McLaren driver Oscar Piastri cruised to his maiden Chinese Grand Prix win from pole position with the Australian untouchable ahead of his teammate Lando Norris on Sunday.
Piastri, who took his maiden pole position on Saturday, led home a McLaren one-two – the team's 50th in F1 – in an early show of strength from last year's constructors' title winners.
Not everyone had such a good time in Shanghai, particularly Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari. Here are five things we learnt from an eventful weekend in China.
The highs and lows of Hamilton
Hamilton, the seven-time world champion, claimed a surprising first ever victory in a Sprint race on Saturday after leading from start to finish. Managing his tyres well, it was a spectacular drive from the Englishman, who was thrilled to have silenced his critics as he demonstrated just how quickly he has adapted to his new car.
“Winning in a Ferrari is next level,” exclaimed a jubilant Hamilton. However, the dream soon turned into a nightmare on Sunday as he struggled to unlock the pace of the car and Ferrari elected to go with a two-stop strategy during the Grand Prix. Originally finishing in sixth place, he and his teammate Charles Leclerc both discovered they had been disqualified hours later.
The rear skid block on his Ferrari was found to be below the minimum 9mm thickness required by FIA regulations while Leclerc was disqualified as the SF-25 was found to be 1kg below the minimum weight required. It’s a shame as Leclerc drove impressively despite a damaged front wing.
A horrendous day for Ferrari who hoped to be challenging for Constructors’ honours. They released a statement noting their errors: “We will learn from what happened today and make sure we don’t make the same mistakes again. Clearly, it’s not the way we wanted to end our Chinese GP weekend.”
Will anyone succeed as No 2 at Red Bull?
When boasting one of the finest drivers to ever race in Formula One, it makes sense that Red Bull prioritise creating a car that suits Max Verstappen’s needs. The only downside is that it seems only he can extract potential from it.
Finishing dead last in qualifiers for both the Sprint and the Grand Prix, Liam Lawson had another torrid weekend at the Shanghai circuit, failing to live up to expectations, like many before him. In fact, it’s fair to say he is doing much worse, as no driver has managed such a poor start to life as a Red Bull driver.
The team opted to make pre-race set-up changes on his car in 'parc ferme' in hopes of gathering more data. This meant the driver started his second GP from the pits.
“We made the decision to take him off the grid to try some radical changes on the set-up because we are so limited in testing these cars,” Horner told Sky Sports. Parc ferme, which translates to 'closed park' in French, refers to a specific period during a race weekend when cars are no longer allowed to be altered beyond certain limits.
“It made sense to say ‘OK, we are starting at the back, let’s try to learn something’,” added Horner.
Lawson finished the race 15th and was only promoted to 12th after the disqualification of the two Ferrari drivers and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly.
Mental fortitude was reported as the reason Red Bull opted to choose Lawson ahead of the likes of Yuki Tsunoda. However, a disastrous start means the pressure is piling with rumours suggesting Red Bull are already looking to make a change.
Horner admitted to feeling sorry for Lawson and that the team had a duty to take care of their young driver while Verstappen himself acknowledged to Dutch Media that the RB21 is a difficult car to drive, saying: “I think if you put Liam in the Racing Bulls' car, he will go faster. I really think so.”
Lawson understands that he must adapt quickly to the car and the driver refused to use his lack of prior racing experience on the circuits in Melbourne and Shanghai as an excuse for his poor performances.
Mighty McLaren
McLaren registered their 50th one-two finish, as a week after Norris secured the win in Australia, it was Piastri who took the flag, claiming his third ever GP win.
Tyre management was the order of the day and by finishing in pole position in qualifying, Piastri went on to dominate the race to secure his first win of the new season, while teammate Norris claimed second despite brake issues that worsened in the closing laps.
McLaren struggled with tyre graining in the Sprint and team principal Andrea Stella admitted they took the wrong approach. However, as Piastri noted post-race, the tyres behaved differently on Sunday. He and his teammate were allowed to set the pace and were not caught up in the dirty air, allowing them to command the race from start to finish.
Whether it be a dry track like in China or in treacherous conditions as the drivers faced in Australia, the MCL39 looks to be the car to beat, and it will be a battle between Norris and Piastri as to who will come out on top.
Norris said: “We were free to race. We're both excited – probably nervous and excited at the same time – as I'm sure the team will be. But we're ready.”
Rookies rise to the challenge
Isack Hadjar was in tears when he crashed out of the Australian GP in the formation lap and was determined to make a quick recovery in China. He managed just that, at least in qualifying. The French-Algerian Hadjar claimed P7 on the grid and beat his teammate Tsunoda by 0.559s.
Unfortunately, Hadjar was let down by Racing Bulls’ decision to insist on a two-stop strategy despite the tyre degradation not being as bad as initially thought.
Happy with his drive, Hadjar spoke after the race: “What happened today was out of my control, but I can't help thinking what it would have been like with a one-stop strategy race. We’ll review everything with the team before going back racing in Japan.”
As for Kimi Antonelli, he won 'Driver of the Day' as voted for by the fans. Qualifying eighth and finishing in eighth (later promoted to 6th after Ferrari’s disqualifications), he coped admirably despite suffering ‘extensive’ car damage early in the race, according to Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff.
“Considering that he had a car that was severely impaired, finishing eighth, holding on to it, and not complaining, just getting on with the job shows the potential and the maturity the young man has,” said Wolff.
Haas redeem themselves
Esteban Ocon finished seventh in Shanghai, while Oliver Bearman capitalised on the alternate tyre strategy to secure seventh and 10th place on the grid, later updated to fifth and eighth due to disqualifications. With both cars registering points, Haas had a good weekend in China, making up for a hideous performance in Australia.
There were fears last week after the Australian GP, in which both Ocon and Bearman finished at the back of the grid, that the team had regressed and was quite possibly the slowest on the track.
Speaking after the race, Ocon said: “Things were obviously looking difficult just a week ago in Melbourne, but we haven’t slept much since then and it’s all been worth it as we’ve discussed everything and where to unlock the performance from the car. We knew there was more performance to be had, obviously we’re keen to improve some more, but the signs for now are good.”
Noting there is still an aerodynamic flaw in the VF-25, Haas team principal Ayao Komatsu said he was elated with the reaction and proud of how hard the team worked to adapt to the Shanghai circuit and extract as much as they could from the car. The aerodynamic issue is yet to be resolved, so it remains to be seen how the car performs for the remainder of the season.
