2 position out of the gates, with Norris passing Russell on the first turn. After pitting on lap 16, Norris rejoined the race only to find himself a split second behind Russell yet again. However, it only took two laps before the McLaren car could pass the Mercedes, putting Norris in third.
While in second place on lap 48, Norris experienced rear brake pressure difficulties, eliminating his ability to use hard brakes. While Norris seemed eager to pit, the McLaren team kept him on the track by saying, “It’s better to finish second than not at all.” Despite the flat pedal, Norris had enough of a lead on Russell to strategically downshift in the place of hard brakes during the last few turns. Norris finished second overall, defending his status on the podium that he had earned last weekend in Australia.
First place in the China GP went to Norris’ teammate, Oscar Piastri, who used his advantage qualifying from pole to score his first win of the 2025 season. With this win, Piastri redeemed himself after a disappointing weekend last week at his home race. McLaren is headed into the third race in Japan with two wins under their belt, starting the 2025 season off strong.
Triple Disqualification
The Ferrari team did not have the weekend they hoped for in Shanghai. Starting on lap 1, a wide turn by LeClerc caused him to damage his front left wing after touching cars with Hamilton. The Ferrari team seemed to struggle with placement throughout the race, with Hamilton being ordered to swap positions with LeClerc on lap 14. Hamilton pushed ahead until lap 21 when the swap finally took place, putting LeClerc in fourth position and Hamilton in fifth. Later, issues with a rear axle lock forced LeClerc to downshift through some turns, allowing Verstappen to overtake both Ferraris with three laps to go.
While Ferrari finished fifth and sixth, a post-race investigation by the FIA led to a shocking announcement: Both Ferrari cars would be disqualified from the China Grand Prix. LeClerc’s car was reportedly 1 kg underweight, which Ferrari claimed was due to high tyre wear from LeClerc having only one pit stop. Hamilton’s car had a rearward skin wear below the allowed limit, which Ferrari later took responsibility for in a statement. Even after winning the Sprint race, surely this is not the season start that Hamilton, Ferrari’s newest addition, or Ferrari fans, would have wanted.
Pierre Gasly who initially finished 11th, was also disqualified for an underweight car.
Rookie Mistakes
Four out of six rookie drivers - Bearman, Doohan, Bortoleto, and Lawson - were eliminated in Q1 before the China Grand Prix. In qualifying, Doohan spun out early on, mimicking the poor performance seen from Alpine last week in Australia. The two remaining rookies qualified in the top 10, with Hadjar in seventh followed by Antonelli in eighth.
Bortoleto suffered his own spin-out before lap 15, putting him behind the other rookies, where he finally finished 14th.
The Downfall of Red Bull?
Max Verstappen qualified and finished fourth in Shanghai, leaving the reigning World Champion without a podium after two races this season. More concerning for Red Bull, however, are the struggles of his teammate, Liam Lawson. The Red Bull car is notoriously difficult to handle, with past young drivers like Alex Albon and Pierre Gasly struggling before ultimately losing their seats. Lawson qualified last in 20th but managed to finish 12th, aided by three disqualifications. Still, this is far from the strong start Red Bull had hoped for after replacing Sergio Perez. With Lawson yet to score a point, the team now finds itself 43 points behind after just two rounds.
Racing Refresh Driver of the Day
Oscar Piastri, McLaren
Final Points Finishing Positions
1st: Oscar Piastri
2nd: Lando Norris
3rd: George Russell
4th: Esteban Ocon
6th: Andrea Kimi Antonelli
7th: Alex Albon
8th: Oliver Bearman
9th: Lance Stroll
10th: Carlos Sainz
Next on the F1 Schedule:
Japanese Grand Prix: April 4th-6th
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