Oscar Piastri led the way comfortably to win F1 Chinese GP in McLaren 1-2 from Lando Norris and George Russell in a Mercedes-powered 1-2-3.
It was cloudy to start the F1 Chinese GP race in Shanghai as McLaren’s Oscar Piastri led the way from teammate Lando Norris, who had a jump on Mercedes’ George Russell going into Turn 1. The latter tried to take the inside line of the Australian, which allowed the former to take the outside.
This put Norris in a good place to take second as Russell held third from Ferrari pair of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc. The two, in fact, made minor contact at Turn 1 when the Monegasque had the inside line on Red Bull’s Max Verstappen. He had a moment which sent him into Hamilton.
He lost the front wing endplate but moved up to fifth ahead of Verstappen, who lost two places due to his own moment in Turn 1. Mercedes’ Andrea Kimi Antonelli was seventh from Visa Cash App RB pair of Yuki Tsunoda and Isack Hadjar, where the Japanese driver moved ahead of his teammate in a battle.
The Top 10 was rounded out by Haas’ Esteban Ocon, who managed to clear Williams’ Alexander Albon on the line. At the back of the pack, Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto had a spin but managed to continue on. His mentor Fernando Alonso retired after few laps in due to brake failure on his Aston Martin.
At the front, Piastri continued to lead Norris and Russell, with Hamilton just keeping Leclerc behind. The pit stop saga kicked-off by Tsunoda in the Top 10 which allowed the Japanese driver to pick on Antonelli for track position. The Italian lost a place to a bold Ocon in few laps time as well.
The Frenchman took the grass line on the long straight to take away the place, leaving Antonelli in the clutches of Hadjar and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly. There were battles at the front too. Piastri maintained track position but Norris lost to Russell when the McLaren driver emerged from his pit stop.
Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll kind of held up Norris which allowed Russell take the outside line in the Turn 1-2 sequence. But Norris came back on the Mercedes driver on the main straight to retake second. Hamilton and Leclerc, meanwhile, continued their own fight with the Monegasque hustling on.
They went for team orders as Hamilton resisted. But the Brit eventually gave in at Turn 1 for Leclerc to hustle Russell ahead. Verstappen was a steady sixth from Stroll and Haas’ Oliver Bearman – both of whom went long in their first stint. Albon tried to go long as well, but pitted before them.
Tsunoda was ninth from Ocon, Antonelli and Hadjar in the points fight behind Stroll and Bearman. The Haas driver tried a move at the hairpin but couldn’t on and locked-up to allow the Canadian stay ahead. Bearman eventually pitted on Lap 27, with Stroll continuing on still beyond the halfway mark.
Russell eventually resisted pressure from Leclerc, who lost out after a moment at the hairpin. The Monegasque steadied on from Hamilton, who couldn’t make inroads. The Top 10 steadied on as well, with only Stroll playing the long gap as he continued on for more than half a race on the same tyres.
The Canadian eventually pitted on Lap 37 to switch onto the medium tyres but crucially he remained ahead of Tsunoda and Hadjar, who stopped the second time. From looking strong, the two Visa Cash App RB drivers were staring no points, considering the drivers ahead opting for a likely one stop.
Along with Stroll, they then had to hurry on to catch the back of the Top 10. It allowed Ocon to be seventh on the road ahead of Antonelli and Albon. The Frenchman’s teammate Bearman was on the charge as he climbed up to Top 10 in 10th after a back and forth with Gasly.
Stroll started to catch the back of this fight after his stop, but the day went to a disaster for the Visa Cash App RB drivers. In his chase of Sainz, Tsunoda had his front wing flap broken due to the turbulent air. His teammate Hadjar was hustling Doohan for track position for couple of laps.
The Frenchman went for a move on the outside of the Australian at the hairpin but the two went off together after Doohan went a bit deep in the corner. The move was put under investigation as the two cleared Tsunoda, who was forced to pit to get his front wing changed and tyres as well.
Doohan was handed a 10s penalty for forcing Hadjar off, while he was under investigation for moving under braking as well. At the front, Norris complained about long pedal which was hurting him as Piastri led comfortably. The battle for fourth was on between Leclerc and Verstappen.
The Dutchman hustled him at Turn 1 but the Monegasque retained the place but Verstappen cut back on him at Turn 3 on the outside to take the place. The Ferrari driver tried to come back but it wasn’t enough as the Red Bull driver was back to fourth after losing the place to both the Ferrari drivers.
It was comfortable for Piastri to win the F1 Chinese GP at the front as Norris limped to second after surviving a critical brake issue late in the race. He was around two seconds off but ended up 9.748s from the Australian and just 1.349s ahead of third-placed Russell in the Top 3.
Verstappen was a fine fourth after coming alive late in the race as Leclerc limped to fifth despite the damaged front wing. Hamilton was sixth after double stop as Ocon turned despair into joy for Haas in seventh. Bearman made it double for the American team in 10th position.
Antonelli was eighth from Albon, as Gasly was 11th from Stroll and Sainz. Behind them Doohan managed to hold off Hadjar to the line but with the penalty, the Frenchman was 14th from Red Bull’s Liam Lawson, Bortoleto, Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg and Tsunoda – where everyone from Bortoleto to Tsunoda ended up a lap down on the leader.
UPDATE: The FIA further explained Doohan’s penalty against Hadjar. The Australian was cleared of the second investigation regarding moving under breaking. Here: https://x.com/fia/status/1903736849543070089
The FIA let off the likes of Hulkenberg, Bortoleto, Albon and Tsunoda with a warning for undertaking practice start out of place ahead of the reconnaissance lap. Here’s the explanation which is same for all drivers: https://x.com/fia/status/1903738979855577102
In the post-race checks, the FIA has summoned both Leclerc and Gasly for the car being underweight. The former underwent checks after using spare front wing due to the original one was damaged. The likely result of such summons is disqualification. Here: https://x.com/fiadocsbot/status/1903756318843785715
Hamilton too is summoned for rearward skid block not matching the required measurement. Here: https://x.com/fiadocsbot/status/1903761373370479073
