Raceday Recap: the Shanghai Sprint Weekend Showdown
This week was lights out in Shanghai, where the second race of the season was just as entertaining as the first, guaranteeing an exciting season throughout 2025. There were penalties, pit stops, and overtakes galore, and the final results offered a surprise based on the starting grid. Suit up and get ready to discuss the roller-coaster ride that was the Chinese Grand Prix.
The first aspect of the Chinese GP that makes it unique is the fact that it is one of the 6 sprint races on the 2025 F1 calendar, along with the Grands Prix in Miami, Belgium, Austin, Sao Paulo, and Qatar. On a typical F1 race weekend, the drivers have free practices 1 and 2 on Friday, free practice 3 and qualifying on Saturday, and the race on Sunday. In contrast, on a sprint weekend there is free practice 1 and the sprint qualifying (which replaces FP2 and sets the grid for the sprint race), then the sprint race (which replaces FP3 and sets the grid for actual qualifying) and then normal qualifying on Saturday, followed by the race on Sunday. The reason that these specific tracks follow the sprint race format is “to further spice up the action on tracks known to be good for overtaking, while also ensuring there was competitive track sessions for fans,” according to Sky Sports F1. This weekend, Lewis Hamilton won the sprint race from pole after he took the fastest time in sprint qualifying, which also allotted 8 points toward his driver’s championship tally.
Lewis Hamilton celebrating Ferrari’s first success of the 2025 season after placing 1st in the sprint race. Photo courtesy of CNN.
In qualifying, Oscar Piastri achieved his first ever F1 pole position, with George Russell beside him on the front row and his teammate Lando Norris starting 3rd on the grid. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen separated Norris from the two Ferraris, with Lewis Hamilton in 5th and Charles Leclerc in 6th. Isack Hadjar redeemed his performance from last week by going 7th fastest, accompanied by fellow rookie Kimi Antonellii in 8th. Yuki Tsunoda and Alex Albon rounded out the top 10 starting grid, while Liam Lawson started from the pitlane for the second race in a row after the engineers made changes to his car’s setup.
The race started without incident, and Norris quickly gained a place by passing Russell at turn 1. On lap 6, Fernando Alonso reported that his brakes were failing, and soon after had to retire the car. Alonso was the first and only driver to DNF the race, although many others had technical issues that led to later consequences. During the first lap of the race, Charles Leclerc got too close to teammate Hamilton and brushed his front wing against the rear of Hamilton’s car. After the minimal debris was picked up, the broken wing was ruled as not dangerous by the FIA, and Leclerc finished the remaining 55 laps with the damaged wing. Yuki Tsunoda’s front wing shattered during the 47th lap, and unlike Leclerc he had to pit before the pieces damaged the other drivers’ cars behind him, a pit stop which set him back to P19 for the remainder of the race.
Tsunoda on track with his front wing, falling apart due to an overload of weight. Photo courtesy of F1.
Even though he qualified 7th and was set to have a decent race, Hadjar got into a scuffle with Alpine’s Jack Doohan at turn 14. Doohan’s tyres locked up and he faltered, causing Hadjar to run wide off the track. Doohan was issued a 10 second time penalty, and he dropped from 14th place to 16th after the race’s conclusion. Throughout the race, the constant pitstops and overtakes by the drivers in the middle range of the grid shifted so constantly that such drivers were never guaranteed a set position. Drivers that reached the top ten, such as Tsunoda, Sainz, and Hulkenberg were pulling up the rear at the end of the race, while Kimi Antonelli and Alex Albon climbed their way up strategically. Haas’ finish was notably impressive, as Esteban Ocon finished 5th and Ollie Bearman finished 8th after results were finalized. Racing Bulls had the shockingly worst performance of the race, with Hadjar dropping 6 places from his qualifying position of 7th to end up 13th and Tsunoda finishing 19th despite qualifying P9 (both RB drivers respectively moved to P11 and P17 after Ferrari’s post-race disqualifications.)
On a more positive note, Alex Albon led the race for 5 laps on his 29th birthday, and finished a strong P9, later promoted to P7. Bearman scored 4 WDC points on International Bear Day, and Oscar Piastri secured his 3rd career win with Norris in 2nd for a McLaren 1-2 on the podium. With Russell finishing 3rd and Antonelli in 6th, Mercedes brought home a total of 23 points for a successful weekend. Mercedes could be a consistent podium team and probable contender for the WCC title fight if the drivers stay locked in and continue to score large points. Antonelli was also awarded Driver of the Day by fans, earning 20% of the overall vote.
Hamilton and Leclerc disappointed after the DQ announcement. Photo courtesy of ESPN.
After every car had passed the checkered flag, the race was still not over. The FIA announced after the event that three drivers were disqualified and their results canceled: Hamilton, Leclerc, and Pierre Gasly. Hamilton was investigated for the rear skid block on his Ferrari measuring less than the minimum thickness required, meaning that he had an unfair aerodynamic advantage because his car was a fraction lighter. Leclerc faced a similar issue, as his car weighed in under the minimum after his front wing dilemma and heavy tire wear due to extreme track conditions. The FIA addressed the situation by acknowledging that Ferrari made a “genuine error,” clearing the constructor of any malicious intent. Ferrari themselves also declared their apologies, promising to “learn from what happened today and make sure we don’t make the same mistakes again. Clearly it’s not the way we wanted to end our Chinese GP weekend.” Ferrari has a lot of ground to make up if they want to establish their team as a contender for the WCC, and let’s hope that luck comes sooner than later. In relation to Alpine’s dismal results, Gasly’s car also weighed less than the mandatory 800 kg after his fuel was drained, and his results were deleted, which didn't make too much of a difference as he was already outside of the points.
The coming week will definitely seem boring as the sport takes a bye before returning in Suzuka, but don’t worry - the content doesn’t take a break with the drivers. Thanks for reading, and I hope this race was as entertaining for you as it was for me.
Lights out and away we go,
Lucy xx
