Dominant Piastri claims victory at Chinese Grand Prix

2 days ago2 min read

A star-studded drive from McLaren’s Oscar Piastri cemented his first win in 2025 at the Chinese Grand Prix, followed by teammate Lando Norris who locked in the teams’ 1-2 finish.

With a first pole position cemented after Saturdays’ qualifying session, a third win in F1 for Piastri was well and truly on the cards. The only true challenge that the McLaren driver had to face was once again, tyre management, which plagued the teams over the course of the entire weekend.

The Australian native made it work however, carefully nursing his tyres to ensure he claimed the top spot at the checkered flag, followed by teammate Norris, who put in another dominant drive to further prove that McLaren, are simply a cut above the rest.

Mercedes’ George Russell rounded out the podium with a third place finish, with another solid drive adding a second podium to his 2025 campaign, having finished P3 in Australia last weekend.

A strong drive from Max Verstappen and Red Bull meant he would capture a fourth place finish, carrying a very hard-to-drive RB21 once again to the best of his abilities. Verstappen was followed home by both Ferrari drivers Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton, in fifth and sixth place respectively.

Esteban Ocon, in what could be deemed a redemption story, brought his Haas all the way up to a P7 finish, claiming early points in the teams’ 2025 Constructors’ campaign.

With another fantastic drive, Mercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli claimed more points in his debut season, finishing in eighth place after the checkered flag.

P9 was taken by Alex Albon and Williams, with P10 and the final points position claimed by Ollie Bearman and his Haas, bringing home a double points take for the latters’ team.

Red Bulls’ newest driver Liam Lawson once again struggled to make up any real ground all weekend long, with the New Zealander qualifying in P20, and finishing in P15. Lawson has expressed frustrations with himself, as he simply isn’t able fast enough to deliver any real results at the moment.

Fernando Alonso was forced to retire his Aston Martin very early on lap four, due to a worsening brake issue, spotted by Pierre Gasly moments before.

Ferraris’ Leclerc seemed to be lapping much quicker than teammate Hamilton, but when the team orders insisted that the former overtake the latter, Hamilton wasn’t exactly keen on the idea. He would however commit to the orders and let Leclerc through, eventually pitting on lap 38 for hard tyres to see through to the very end.

Out in front, McLaren only really had the one main opponent: tyre management. Both drivers managed their stints quite well, however a spanner in the works came towards the end of the race, where Norris reported a worsening brake issue. This was only a bead of sweat however, as the Briton was able to nurse the car to claim second place.

2025 Chinese Grand Prix results: