SHANGHAI — In a commanding performance at the Chinese Grand Prix, Oscar Piastri triumphed over his McLaren teammate Lando Norris, marking McLaren`s continued strong form in the second race of the Formula 1 season. Ferrari, however, experienced a post-race setback with Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton both disqualified.
The race, heavily influenced by tire management, saw Piastri maintain his lead from pole position and strategically secure victory with a one-stop approach.
This win comes after a disappointing start to the season for Piastri, who spun out of second place at his home race in Australia the previous week.
`The car felt fantastic, and well done to the team for reacting to the tire degradation,` Piastri communicated to his team post-race. `A great team effort, and a very satisfying weekend.`
In a post-race interview, Piastri expressed his surprise, stating, `It`s been an incredible weekend, the car has been phenomenal. Today`s tire behavior was unexpected. This victory feels like redemption for last week.`
Norris finished 9.7 seconds behind Piastri, encountering brake pedal issues in the race`s closing stages.
Despite leading the championship after the season opener, Norris couldn`t challenge Piastri and had to reclaim second place from George Russell after a pit stop exchange.
Norris commented post-race: `There were some exciting moments. I had a good start, but George overtook me in the pits. I was a bit anxious, but we were stronger in the second stint.
`Oscar`s performance was excellent, he deserved the win. I`m pleased with second place, valuable points, and fantastic points for the team with a one-two. The brake pedal issue was a real concern, costing me significant time in the last laps. It was tense, but we managed to finish.`
Russell secured the final podium position, advancing to third in the championship, just one point ahead of Piastri and nine behind Norris.
`A P3 finish is a great result,` Russell acknowledged. `We knew McLaren had a slight edge in pace, but these are crucial points. I suspected early on that a one-stop strategy was feasible, and it proved to be easier than anticipated. It turned out to be one of my best F1 weekends.`
Russell initially lost second place to Norris at the start, briefly regained it after the first pit stops, but lacked the pace to hold off Norris at Turn 1 on Lap 18.
Max Verstappen of Red Bull finished fourth, overtaking Ferrari`s Charles Leclerc late in the race, a position change that became largely symbolic due to Ferrari`s subsequent double disqualification.
Leclerc, who finished fifth on track, was disqualified for his car being underweight (below the 800kg minimum), while Lewis Hamilton was disqualified from sixth place due to excessive wear on the car`s plank.
Pierre Gasly of Alpine, who finished 11th, also faced disqualification for an underweight car.
These disqualifications compounded a miserable Sunday for Ferrari.
Earlier in the race, Leclerc damaged his front wing in a minor collision with his new teammate Hamilton on the opening lap. Leclerc and Hamilton had overtaken Verstappen at the first corner, but as Leclerc moved inside at Turn 3, he clipped Hamilton`s right rear tire.
Despite the damage, Leclerc appeared faster than Hamilton in the initial phase of the race, and Hamilton offered to swap positions on Lap 21, ultimately yielding to Leclerc on Lap 22.
Struggling with tire management, Hamilton adopted a two-stop strategy, unlike the five leading cars that opted for a single stop. This alternative strategy made little difference, with Hamilton finishing just 2.1 seconds behind Leclerc before their disqualifications.
Just a week after Haas appeared to be the slowest team in Australia, Esteban Ocon finished fifth in China due to Ferrari`s misfortunes, ahead of Andrea Kimi Antonelli in the second Mercedes in sixth.
Alex Albon secured six points for Williams in seventh, followed by Oliver Bearman in the second Haas in eighth, who gained positions with an alternative strategy. Lance Stroll and Carlos Sainz were promoted into the top ten following the post-race disqualifications.
Formula 1 honored Eddie Jordan with a minute of silence on the grid before the race. Former F1 team owner Jordan passed away at the age of 76 earlier in the week.
