Category: Motor Racing

After a tricky weekend at Bahrain and some crisis talk regarding his future with Red Bull, Max Verstappen drove a brilliant Q3 lap to take pole position for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix as Lando Norris made a mistake and crashed out.

After the Red Bull hierarchy held urgent meetings following a poor showing last time out in the Bahrain Grand Prix and with speculation in Jeddah turning towards whether Verstappen’s future could walk away from the Milton Keynes outfit, the reigning world champion did his talking on the track.

The four-time champion sealed his forty-second career pole position in Formula 1 with an awesome lap time of one minute 27.294 seconds, beating Oscar Piastri’s McLaren by a tiny margin of 0.010 seconds.

George Russell will start third after another good showing for Mercedes, while Charles Leclerc starts alongside him on row two in the lead Ferrari.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Carlos Sainz share row three, the latter clearly now settling into life at Williams with his best qualifying performance of the season.

Lewis Hamilton had said just making the top ten would be progress for him as he struggled for pace in his Ferrari, but he ultimately managed seventh position, with Yuki Tsunoda and Pierre Gasly also getting ahead of Norris after his crash.

Having spoken about having confidence issues on the eve on qualifying, Norris had been competing at the head of the field but was caught out around the tight Jeddah Corniche Circuit, hitting the wall at turn five during his opening Q3 run, labelling himself a “fucking idiot” over team radio.

It means, having started sixth in Bahrain last weekend, the championship leader is P10 on the grid on Sunday.

Alex Albon had looked strong throughout practice but narrowly missed out on the top ten shootout and is P11 on the grid, alongside Liam Lawson for Racing Bulls.

Fernando Alonso is P13 with Isack Hadjar and Oliver Bearman having also made it into Q2 before being eliminated.

Gasly survived pulling out of his garage with a tyre blanket still attached to the right front to get out of Q1, although his Alpine teammate Jack Doohan did not manage to escape the drop zone and will start P17, behind Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin.

Sauber struggled with Nico Hulkenberg down in P18 and Gabriel Bortoleto last after spinning on his final attempt as the second Haas of Esteban Ocon splits the pair.

So an exciting end to Q3 with Oscar Piastri and George Russell fighting for the the top spot and yet it was inevitable that Max Verstappen took pole. So congratulations to the Red Bull driver in achieving P1.

As for Lando Norris, that mistake was costly and with Jeddah being a tricky track to overtake, it will be interesting how the McLaren driver can recover.

Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, qualifying positions:
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:27.294
2 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:27.304
3 George Russell Mercedes 1:27.407
4 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:27.670
5 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:27.866
6 Carlos Sainz Williams 1:28.164
7 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:28.201
8 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull 1:28.204
9 Pierre Gasly Alpine 1:28.367
10 Lando Norris McLaren No time
11 Alex Albon Williams 1:28.109
12 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls 1:28.191
13 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 1:28.303
14 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls 1:28.418
15 Oliver Bearman Haas 1:28.648
16 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 1:28.645
17 Jack Doohan Alpine 1:28.739
18 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber 1:28.782
19 Esteban Ocon Haas 1:29.092
20 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber 1:29.462

Oscar Piastri drove a superb lights-to-flag at Bahrain to score his second victory of this season for McLaren. His teammate Lando Norris had a challenging race with a time penalty for the false start and yet recovered to finish third.

Piastri took the chequered flag by 15 seconds from George Russell, closing in the drivers’ championship to within three points of Norris while Max Verstappen could only manage sixth.

The cooler conditions invited most cars to start on soft tyres for an expected two-stopper, with Ferrari duo Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton the most notable medium starters. Piastri made a good start from pole and led the early running while Russell passed Leclerc for second, reclaiming the position he lost with a grid penalty.

Norris made an even better start and blitzed from sixth to third, although it soon became apparent the McLaren driver had been outside his grid slot, which resulted him a five second time penalty. He attempted to pass Russell on the first stint but to no avail, with Leclerc, Pierre Gasly, Carlos Sainz and Andrea Kimi Antonelli slotting in behind.

From seventh Verstappen initially unable to make much progress, but he soon followed Antonelli past a struggling Sainz, as did Hamilton and Yuki Tsunoda behind them.

With his five-second penalty in mind Norris boxed early on lap 11 to bolt on mediums, serving his penalty during the stop. The powerful undercut allowed him to stay in the hunt up front and he soon shot past Gasly once more.

