2025 Chinese Grand Prix [Shanghai] March 21-23 Sportsbook Motor Sport

[Tom]

Friday 21 March
Practice 1 - 3.30am - 4.30am
Sprint Qualifying - 7.30am - 8.14am

Saturday 22 March
Sprint Race - 3.00am - 4.00am
Qualifying - 7.00am - 8.00am

Sunday 23 March
Race - 7.00am

 

[Tom]

This race has taken on added intrigue given the changes to rear wing flexibility introduced on Monday. Will this bring McLaren closer to the pack?

 

[Franco Pinion]

This race has taken on added intrigue given the changes to rear wing flexibility introduced on Monday. Will this bring McLaren closer to the pack?

I don't think so until other teams get to grip, pardon the punt to McLaren's brake duct. It's a must-have. Why. It keeps the tyres cooler for longer and stops them from overheating which gives you more tyre life for longer.

If you saw the onboard footage of testing, you could see Lando double biting at the wheel to get heat into the tyres early on. But McLaren has adopted into their front suspension that there's much more going on at the upright, with the steering arm crossing under the lower wishbone to the front of the assembly, rather than being mounted at the rear now they have the steering arm sitting ahead of the lower wishbone. This indicates to me that a double bite with the wheel generates tyre heat way above any other team.

Look at the video of Lando going off in the Australian GP. When he comes back on track, you can see him aggressively turn the wheel twice to generate heat.

Now, I could be completely wrong. But when you put a totally new suspension from last year on your car around their new brake duct they have something special.

Even Christian Horner said McLaren's tyre wear was in a different league to other teams. Not exact words, but that's what he meant.

 

[Son Of Jack]

Lewis Hamilton will start on pole for the Sprint Race.

1	Lewis Hamilton	Ferrari	1:30.849
2	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	1:30.867
3	Oscar Piastri	McLaren	1:30.929
4	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	1:31.057
5	George Russell	Mercedes	1:31.169
6	Lando Norris	McLaren	1:31.393
7	Andrea Kimi Antonelli	Mercedes	1:31.738
8	Yuki Tsunoda	Racing Bulls	1:31.773
9	Alex Albon	Williams	1:31.852
10	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	1:31.982
11	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin
12	Oliver Bearman	Haas
13	Carlos Sainz	Williams
4	Gabriel Bortoleto	Sauber
15	Isack Hadjar	Racing Bulls
6	Jack Doohan	Alpine
17	Pierre Gasly	Alpine
18	Esteban Ocon	Haas
19	Nico Hulkenberg	Sauber
20	Liam Lawson	Red Bull

Didn't see that coming but he was faster than Leclerc in all three Qs, and looks like Ferrari weren't lying, Australia just didn't fit them and China is a good track for their car.

Red Bull looking like a tractor if Max isn't driving it, it's not a great car by any means and all the talk about being the most dominant car for about half a season goes to shit now. And Tsunoda was even slower in testing.

 

[Franco Pinion]

Lewis Hamilton wins the sprint race. He captures his first victory with Ferrari ahead of Oscar Piastri in second and Max Verstappen. Hamilton dominated the end of the sprint race, the gap over Piastri widening to nearly seven seconds on the final lap.

An impressive performance from Hamilton. Everyone's tyres were disintegrating but Hamilton managed to squeeze more out of them than anyone. He looked superb, particularly during the last 5 laps.

 

[Bad Gizmo]

Oscar Piastri secured the first Grand Prix pole position of his Formula 1 career with a superb performance in a blustery Qualifying session. The McLaren driver, who had previously claimed two Sprint poles, mastered the tricky conditions at the Shanghai International Circuit to lead the field with a 1m 30.641s lap, a new lap record.

2025 Chinese Grand Prix Qualifying, 22 March 2025

Pos	Driver	Car	Q1	Q2	Q3	Laps
1	Oscar Piastri	McLaren Mercedes	1:31.591	1:31.200	1:30.641	20
2	George Russell	Mercedes	1:31.295	1:31.307	1:30.723	22
3	Lando Norris	McLaren Mercedes	1:30.983	1:30.787	1:30.793	17
4	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT	1:31.424	1:31.142	1:30.817	15
5	Lewis Hamilton	Ferrari	1:31.690	1:31.501	1:30.927	21
6	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	1:31.579	1:31.450	1:31.021	21
7	Isack Hadjar	Racing Bulls Honda RBPT	1:31.162	1:31.253	1:31.079	20
8	Kimi Antonelli	Mercedes	1:31.676	1:31.590	1:31.103	22
9	Yuki Tsunoda	Racing Bulls Honda RBPT	1:31.238	1:31.260	1:31.638	19
10	Alexander Albon	Williams Mercedes	1:31.503	1:31.595	1:31.706	20
11	Esteban Ocon	Haas Ferrari	1:31.876	1:31.625		15
12	Nico Hulkenberg	Kick Sauber Ferrari	1:31.921	1:31.632		15
13	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes	1:31.719	1:31.688		15
14	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes	1:31.923	1:31.773		15
15	Carlos Sainz	Williams Mercedes	1:31.628	1:31.840		15
16	Pierre Gasly	Alpine Renault	1:31.992			9
17	Oliver Bearman	Haas Ferrari	1:32.018			8
18	Jack Doohan	Alpine Renault	1:32.092			8
19	Gabriel Bortoleto	Kick Sauber Ferrari	1:32.141			9
20	Liam Lawson	Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT	1:32.174			8

Great to see a competitive grid. Actually gives you hope for an entertaining race.

I think Red Bull will be assessing Liam Lawson's performances before too long.

 

[Recycling Bin]

I thought it was a mistake giving Lawson the seat, he didn't show anything in the races he was in last season to suggest he was ready for the step up. Tsunoda would have been a better and more obvious choice when they were replacing Checo.

 

[Son Of Jack]

Just switched on, going to be a dull season watching McLaren running away with every race.

 

[Franco Pinion]

Oscar Piastri led Lando Norris to a dominant McLaren one-two in the Chinese Grand Prix ahead of George Russell's Mercedes.

Charles Leclerc drove an outstanding race in a Ferrari with a damaged front wing, his pace forcing Ferrari to order team-mate Lewis Hamilton out of his way. But the pair were disqualified after the race - seemingly for separate technical infringements - along with Alpine's Pierre Gasly.

During the race, Leclerc lost fourth place to Red Bull's Max Verstappen with four laps to go as the world champion's car found some pace in the second half of the race.

What a weird race. After initially looking like the tyres might go off a cliff, it turned out they could go on forever, with very little degradation.

Pos	Driver	Fastest Lap	Race Time	Points
1	Oscar Piastri	1:35.520	1:30:55.026	25
2	Lando Norris	1:35.454	+9.748	18
3	George Russell	1:35.816	+11.097	15
4	Max Verstappen	1:35.488	+16.656	12
5	Esteban Ocon	1:35.740	+49.969	10
6	Andrea Kimi Antonelli	1:36.046	+53.748	8
7	Alexander Albon	1:36.254	+56.321	6
8	Oliver Bearman	1:36.363	+1:01.303	4
9	Lance Stroll	1:36.044	+1:10.204	2
10	Carlos Sainz Jnr	1:36.779	+1:16.387	1

Result after Charles LeClerc (5th), Lewis Hamilton (6th), and Pierre Gasly (11th) disqualified.