Chinese GP 2025: Piastri beats Norris, both Ferraris disqualified
Piastri won the Chinese GP from pole, 9.7s clear of Norris, to level their McLaren duel. Hamilton and Leclerc were both disqualified after the race.
Oscar Piastri won the Chinese Grand Prix from pole position, 9.7 seconds ahead of his McLaren teammate Lando Norris, at the Shanghai International Circuit in the second round of the 2025 season. George Russell finished third for Mercedes. It was Piastri's third Formula 1 win, and it came a week after a spin dropped him out of second place in Australia.
How Piastri won in Shanghai
Piastri had taken the first pole of his career on Saturday, 0.082s clear of Russell and 0.152s clear of Norris. Russell tried to go around the outside at the start but was squeezed into Turn 1, and Norris slipped through into second. Piastri made a single stop and looked after his tyres well enough that nobody got close. "The car has been pretty mega," he said afterwards.
Russell got ahead of Norris through the pit stops, but only until lap 18, when Norris passed him again at Turn 1. The late drama belonged to Norris: a brake pedal problem cost him two to four seconds a lap over the final two laps, and Russell was closing fast when the flag fell. McLaren held on for the team's 50th one-two.
Ferrari had the worst evening of anyone. Lewis Hamilton had won Saturday's sprint from pole, his first victory in red. On Sunday both Ferraris passed Max Verstappen at the first corner, then Charles Leclerc clipped Hamilton's right rear at Turn 3 and lost part of his front wing. Leclerc finished fifth on the road and Hamilton sixth, and neither result stood: Leclerc's car was under the minimum weight, Hamilton's plank was too worn, and both were disqualified. Pierre Gasly's Alpine was also thrown out for being underweight.
Verstappen kept the fourth place he had taken from Leclerc three laps from the end. The disqualifications lifted Esteban Ocon to fifth, Kimi Antonelli to sixth and Alexander Albon to seventh, and put Carlos Sainz into the points in tenth. Fernando Alonso was the only driver who did not finish: the brakes on his Aston Martin gave up in the opening laps.
Piastri vs Norris, Hamilton vs Leclerc
McLaren. Norris won both duels in Melbourne, Piastri won both in Shanghai, on Saturday by 0.152s and on Sunday by almost ten seconds. That leaves their head-to-head at 1–1 in qualifying and 1–1 in races in our count. Norris keeps the championship lead, but the internal argument at McLaren is open again.
Ferrari. Hamilton out-qualified Leclerc for the first time, by 0.094s. In the race he was on a two-stop plan, offered to let Leclerc by on lap 21 and moved over a lap later. Because both cars were disqualified, the race does not count on F1 Duels, so Hamilton and Leclerc stand 1–1 in qualifying while Leclerc leads 1–0 in races from Australia.
Red Bull. Liam Lawson was knocked out in Q1 again, slowest of all 20, while Verstappen qualified fourth. In our count it was the widest qualifying gap between teammates all weekend. Lawson finished 12th, Verstappen fourth, and their duel reads 0–2 in qualifying and 0–1 in races after two rounds.
Haas. Ocon turned 11th on the grid into fifth, and Oliver Bearman came through from 17th to eighth on an alternative strategy. Ocon leads the Haas duel 2–0 on both counts.
What it means for the championship
Norris leaves China on 44 points, eight ahead of Verstappen on 36. Russell is third on 35, one point ahead of Piastri, and McLaren have won both races so far. Every head-to-head from the weekend is on our Chinese GP duels page.