Verstappen, meanwhile, did not have new sets of mediums available like his direct competitors and was forced to take the less performant hards on his lap 11 pitstop, with the Red Bull driver quickly reporting the compound had no grip. It was apparent on the timesheets too, with Verstappen dropped by Haas driver Esteban Ocon before being passed by Antonelli and Hamilton, falling to ninth.

By that stage Russell had pitted for mediums on lap 13, neatly covered off by leader Piastri on the following lap. All eyes were then on the Ferraris as they attempted to make their start on mediums count, but both Leclerc and Hamilton already curtailed their first stint after 17 laps, despite Leclerc protesting against it.

Leclerc did use his fresher tyres to put pressure on Norris ahead and passed the faster McLaren on lap 24, while teammate Hamilton also found some pace to pass Ocon for sixth. As they approached the halfway mark Piastri easily controlled the race with a six-second gap to Russell, Leclerc and Norris. Gasly held firm in fifth with Hamilton approaching.

After 27 laps – and just 16 laps on the hards – Verstappen had seen enough and stopped again for a used set of mediums, desperate to get off the harder compound that proved the wrong tyre due to the cooler track conditions. Verstappen was further troubled by two slow pitstops, with a slow front-right tyre change dropping him down the order.

On lap 33 the cards were reshuffled when the safety car came out for debris in Turn 3, caused by pieces of Sainz’s floor shearing off after contact with Tsunoda.

The convenient timing prompted most runners to make their second and last pitstop, with leader Piastri grabbing another fresh set of mediums that were to see him through to the finish. Ocon and Doohan, who had just pitted for hards, stayed out, as did Ocon and Verstappen. Mercedes bolted soft tyres on the cars of Russell and Antonelli, which the former called “audacious”.

At the restart Piastri led Russell, Leclerc, Norris, and Hamilton. Gasly was sixth with a slight tyre disadvantage, as was Ocon. Verstappen took the restart in eighth.

On the lap 34 restart Piastri held station ahead of Russell and Leclerc, while Hamilton passed Norris for fourth. Norris attacked but went off the track, deciding to give up the position to Hamilton to avoid another penalty.

Realising the job he had on his hands to bring the car home, Russell was forced into looking after his more brittle softs rather than using the grippier compound to put pressure on the imperious Piastri.

As Piastri disappeared into the distance, Russell instead came under threat from behind while he started suffering from electronic glitches, which affected his dashboard and DRS mechanism. Norris was on the front foot with his preferred mediums, passing Hamilton once more and then hounding Leclerc into the final 15 laps, finally getting the job done around the outside of Turn 4 on lap 52.

Lando’s move on George for second didn’t come off thanks to stout defending from the Mercedes driver, who denied McLaren a 1-2 finish.

Five seconds behind fourth-placed Leclerc Hamilton had a lonely end to the race to fifth, rallying from a tough qualifying session. Gasly bravely held off Verstappen until the Red Bull driver picked the Alpine off on the final lap, but Verstappen will still be reeling from his sixth place after a reality check for Red Bull.

Ocon did successfully keep a Red Bull at bay – driven by Tsunoda – to claim eighth, with the Haas teammate Oliver Bearman securing a double points finish after holding off Antonelli and Albon.

Sainz was the only retirement after a disastrous afternoon that spiralled out of control due to the damage the Williams man suffered for the Tsunoda contact, and also included a 10-second penalty for forcing Antonelli off the track.

In the drivers’ championship Norris safeguarded his lead, but saw Piastri close to within three points as he jumped Verstappen for second. Verstappen now trails Norris by 10 points, with Russell heading to next weekend’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 14 points behind.

So a better race at Bahrain compared to Japan and yet it was McLaren who scored a double podium. Congratulations to Oscar Piastri with a strong drive to score his second victory in this year’s world championship.

Bahrain Grand Prix, race results:
1 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:35:39.435
2 George Russell Mercedes +15.499s
3 Lando Norris McLaren +16.273s
4 Charles Leclerc Ferrari +19.679s
5 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari +27.993s
6 Max Verstappen Red Bull +34.395s
7 Pierre Gasly Alpine +36.002s
8 Esteban Ocon Haas +44.244s
9 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull +45.061s
10 Oliver Bearman Haas +47.594s
11 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes +48.016s
12 Alexander Albon Williams +48.839s
13 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber +53.472s
14 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls +56.314s
15 Jack Doohan Alpine +57.806s
16 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin +60.340s
17 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls +64.435s
18 Lance Stroll Aston Martin +65.489s
19 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber +66.872s
Carlos Sainz Williams DNF

Oscar Piastri achieved an important pole position at Bahrain over his McLaren teammate Lando Norris by qualifying at the top while the championship leader was down in P6 alongside Japanese race winner Max Verstappen.

