Oscar Piastri wins Chinese Grand Prix; both Ferraris disqualified
Shanghai, 23 March 2025: Oscar Piastri took a controlled third career victory in Shanghai, managing a tactical tyre-focused race expertly to win the Chinese Grand Prix from pole ahead of team-mate Lando Norris who overcame late-race brake woes to complete the McLaren 1-2 ahead of third-placed George Russell of Mercedes.
When the lights went out for the start, polesitter Piastri got away well to take the lead ahead of Norris and Russell. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, got away slowly from fourth place on the dusty side of the grid, where earlier in the day oil had been deposited along the pit straight during a support race, and the Dutchman lost two places as he was passed by the Ferraris of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc. But both Ferraris were later disqualified for technical infringements.
Disqualified
Ferrari drivers Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton have both been disqualified from the final classification of the Chinese Grand Prix, with Alpine’s Pierre Gasly also excluded after all three were found to have infringed technical regulations.
In the case of Hamilton who crossed the line in P6, the thickness of the plank assembly was below the permitted minimum thickness of 9mm, by 0.4mm on the left side and centreline and by 0.5mm on the right side. The Stewards determined that Article 3.5.9 of the FIA Formula 1 Technical Regulations had been breached and “therefore the standard penalty of a disqualification needs to be applied for such an infringement”.
In the cases of fifth across the line Leclerc and 11th-placed Gasly, both cars were found to be 1kg under the minimum 800kg weight and this time the Stewards determined that Article 4.1 of the FIA Formula 1 Technical Regulations had been breached, which again comes with a standard penalty of disqualification.
On his way through to P5, however, Leclerc was clipped by Hamilton. With the left side of his front wing dropping and the end plate missing, he was told by his team that he had lost 30 points of downforce. Leclerc told his team he could manage the loss and in a superb drive, the Monegasque showed great pace from there on.
Ahead of the first pit stop window Piastri managed to build a small two-second gap to team-mate Norris, with Russell a further 2.7s behind. Behind the fourth and fifth-placed, however, Max was losing touch with the leaders and on lap 13 the Dutchman was 5.5s adrift of Leclerc.
At the end of lap 13 the Team brought Max in to shed his opening Medium tyres, and the champion bolted on a set of Hards in a 2.2 second halt. He rejoined in P11, behind Hamilton who had pitted on the same lap.
Race leader Piastri made his stop at the end of lap 14, along with Russell, while Norris and Leclerc made their switch to Hard tyres at the end of the following tour. And after the first round of stops was complete, Piastri resumed in the lead. Norris was briefly undercut by Russell, but the McLaren driver swiftly closed in and under DRS at the start of lap 18 he swept past to reclaim the position.
Hamilton though was struggling for pace, and the Briton was told to swap places with Leclerc, who despite holding on to his broken wing in his pit stop, was flying. Max, meanwhile, was still in sixth place, three seconds behind the Ferraris.
The Hard tyre proved to be more durable and pacier than anticipated and soon after the second stint had begun, teams began to target a one-stop race, with all of the eventual top 10 opting for a single visit to the pit lane.
As the race entered its final third, Verstappen began to close in on Hamilton, and with the Dutchman showing good pace, Ferrari chose to back out of the brewing battle, and pitted Hamilton for a new set of tyres in order to make a late charge. The seven-time champion emerged a little under 19 seconds behind Verstappen who was 4.5s behind Leclerc.
The Red Bull driver began to slowly reel in the lead Ferrari and on lap 52 he was withing DRS range. Leclerc tried to defend but the champion had too much pace and as they crossed the line to start the following lap, Verstappen passed the Ferrari around the outside of Turn 2 to take a fourth place he held to the flag.
At the front, Piastri took the third win of his career ahead of Norris who managed an ever-lengthening brake pedal in the closing laps to stay ahead of Russell. Leclerc took fifth ahead of Hamilton. Esteban Ocon put in a good performance to take six points for Haas. Andrea Kimi Antonelli finished eighth for Mercedes, while birthday boy Alex Albon took two points for Williams and Haas earned a double points finish with tenth place.
2025 FIA Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix – Race
1 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 56 1:30’55.026
2 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 56 1:31’04.774 9.748
3 George Russell Mercedes 56 1:31’06.123 11.097
4 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 56 1:31’11.682 16.6565 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 56 1:31’18.237 23.211 (both disqualified later)
6 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 56 1:31’20.407 25.381
5 Esteban Ocon Haas/Ferrari 56 1:31’44.995 49.969
6 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 56 1:31’48.774 53.748
7 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 56 1:31’51.347 56.321
8 Oliver Bearman Haas/Ferrari 56 1:31’56.329 1’01.303Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 56 1:32’02.221 1’07.195 (disqualified later)
9. Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 56 1:32’05.230 1’10.204
10 Carlos Sainz Williams/Mercedes 56 1:32’11.413 1’16.38
11 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls/Honda RBPT 56 1:32’13.901 1’18.875
12 Liam Lawson Red Bull/Honda RBPT 56 1:32’16.173 1’21.147
13 Jack Doohan Alpine/Renault 56 1:32’23.427 1’28.401
14 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber/Ferrari 55 1:31’05.782 1 lap /10.756
15 Nico Hülkenberg Sauber/Ferrari 55 1:31’15.252 1 lap /20.226
16 Yuki Tsunoda Racing Bulls/Honda RBPT 55 1:31’18.537 1 lap /23.511
Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 4 7’25.574 Retirement
