Mclaren once again demonstrated that it is the strongest team on the F1 grid after Oscar Piastri’s victory and Lando Norris’ second place, adding up to their first one-two of the season. The ‘papayas’ dominated the race from start to finish, and showed that, when necessary, they were able to up the pace to ensure they didn’t jeopardise their top two positions on the grid. Fernando Alonso had to retire on lap 4 and Carlos Sainz completed his first race with Williams, but was still far from dominating the FW47.
McLaren one-two at the Chinese F1 GP
Although they were not able to dominate throughout the weekend, when it came down to it, the race, McLaren showed that, at the moment, they are the team to beat. Oscar Piastri achieved victory after a good start in which he had no problems in maintaining first place. From there on, it was a race of tyre management, in which he was not forced to squeeze every last drop of performance out of the car.
For his part, Lando Norris, who started from third place behind Russell’s Mercedes, managed to overtake his compatriot in the first few laps and followed the same script as his team-mate, managing tyres and managing the distance with his pursuer, who was gradually losing ground. He suffered in the final part of the race because of the tyres, but he had more than enough margin to avoid being caught.
Mercedes takes its second podium
George Russell achieved his second podium of the season, his second third place. If in Australia he took advantage of Piastri’s departure to take third place, on this occasion it was a prize won on his own merit. He was unable to hold on to the magnificent second place he achieved in qualifying, they are behind McLaren, but he managed to keep the Ferrari cars at bay at all times and fought for second place until the end.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli achieved an important eighth place to continue adding points for the team. The ‘rookie’ continues to accumulate kilometres as an F1 driver and little by little he is getting used to the car and showing that he knows how to handle the pressure.
Red Bull with problems
Red Bull’s problems this season are confirmed. The first dry race was illustrative of the Austrian team’s problems. They are lucky to have Max Verstappen who achieved an important fourth place with three laps to go, with a magnificent overtaking of Leclerc who completed a good race with problems in the Ferrari.
Lawson’s situation is worse. The young Dutchman disappointed again in his second race. He was only able to take advantage of the incidents involving Hulkenberg, Gabriel Bortoleto and Tsunoda to finish ahead of them, but he is still far from the level expected, and far from Max Verstappen. He is not expected to be head to head with his team-mate, but he is expected to be able to place the car in the top 10, and at the moment, that goal is a long way off.
Sainz completes his first race and Alonso retires
The Spanish drivers are still below expectations at the start of the Formula 1 World Championship. Carlos Sainz managed to complete his first full race with Williams, kilometres of learning for the Madrid-born driver, who still has work to do to continue adapting to the FW47. He finished 13th, gaining two positions from the start, but was far behind Alexander Albon who finished in the points again.
For his part, Fernando Alonso had to abandon the race on lap 4. The Spaniard’s AMR25 had to say goodbye to the race due to brake problems, his second retirement of the season. It is the second time in his career that Alonso has retired in his first two races, also in the Australian and Chinese GPs. It was in 2017 with McLaren. Alonso and Aston Martin haven’t had the best start to the year, but they have time to turn the situation around.
Ferrari disappointment
Ferrari was once again the disappointment of the Chinese GP: after Hamilton’s sprint victory on Saturday, the candidate to go head-to-head with McLaren again performed well below expectations. It is true that Leclerc managed to have a good race with the damaged spoiler, but he can only settle for a fifth place that tastes like little and leaves a bad taste in his mouth after losing fourth place with three laps to go. And Hamilton was also well below Saturday’s level, and could only finish in a disappointing sixth place. There is work to be done at Ferrari if they want to be in the fight for the World Championship.