Piastri looked the quicker of the two Papaya cars from Q2 and after being fastest on the first run of Q2, and he then confirm his pole on the deciding run on a rapidly improving Bahrain international Circuit.

George Russell produced a solid lap to take a front row slot for Mercedes, as Charles Leclerc was third for Ferrari ahead of the second Mercedes of Andrea Kimi Antonelli. Pierre Gasly achieving a superb fifth position on the grid for Alpine.

Norris looked set to challenge Piastri and Russell for the front row, but a relatively poor final Q3 lap left him down in sixth. McLaren’s main challenger Red Bull suffered a disappointing qualifying session with Verstappen only in seventh.

Red Bull was under pressure from the start of qualifying as Verstappen went off the track on the final corner of his flyer, while teammate Tsunoda also lost his lap for track limits. Verstappen reported “there’s something really wrong with the car” but still managed to go through in third, two tenths behind session leader Norris, while Tsunoda also advanced.

Surprisingly, Alex Albon was out of Q1 for the first time this season, taking P16 in the Williams, as was Racing Bulls driver Liam Lawson who suffered a DRS issue. They were joined in the drop zone by Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto, Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll and Oliver Bearman, who lost a shot at Q2 with a poor second sector, reporting problems with locking the front tyres in the Haas.

Q2 was quickly red flagged for a crash by Haas driver Esteban Ocon coming out of Turn 2. Starting his flying lap, Ocon already started suffering oversteer coming out of the corner, and then lost control over his car as soon as his unsettled car crossed the exit kerbs, spinning into the left-hand side wall. Ocon reported he was okay, with the session resuming after an eight-minute delay.

After the interruption McLaren wasted no time going first and sector once more, this time Piastri leading Norris by a tenth. Alpine once again proved the surprise package with Gasly taking third ahead of both Mercedes cars. His teammate Doohan looked set to join him in Q3, but a weaker final sector left the Alpine driver in P11.

Behind Doohan Racing Bulls driver Isack Hadjar was knocked out in P12, with Nico Hulkenberg and Fernando Alonso also eliminated, the latter slower on his compromised Q2 lap than he had been in Q1. The second qualifying phase again delivered a warning for the Red Bulls, with Verstappen and Tsunoda scraping through in ninth and tenth.

Verstappen also had a poor first lap in Q3 due to what he described as brake issues, while Piastri led the early part with a time of one minute, 30.233 seconds, a tenth ahead of Russell and Norris. The trio was a second clear of the rest, led by Ferrari’s Leclerc and Hamilton.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli and then Russell cycled through to take provisional pole on the final run, before Piastri restored McLaren’s advantage with his second pole position in his Formula 1 career.

However, post qualifying the race stewards have penalised both Mercedes drivers with an one-place grid penalty. This was due to the pair being sent into the fast lane of the pit lane before a session restart time – after Haas driver Esteban Ocon’s crash early in Q2 – was confirmed.

Leclerc managed to split the Mercedes cars in third, with Antonelli rallying from having his first lap deleted for track limits by grabbing his best Formula 1 qualifying result in fourth.

Gasly delighted Alpine with fifth on the grid, qualifying just 0.003 seconds behind Antonelli and ahead of a disappointed Norris and Verstappen. Carlos Sainz was eighth for Williams, with Hamilton failing to qualify higher than eighth after also seeing his first lap deleted for track limits.

Tsunoda rounded out the top ten due to not managing to put a clean lap together, but the Japanese driver’s Q3 berth signals some progress on his side of the Red Bull garage.

Congratulations to Oscar Piastri in taking pole position. This was expected as the MCL39 is a very fast car but shocking to see his McLaren teammate Lando Norris only P6. Mistakes in qualifying was costly and to be one place ahead of his championship challenger makes it interesting.

