Piastri Bounces Back to Take Comfortable Chinese GP Victory
After one mistake cost him dear last week, Oscar Piastri wasn’t to put a foot wrong today as he led from start to finish to take a comfortable Chinese Grand Prix victory! Even with brake issues, Lando Norris was still able to complete a McLaren 1-2 whilst George Russell once again rounded out the Podium for Mercedes!
The Biggest Talking Points
George Russell got a really good launch off the line, but Oscar Piastri covered him off well, allowing Lando Norris to go around the outside of George and up into P2 in the process! There was also contact at the start between the two Ferrari drivers, with Charles Leclerc losing a front wing endplate which he ultimately decided to drive without for the entire Grand Prix! After just 4 laps, Fernando Alonso found himself out of the Grand Prix as the brakes on his Aston Martin caught fire, and this actually means that Alonso is currently last in the Drivers’ Standings! We then got a bunch of early pit stops as the undercut was clearly the best way to overtake, and it particularly benefited George Russell who was able to jump back in front of Lando Norris, only for Lando to get past just a lap or two later!
Despite the front wing damage, Charles Leclerc’s pace was strong, so Ferrari made the decision to tell Lewis Hamilton to let his teammate by, even though that didn’t go particularly smooth sailing! After this, the gaps grew large between most of the field, with little overtaking being done, but the one guy that was making gains whilst Oliver Bearman as the Brit was climbing up the order after going long in his opening stint! Jack Doohan was getting pretty aggressive up against Isack Hadjar to the point where Jack received a 10-second time penalty, and Leclerc’s pace had seemingly gone towards the end as Max Verstappen was able to dispatch him for P4! The focus at the end of the Race then turned to Lando Norris as he was struggling significantly with his brakes, but despite that, Norris was still able to just about see off the charging Mercedes of Russell! However, that’s not all that happened as since the Race finished, Charles Leclerc (P5), Lewis Hamilton (P6), and Pierre Gasly (P11) have all been disqualified which is a big blow for them!
The Standout Drives in the Race
I’ve given out two 10’s for the 2025 Chinese Grand Prix and the first one is obviously for Oscar Piastri! Oscar has had a really strong weekend, he’s been the lead McLaren, and it was all about taking victory today to make a statement about his Championship intentions, and I’d say he very much did that! The other driver I’ve given out maximum points to is Esteban Ocon, and I was already giving Esteban this for finishing P7 because Haas were atrocious last weekend, and he absolutely smashed it today! However, with the disqualifications for the Ferrari’s, Ocon has come home P5 which is crazy! I also thought Lando Norris and George Russell got the maximum results they could to finish on the Podium, Alex Albon did a great job to score more points for Williams whilst Oliver Bearman was also superb for Haas!
Drivers Who Had a Shocker
Amazingly, I haven’t given out a single 1 for today’s Race, and maybe that’s me being a little generous after giving so many out last week! However, Jack Doohan was all over the place towards the end of the Race, his defending was way too over the limit, and he definitely deserved his penalty. Nico Hulkenberg’s pace was also pretty shocking, I mean Kick Sauber were awful, but Hulkenberg in particularly struggled! Gabriel Bortoleto also had a spin on Lap 1 which took him out of the fight from the beginning, and Liam Lawson had no pace, even if he’s technically ended up finishing 12th! Oh, and finally, Racing Bulls deserve to be mentioned in this category because their strategy cost them double points, with Isack Hadjar getting stuck behind Doohan whilst Yuki Tsunoda’s front wing just decided to fall off!
Overall Race Results and My Ratings
Oscar Piastri: 10
Lando Norris: 9
George Russell: 9
Max Verstappen: 8
Esteban Ocon: 10
Andrea Kimi Antonelli: 5
Alex Albon: 9
Oliver Bearman: 9
Lance Stroll: 7
Carlos Sainz: 5
Isack Hadjar: 5
Liam Lawson: 3
Jack Doohan: 2
Gabriel Bortoleto: 3
Nico Hulkenberg: 2
Yuki Tsunoda: 6
Fernando Alonso: - (DNF)
Charles Leclerc: 7 (DSQ)
Lewis Hamilton: 6 (DSQ)
Pierre Gasly: 7 (DSQ)
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