Oscar Piastri achieved a strategic victory in his third career race at the Shanghai Grand Prix, skillfully managing a race focused on tire strategy to secure first place from pole position. His teammate, Lando Norris, successfully navigated late-race brake issues to finish in second place, resulting in a McLaren 1-2 finish ahead of George Russell of Mercedes, who came in third.
“It’s been an incredible weekend from start to finish. The car’s been pretty mega the whole time,” Piastri said. “I think today was a bit of a surprise with how different the tyres behaved, but no, super… yeah, just proud of the whole weekend. This is what I feel like I deserved from last week. No, extremely happy. The team did an amazing job, 1-2 obviously. So yeah, very, very happy.”
At the start of the race, when the lights went out, polesitter Oscar Piastri launched effectively to take the lead, followed closely by Lando Norris and George Russell. Max Verstappen of Red Bull experienced a slower start from fourth position, having been positioned on the dustier side of the grid where oil had been spilled earlier in the day during a support race. As a result, the Dutch driver lost two positions, allowing Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc in their Ferraris to overtake him.
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On his way to position P5, Leclerc encountered contact with Hamilton. As a result, the left side of his front wing was damaged, with the end plate missing, leading his team to inform him that he had lost 30 points of downforce. Leclerc communicated to his team that he could adapt to this loss, and he demonstrated impressive pace for the remainder of the race.
Prior to the initial pit stop window, Piastri successfully established a two-second lead over his teammate Norris, while Russell trailed by an additional 2.7 seconds. However, in fourth and fifth positions, Max was struggling to keep pace with the leaders, and by lap 13, he was 5.5 seconds behind Leclerc.
At the conclusion of lap 13, the team instructed Max to pit in order to replace his initial Medium tires. He efficiently transitioned to a set of Hard tires during a 2.2-second stop. Upon rejoining the race, he positioned himself in 11th place, behind Hamilton, who had also pitted during the same lap.
“I was kind of hoping for exactly that, so Turn 1 went to plan, But then George got me on the pit stops and I was a little bit nervous, but our pace was a lot better in the second stint,” Norris said. “So, tough race, just with the management, and I don’t think many people expected a one-stop today. So it was good. Oscar drove well. He was quick the whole race. I tried to get close, but in the end just couldn’t.”
Race leader Piastri conducted his pit stop at the conclusion of lap 14, alongside Russell, while Norris and Leclerc opted for Hard tires at the end of the subsequent lap. Following the completion of the first round of pit stops, Piastri resumed his position at the front. Norris experienced a momentary undercut from Russell, but the McLaren driver quickly regained his pace and utilized DRS at the start of lap 18 to overtake and reclaim his position.
Hamilton was experiencing difficulties with his pace, and it was communicated to him to exchange positions with Leclerc, who, despite managing a damaged wing during his pit stop, was performing exceptionally well. Meanwhile, Max was positioned in sixth place, three seconds behind the Ferrari drivers.
The hard tyre demonstrated greater durability and speed than initially expected. Shortly after the commencement of the second stint, teams started to aim for a one-stop race strategy, with all eventual top 10 finishers opting for a single visit to the pit lane.
As the race approached its final third, Verstappen began to reduce the gap to Hamilton. Given Verstappen’s strong performance, Ferrari decided to withdraw from the developing competition and opted to pit Hamilton for a fresh set of tires to enable a late-race push. The seven-time champion re-entered the track approximately 19 seconds behind Verstappen, who was 4.5 seconds behind Leclerc.
“It’s a great result finishing P3, especially in front of all these fans here,” Russell said. “It’s just been amazing support for everybody this weekend, so thank you so much for that. But yeah, really great race, really pleased with the P3. We knew the McLarens were a smidge quicker than us at a few crucial points, but well done to them.”
The Red Bull driver gradually started to close the gap to the leading Ferrari, and by lap 52, he was within DRS range. Leclerc attempted to defend his position, but the champion’s speed proved to be too much. As they crossed the line to begin the next lap, Verstappen successfully overtook the Ferrari on the outside of Turn 2, securing fourth place, which he maintained until the finish.
Piastri secured the third victory of his career, finishing in first place, while Norris skillfully managed to maintain his position despite experiencing a lengthening brake pedal in the final laps, ultimately finishing ahead of Russell. Leclerc crossed the line in fifth, followed by Hamilton. Esteban Ocon delivered a strong performance, earning six points for Haas. Andrea Kimi Antonelli finished in eighth place for Mercedes, while Alex Albon, celebrating his birthday, secured two points for Williams. Additionally, Haas achieved a notable double points finish with a tenth-place result.
2025 FIA Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix – Race
1 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 56 1:30’55.026
2 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 56 1:31’04.774 9.748
3 George Russell Mercedes 56 1:31’06.123 11.097
4 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 56 1:31’11.682 16.656
5 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 56 1:31’18.237 23.211
6 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 56 1:31’20.407 25.381
7 Esteban Ocon Haas/Ferrari 56 1:31’44.995 49.969
8 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 56 1:31’48.774 53.748
9 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 56 1:31’51.347 56.321
10 Oliver Bearman Haas/Ferrari 56 1:31’56.329 1’01.303
11 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 56 1:32’02.221 1’07.195
12 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 56 1:32’05.230 1’10.204
13 Carlos Sainz Williams/Mercedes 56 1:32’11.413 1’16.38
14 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls/Honda RBPT 56 1:32’13.901 1’18.875
15 Liam Lawson Red Bull/Honda RBPT 56 1:32’16.173 1’21.147
16 Jack Doohan Alpine/Renault 56 1:32’23.427 1’28.401
17 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber/Ferrari 55 1:31’05.782 1 lap /10.756
18 Nico Hülkenberg Sauber/Ferrari 55 1:31’15.252 1 lap /20.226
19 Yuki Tsunoda Racing Bulls/Honda RBPT 55 1:31’18.537 1 lap /23.511
Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 4 7’25.574 Retirement
Photo/OscarPiastri/X