Bahrain Grand Prix, qualifying positions:
1 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:29.841
2 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:30.175
3 George Russell Mercedes 1:30.009*
4 Pierre Gasly Alpine 1:30.216
5 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:30.213*
6 Lando Norris McLaren 1:30.267
7 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:30.423
8 Carlos Sainz Williams 1:30.680
9 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:30.772
10 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull 1:31.303
11 Jack Doohan Alpine 1:31.245
12 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls 1:31.271
13 Nico Hulkenburg Sauber 1:31.783
14 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 1:31.886
15 Esteban Ocon Haas No time
16 Alex Albon Williams 1:32.040
17 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls 1:32.165
18 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber 1:32.186
19 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 1:32.283
20 Oliver Bearman Haas 1:32.373
*One-place grid penalty following qualifying rule breaches

Max Verstappen achieved his fourth consecutive victory at the Japanese Grand Prix with a solid lights-to-flag win at Suzuka. The Red Bull driver fending off the McLarens to score his first win of the 2025 season.

In the beautiful white Red Bull as a celebration from Honda, the defending world champion put together a controlled drive at the front of the order, as Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri could not mount a challenge to pass Verstappen.

Verstappen pulled a two-plus-second gap over Norris in the opening laps to fend off any early threats under DRS, and did not respond to McLaren’s apparent dummy call for Norris to pit – as engineer Will Joseph suggested his driver could “box to overtake”, but Lando subsequently stayed out.

McLaren tried to force a response by stopping Piastri at the end of lap 20, and Verstappen did indeed pit – but Norris followed him into the pitlane. The McLaren pit crew found a second on its Red Bull rival in the box, putting Verstappen and Norris level at the exit, but Norris did not have space to go two-wide on the exit and ran across the grass.

His attempt to draw the race stewards’ attention on the radio did not come to pass as the incident was not serious, leaving his only opportunity of securing a second win of 2025 to come with an on-track overtake.

But, over the following 30 laps, Norris was unable to find a way to get within DRS range of Verstappen, and could only match the Red Bull driver for pace. This left McLaren with a problem, as Piastri was happily sitting within a second of Norris and trying to arrange a switch in positions.

McLaren did not elect to pull the trigger despite Piastri’s better pace, which left Verstappen untouched in front – the Papaya cars were left to finish behind the four-time champion.

Charles Leclerc clinched fourth place, preserving his grid position to beat the Mercedes duo; although the earlier-stopping George Russell got to within 1.2 seconds of the Ferrari driver by the end, he was unable to find any further ground on Charles despite offering early pressure. Andrea Kimi Antonelli claimed sixth with a long medium-tyre stint, and finished a further 1.3 seconds behind his more experienced teammate.

At least Kimi Antonelli had the honour of leading a couple of laps for Mercedes and become the sport’s youngest leader.

Lewis Hamilton’s alternative strategy, starting on the hard tyres, paid off to some degree with seventh, having gained a position on rookie Isack Hadjar – who scored his first Formula 1 points with eighth.

An irascible Alex Albon claimed ninth despite his complaints on the radio to his Williams team about gearshifts and his pitstop timing, while Haas driver Oliver Bearman clinched the final point over Fernando Alonso and Red Bull debutant Yuki Tsunoda. Liam Lawson was P17 on his return to Racing Bulls.

So not the most exciting Japanese Grand Prix but in terms of drive and achievements, Max Verstappen delivered the result in the beautiful white Red Bull. That’s four straight wins at Suzuka and such a fitting tribute to sign off Honda by finishing in first position.

Japanese Grand Prix, race results:
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:22:06.983
2 Lando Norris McLaren +1.423s
3 Oscar Piastri McLaren +2.129s
4 Charles Leclerc Ferrari +16.097s
5 George Russell Mercedes +17.362s
6 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes +18.671s
7 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari +29.182s
8 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls +37.134s
9 Alexander Albon Williams +40.367s
10 Oliver Bearman Haas +54.529s
11 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin +57.333s
12 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull +58.401s
13 Pierre Gasly Alpine +62.122s
14 Carlos Sainz Williams +74.129s
15 Jack Doohan Alpine +81.314s
16 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber +81.957s
17 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls +82.734s
18 Esteban Ocon Haas +83.438s
19 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber +83.897s
20 Lance Stroll Aston Martin +1 lap

Max Verstappen takes a surprising pole position for Red Bull at Suzuka, beating the favourites McLaren in an exciting end to qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix.

A special white livery to celebrate Honda looks beautiful and it was pure Super Max to set a new lap record around the challenging Suzuka circuit. It was a shock to see Verstappen in P1 as the Red Bull RB21 is tricky to drive and not as quick as the McLaren MCL39.

