Confident Piastri leads McLaren to a one-two victory

Oscar Piastri made no mistakes at the Chinese Grand Prix, leading McLaren to victory ahead of his teammate Lando Norris. Ferrari, however, was unable to replicate its performance from the sprint on Sunday.

March 23, 2025

From: dpa

In Oscar Piastri's comfortable McLaren one-two ahead of Lando Norris, Max Verstappen in the Red Bull could only manage fourth place. In the battle for the podium positions at the Chinese Grand Prix, Verstappen was far behind. Norris defended his lead in the World Championship standings by finishing second in Shanghai, a week after his triumph in Australia. Behind the Briton, George Russell in the Mercedes raced onto the podium again in third place.

Piastri achieved the third Grand Prix victory of his career and completed the perfect start to the season for McLaren in the second race of the season. The Australian confidently defended his first place at the start. On Saturday, the 23-year-old had fought his way to pole position for a Grand Prix for the first time in his career. Teammate Norris quickly gave chase and pushed past George Russell into second place. The overall leader had made a few mistakes the day before, finishing only eighth in the sprint and third in qualifying a few hours later. After his success the previous week, Norris was considered a strong favorite for another victory, but threw away World Championship points due to mistakes.

Hamilton improves – and is disqualified

Behind the leading trio, Ferrari newcomer Lewis Hamilton was putting pressure on the field, at least initially. The record world champion had also surprisingly won the first sprint of the year over just over 24 kilometers around 100 hours earlier. The 40-year-old had already shown significant improvement in the short race at the Scuderia following his switch from Mercedes on the second race weekend. In Melbourne, he had only managed tenth place. After the race, however, things took a downturn: Both Hamilton and his teammate Charles Leclerc were disqualified.

Lewis Hamilton at the Chinese Grand Prix. © ANSA / ALEX PLAVEVSKI / POOL

While Piastri and Norris set the pace at the front, world champion Verstappen struggled for long stretches. The Dutchman lost contact with the frontrunners after less than ten of 56 laps and, in sixth place, had to be careful for a long time to avoid falling further back. "The outlook isn't so good," the 63-time Grand Prix winner Verstappen told Sky on his way to his car before the start: "We're too slow."

Verstappen grabs Leclerc

The dominant driver of recent years was right in his fears. In Australia, a chaotic race and rain helped the 27-year-old finish second behind Norris. In dry conditions and without incident, the Red Bull proved too weak and no match for McLaren. At least it held its own against the Ferraris, first overtaking Hamilton and then Charles Leclerc shortly before the finish.

Norris no threat to Piastri

Things became more turbulent during the tire change. Thanks to perfect maneuvering, Russell squeezed between the two McLarens on the Silver Arrows and overtook Norris. But that didn't last long, and Norris went after Piastri again. The drivers of the traditional British team continued to pull away, although Norris posed no threat to the strong Piastri.

Lando Norris finished second. © APA/afp / ALEX PLAVEVSKI

Before the start, the former Formula 2 champion, like Norris, had complained that the new car was quite difficult to drive. But despite its obvious quirks, the car is superior to the competition and should be difficult to beat in the upcoming race on the high-speed circuit in Suzuka, Japan, in two weeks.