Piastri Cruises to Victory in Shanghai: Weekend Recap!

Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri, George Russell, F1 2025 Chinese Grand Prix.

Round 2 of this year’s F1 season has come and gone. Yet again, it was full of great racing, surprises, and, of course, drama. Let’s recap all the action of the weekend from the 2025 Chinese Grand Prix.

Chinese Gp Sprint & sprint qualifying

The racing weekend began with the first sprint event of the season. We saw McLaren suffer their first struggles of the season as Championship leader Lando Norris had a scruffy session, ending up in P6 behind his friend and rival in the Mercedes George Russell. Lewis Hamilton got the better of Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri to secure his maiden pole as a Ferrari driver, albeit in a sprint session, it was still a very special moment for the x7 World Champion. Liam Lawson had another difficult day in the Red Bull, qualifying dead last at P20.

Despite graining on the tyres, it was not enough to stop Lewis Hamilton from racing off in red and developing a commanding lead over the drivers behind. Max Verstappen held on to second place for much of the sprint before losing out to McLaren driver Oscar Piastri. The other member of Team Papaya Lando Norris fell even further down the order, finishing eighth and claiming a single point towards his Championship lead. Liam Lawson managed to climb his way up to fourteenth but still not enough to secure his first points as a Red Bull driver.

My thoughts: It was great to see Lewis Hamilton back on top. It didn’t quite replicate the feeling of his legendary win at Silverstone in 2024, but he is an iconic driver, racing for the most iconic team. It’s a match made in heaven, and I was glad to see him get his first win. McLaren on the other hand didn’t seem too affected by strict rear-wing rules put in place this weekend as Piastri was right on it, it was Lando who seemed to struggle with his car this weekend when it came to the sprint.

Lewis Hamilton 2025 Chinese Grand Prix. Jay Hirano.

Chinese Grand Prix Qualifying

We saw huge improvements from McLaren during qualifying for the Grand Prix as Oscar Piastri took the first pole position of his career after fighting off a promising Mercedes driven by George Russell and teammate Lando Norris, who improved to take third place despite aborting his final hot lap in Q3. Max Verstappen took fourth place, with the other Red Bull driver, Liam Lawson, continuing to struggle, qualifying dead last for the second session in a row at the same weekend. Both Racing Bull’s drivers Tsunoda and Hadjar impressed and made it to Q3, Hadjar placing seventh and Tsunoda placing ninth. Is it time for Red Bull to consider Tsunoda for that second seat instead of Lawson? Further down the field, Carlos Sainz could only manage P15 in his Williams with Albon making it to Q3 and placing tenth. Esteban Ocon also put in a better performance to put his Haas car P11 for the race.

My thoughts: The main focus is all on Liam Lawson. Horner has said, “I feel very sorry for him” after this weekend. He is struggling to adjust to the demands of that Red Bull car. It seems only elite drivers like Max Verstappen can tame it, or is it that the car is just built to suit the Dutchman, and the other driver must simply get on with it. Since last season I thought Yuki Tsunoda has deserved that Red Bull seat, he has shown excellent driving and race IQ as well as some aggression which comes in handy when getting your elbows out on track, his mindset seems determined to succeed in F1. In the 2024 Formula 1 season, during their time at Red Bull's junior team, Racing Bulls, Yuki Tsunoda generally had the upper hand over Liam Lawson in qualifying sessions. Over the course of six races, Tsunoda out-qualified Lawson seven times, including Sprint races, and also had a better race result four times. However, Lawson did have the edge in Sprint races, winning two out of three.

Liam Lawson 2025 Chinese Grand Prix

Chinese Grand Prix

Finally, Sunday arrived and it was lights out in Shanghai. McLaren continued their dominance with a 1-2 as Oscar Piastri took the win with Championship leader Lando Norris behind. It wasn’t the easiest end to the race for Norris who struggled with brake issues but held on to keep P2 and fend off a stampeding George Russell in his Mercedes who closed down a nine-second gap in the final stages as Norris’ car began to falter. It’s a second P2 in as many races for Russell who continues a solid start to 2025. Max Verstappen knew it would be a struggle for Red Bull on Sunday but held on to keep fourth ahead of both Ferraris who were disqualified post-race. Leclerc was penalised for a weight limit violation and Hamilton had a skid-block breach by the finest of margins, turning this past weekend from euphoric to a nightmare for the Scuderia who fell further behind McLaren in the Constructor’s Championship. The disqualifications also included Pierre Gasly for also being under the minimum weight limit by 1kg.

The disqualifications meant that both Haas drivers Ocon and Bearman moved up to fifth and eighth, respectively, scoring big points for the American team. It also saw Carlos Sainz pick up his first point for Williams, placing P10. Liam Lawson finished P12 ahead of Tsunoda on a slightly more improved outing. Kimi Antonelli came in P7 as he continues to make a solid start to his F1 career.

My thoughts: The McLaren 1-2 was impressive, Lewis Hamilton got his first win in red, and the Ferrari disqualifications were a shocking surprise, but out of all that happened during the Chinese Grand Prix weekend, Mercedes left me with much to think about. With two podium places for George Russell and a monstrous P4 and a P7 for Antonelli, it has been a strong start which has gone under the radar so far this season. With the Ferrari pair not exactly challenging McLaren apart from the sprint, Toto Wolff must be rubbing his hands together with the form his team is in, they have an exciting driver lineup and a car which could challenge to be the second fastest on the grid. It will be interesting to see how it performs with the upgrades later on in the season. On another note, we head to Japan next, could this be the opportunity for Yuki Tsunoda to step into the Red Bull seat at his home race?

Oscar Piastri 2025 Chinese Grand Prix

Did you enjoy the weekend of racing in Formula One? Let us know what you took from the Grand Prix!

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