Championship leader Lando Norris is second quickest and will join his good friend Max on the front row. The McLaren driver is ahead of his teammate Oscar Piastri.

Norris and Piastri had been setting the pace during practice, but it was Verstappen who delivered when it mattered, putting in a new track record of one minute, 26.983 seconds to secure his fourth successive Suzuka pole.

Early championship leader Norris will start alongside the defending champion having been pipped by just 0.012 seconds, while Chinese Grand Prix winner Piastri is third alongside Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari.

Before Verstappen’s fine effort, it was Mercedes that had been worrying the McLaren duo but George Russell and Andrea Kimi Antonelli could only make the third row.

There had been plenty of talk about Red Bull’s decision to switch Liam Lawson with Yuki Tsunoda heading to Japan but neither made it into Q3, instead it was the Racing Bull of Isack Hadjar who impressed to go seventh fastest, despite reporting a cockpit issue during the opening session.

Lewis Hamilton will be disappointed to have only managed eighth, ahead of the Williams of Alex Albon and Oliver Bearman, the Haas driver making it three rookies in the top ten.

Once again, the hour-long session descended into farce when a fifth red flag of the weekend for a trackside grass fire caused delays in Q2.

After the latest incident had been dealt with, there was plenty of improvement across the board, meaning both Lawson and Tsunoda were eliminated.

Lawson will start a place ahead of his Red Bull replacement having gone P14 on his return to Racing Bulls, while Pierre Gasly, Carlos Sainz and Fernando Alonso also unable to make the top ten shootout.

Lawson eked out of Q1 in P15, just 0.016 seconds faster than the Sauber of Nico Hulkenberg, whose teammate Gabriel Bortoleto was also eliminated.

Esteban Ocon, having finished fifth last time out in China, had to settle for P18 on the grid this time around having been unable to match the pace of Bearman.

Lance Stroll suffered a miserable session, running off at Dunlop Curve when on a fast lap and will start at the back, with the rebuilt Alpine of Jack Doohan alongside him after his huge crash in FP2.

Post qualifying, the stewards handed a three-place grid penalty for Carlos Sainz as the Williams driver was found to impeding Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton in Q2. Sainz initially was P12 after qualifying but will start the race in P15.

So congratulations to Max Verstappen by snatching pole positions from the McLarens. It was a thrilling lap to go quickest as the RB21 looks so tricky to drive over the MCL39. Both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri are still the favourites and yet despite missing out on P1, the race pace is still solid. Bring on the Japanese Grand Prix racing action!

Japanese Grand Prix, qualifying positions:
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:26.983
2 Lando Norris McLaren 1:26.995
3 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:27.027
4 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:27.299
5 George Russell Mercedes 1:27.318
6 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:27.555
7 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls 1:27.569
8 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:27.610
9 Alexander Albon Williams 1:27.615
10 Oliver Bearman Haas 1:27.867
11 Pierre Gasly Alpine 1:27.822
12 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 1:27.897
13 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls 1:27.906
14 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull 1:28.000
15 Carlos Sainz Williams 1:27.836*
16 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber 1:28.570
17 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber 1:28.622
18 Esteban Ocon Haas 1:28.696
19 Jack Doohan Alpine 1:28.877
20 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 1:29.271
*Three-place grid penalty for impeding Lewis Hamilton during Q2

It was a Papaya 1-2 finish at the Chinese Grand Prix with Oscar Piastri achieving his third career victory, leading home his McLaren teammate Lando Norris.

With tyre management the order of the day throughout the field, Piastri was able to control his race and finished ahead of Lando Norris, who was forced to manage a worsening brake issue in the closing stages.

George Russell was too far behind to pass Norris despite the tumbling pace but sealed consecutive third-place finishes for 2025.

With fifty of one-two finishes in the history of McLaren Racing, the team showed it is again the outfit to beat at present.

Max Verstappen put in a strong performance to finish fourth for Red Bull, finishing ahead of the Ferrari pair of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton.

Having been the worst team on the grid in the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, Haas secured a double points finish with Esteban Ocon seventh and a determined Oliver Bearman in tenth.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli held on to his eighth-place starting position to score points in back-to-back races, with Alexander Albon ninth for Williams.

Piastri squeezed Russell off the line, allowing Norris to make a move as the Papaya Rules saw the McLaren teammates work together to lead the field.

