Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix Race Review

By: Jino S. If the season opener in Australia was like a spicy jalapeño popper that set tongues ablaze, the second race in China proved to be more of a mild, comforting bowl of wonton soup - familiar, satisfying, but with a spicy edge to it. This was the first sprint weekend of the year and it got busy quickly.

Lewis Takes First Ferrari Win

The cool thing about a sprint weekend is the relatively short time teams and drivers have to dial in their setups for the week and many expected this to be a detriment for Ferrari and Lewis after a forgettable outing in Australia last week. However, with stable weather and some data under their belt, the newest duo in F1 were the quickest to get their act together and that was enough for pole position in the Sprint qualifying. Surprisingly, it was Red Bull's Max Verstappen who was Hamilton's closest competitor. McLaren appeared relatively off-kilter with Oscar Piastri setting the 3rd fastest time behind Max. Teammate and championship leader Lando Norris made a mistake that brought back flashbacks of last year as he ended up in 6th on the starting grid.

The Sprint itself was a procession. Lewis got a great launch and while Max briefly
challenged him, he always had enough in the tank to keep Max at bay. Max and Red Bull soon lost touch and fell into the clutches of Piastri who eventually overtook him for second. It more or less stayed that way for the rest of the Sprint with the only noteworthy event being Lando Norris' poor start which meant that he ran outside the points for most of the race. He eventually recovered to take the final point which combined with Max dropping down to 3rd allowed him to barely hold on to the championship lead.

Things Return To Normal in Quali

Given how many drivers were out of position in the Sprint, it was clear that not
everyone had been able to perfect their setup. However, by the time qualifying began for the full-length race, it was back to routine stuff. McLaren found their mojo back but the driver that led the charge wasn't Norris. It was Oscar Piastri who qualified on pole for the first time in his F1 career. What was more striking was how close the field was. The top nine drivers were separated by less than a second. In such sessions, you have to be on top of your game and Lando Narrowly missed out on locking out the front row with George Russell coming close to Oscar's pole lap but ended up with the second fastest time.

McLaren Ace Race Start

This is something that hasn't been said about McLaren a lot in recent times but in
Shanghai, both McLaren drivers got off the line well. Oscar held on to the lead
despite a challenge from Russell and even managed to help his teammate in the
process. The failed attempt by Russell gave Norris enough momentum to move into second place and it was routine stuff from there on. Neither driver made a misstep and they held fort to take an easy 1-2. Oscar took his 3rd career win while Norris extended his lead in the championship to 8 points. Oscar too is just 10 points behind making him a legit contender for the championship.

Interesting Developments Elsewhere

One of big talking points before the season was how the Hamilton-Leclerc
partnership would go at Ferrari and on the first lap itself, the two touched. However, it was a racing incident and neither driver seemed to hold any grudges. It did mean that Ferrari's race was somewhat compromised. Leclerc had damage on his car while Hamilton opted for a two-stop strategy that proved slower than a one-stop. It allowed Max to fight back to fourth and stay in sight of Norris in the championship. None of this would matter anyway as both Ferrari cars would be disqualified despite finishing in 5th and 6th on the track. Leclerc's car would turn out to be underweight while Hamilton's car had excessive wear on its skid plate. George Russell was once again the most consistent driver as he took the final spot on the podium with yet another mature drive. This also keeps him firmly in the championship fight right behind Lando and Max.

Underdogs Go Big

While the top four were the usual suspects. Almost everyone else who finished in the points was a surprise. Haas had a great day as Esteban took 5th and rookie Oliver Bearman finally lived up to his reputation to finish 8th. Kimi Antonelli took 6th ahead of Alex Albon, who is now 6th in the championship. Lance Stroll and Carlos Sainz managed to take the final two points scoring positions thanks to Ferrari's misfortune.

Things Heating Up

After the doubleheader that opened the 2025 season, F1 will next head to the iconic Suzuka in Japan following a week's break. McLaren has claimed the dominant position for now but the others aren't too far behind. Things could chop and change on a weekly basis especially as teams bring in upgrades. Ferrari and Hamilton's Sprint win may have lost some of its sheen following the double DQ in the full-length race but they should bounce back from it. The good news is that there are at least four strong teams in F1 right now and with more challenging racetracks coming up, we the fans are in for a treat.

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