It was the opposite story at Ferrari, however, as Leclerc clipped Hamilton and suffered wing damage, although the duo did both pass Verstappen’s Red Bull.

Fernando Alonso was forced to retire on lap four as the brakes on his Aston Martin gave up. He was the only driver to retire in this race.

Meanwhile, Norris was complaining of graining on the troublesome left-front tyre with just eight laps on the board, with Piastri taking advantage of running in clean air.

The pitstop window opened on lap 11 as Leclerc disagreed with his team over which plan to use, as Charles ran close behind Lewis.

The undercut worked well for the midfield runners and lower points positions, with Yuki Tsunoda getting past Antonelli.

Both Hamilton and Verstappen stopped on lap 14, with Piastri boxing a lap later and having a slower stop than he would have wanted as he was stationary for 3.8 seconds.

Norris was in a lap later and lost out to Russell, who came in a lap earlier to regain his net second position in the Chinese Grand Prix, but it lasted just one lap before the McLaren retook the position into turn one the next time around.

On his 29th birthday, Albon inherited the lead, having not stopped yet, but soon fell into the clutches of the overall frontrunners.

Elsewhere, Hamilton was resisting requests from Ferrari to swap positions with Leclerc, with both homing in on Russell, but gave in to the team call at the start of lap 21.

McLaren was managing its two lead drivers well, Piastri pushing the pace to allow Norris to follow suit and pull further clear of Russell without entering the dirty air of the race leader.

As those two-stopping started to pit again, the leaders were quick enough to stay out on the hard compound, with Verstappen coming alive and chasing the pack.

Hamilton opted to pit on lap 38 for fresh hard tyres in the aim of catching the top five towards the end of the race, although it did not work out for the winner of Saturday’s sprint race.

The Racing Bulls of Tsunoda and Isack Hadjar also both opted for a second stop and were cutting through the field towards the top ten until Tsunoda suffered a front wing issue and Hadjar was run wide by Jack Doohan’s Alpine, who was hit with a 10-second penalty as a result.

Out front, Norris reported a brake issue as the pitwall urged caution rather than pushing to close in on Piastri in the closing stages.

There was no such warning for Verstappen, who attacked Leclerc and got through with three laps left.

Piastri took the chequered flag and Norris nursed the second McLaren over the line despite losing over three seconds to the chasing Russell on the last lap.

So not the most thrilling Chinese Grand Prix due to tyre management. And yet congratulations to Oscar Piastri in winning the race. Following a disappointing home race in Australia last weekend, Piastri was able to bounce back by finishing first in China.

As for McLaren, that MCL39 is a beast and it will be fascinating if the others can challenge them over the course of this long season.

UPDATE – Following a post-race scrutineering Leclerc’s and Gasly’s cars were both found to weigh 799kg after fuel was removed, one kilogram below the minimum weight limit. In Leclerc’s case, his damaged front wing was replaced by a spare example during the weighing. The scrutineers also took issue with Hamilton’s rearmost underbody skid block showing excessive wear beyond the 1mm wear limit. Hamilton’s blocks were down to 8.5 to 8.6mm thickness depending on the measuring point, with the minimum limit set at 9mm.

Chinese Grand Prix, race results:
1 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:30:55.026
2 Lando Norris McLaren +9.748s
3 George Russell Mercedes +11.097s
4 Max Verstappen Red Bull +16.656s
5 Esteban Ocon Haas +49.969s
6 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes +53.748s
7 Alexander Albon Williams +56.321s
8 Oliver Bearman Haas +61.303s
9 Lance Stroll Aston Martin +70.204s
10 Carlos Sainz Williams +76.387s
11 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls +78.875s
12 Liam Lawson Red Bull +81.147s
13 Jack Doohan Alpine +88.401s
14 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber +1 lap
15 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber +1 lap
16 Yuki sunoda Racing Bulls +1 lap
Charles Leclerc Ferrari DSQ (+23.211s)*
Lewis Hamilton Ferrari DSQ (+25.381s)**
Pierre Gasly Alpine DSQ (+67.195s)*
Fernando Alonso Aston Martin DNF

*Disqualified for being underweight following post-race scrutineering
**Disqualified for excessive skid block wear in post-race scrutineering

Oscar Piastri achieved his first Formula 1 career pole position by setting the quickest time in the Chinese Grand Prix for McLaren.

George Russell splits the McLarens by taking a solid P2 ahead of the championship leader Lando Norris, who will start in P3.

Starting from the front is an important step given how badly the field struggled with tyre degradation throughout the sprint race.

Piastri had previously started on the front row on seven occasions but secured his first P1 with an impressive time of one minute 30.641 seconds, with McLaren teammate Lando Norris in third.

A fantastic lap from George Russell split the McLarens with reigning world champion Max Verstappen fourth for Red Bull.

Piastri had taken second place in the sprint race earlier in the day but now has the chance to convert pole position into Grand Prix victory on Sunday.

Norris had topped the timesheets in Q1 and Q2 but was unable to hook up his final attempt and bailed into the pits instead of taking the flag, admitting once again he had made “a couple of mistakes”.

Lewis Hamilton had won the sprint race from pole but was only quick enough for fifth on the grid for the main race, ahead of Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc in sixth.

After crashing out before the start of his debut race in the Australian Grand Prix last weekend, Isack Hadjar was the pick of the rookies with seventh positions for Racing Bulls with fellow newcomer Andrea Kimi Antonelli in eighth.

Yuki Tsunoda and Alex Albon rounded out the top ten with starting position key given the tyre management issues so far in Shanghai.

Haas have looked more on it this weekend and Esteban Ocon will start P11, ahead of the team’s former driver Nico Hulkenberg who will be aiming for back to back points finishes for Sauber.

The Aston Martins will start alongside one another on row seven with Fernando Alonso just edging ahead of Lance Stroll in the closing stages of Q2.

In what was another difficult day at his new team, Carlos Sainz could only manage P15, having admitted that he is still yet to feel at home at Williams.

Q1 proved a tough session for four of the rookies, especially Liam Lawson who was again P20 and last, with Oliver Bearman, Jack Doohan and Gabriel Bortoleto also knocked out, along with Pierre Gasly.

So congratulations to Oscar Piastri in finally taking his first pole in the sport. After taking a solid second in the sprint earlier and seeing Lewis Hamilton converting pole to win, the McLaren driver is in prime position to win the Chinese Grand Prix.

Chinese Grand Prix, qualifying results:
1 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:30.641
2 George Russell Mercedes 1:30.723
3 Lando Norris McLaren 1:30.793
4 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:30.817
5 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:30.927
6 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:31.021
7 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls 1:31.079
8 Andrea Kimi Antonelli 1:31.103
9 Yuki Tsunoda Racing Bulls 1:31.638
10 Alexander Albon Williams 1:31.706
11 Esteban Ocon Haas 1:31.625
12 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber 1:31.632
13 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 1:31.688
14 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 1:31.773
15 Carlos Sainz Williams 1:31.840
16 Pierre Gasly Alpine 1:31.992
17 Oliver Bearman Haas 1:32.018
18 Jack Doohan Alpine 1:32.092
19 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber 1:32.141
20 Liam Lawson Red Bull 1:32.174

Lewis Hamilton achieved his first victory for Scuderia Ferrari by taking the chequered flag in P1 at the sprint race at the Chinese Grand Prix.

Oscar Piastri passed Max Verstappen to finish in P2 for mcLaren while the Red Bull driver was already thinking about the championship by not being aggressive in defending and took P3 at the finish.

In a 19-lap race where tyre wear became the main talking point, Hamilton benefitted from driving in clear air to convert sprint pole into a win to add to his six Grand Prix successes in Shanghai.

Championship leader Lando Norris endured a tricky race, having qualified out of position down in sixth and spent almost the entire race trying to get into the points following another mistake on the first lap.

The leading pack all started well and ran in order, other than Norris who ran wide at Turn 6 and lost three positions as a result.

George Russell edged past Charles Leclerc by the end of the first lap to go up to fourth as Norris was unable to make any headway in regaining places, with Lance Stroll able to keep the Australian Grand Prix winner behind him.

Liam Lawson, trying to recover having started last, banged wheels with fellow rookie Jack Doohan to pass the Alpine but was cleared following a stewards’ investigation.

Out front, Hamilton was complaining of graining on the troublesome front-left tyre, with Norris also unhappy.

Tyre management took centre stage as Verstappen had a couple of laps putting pressure on Hamilton before dropping off.

That put him into the clutches of Piastri, who was able to mount a longer offence and eventually got through into second at the end of lap 15.

Hamilton, though, had built up a gap while Verstappen and Piastri fighting and was almost five seconds clear heading into the final two laps.

The seven-time champion took in the adulation from the Chinese fans after taking the chequered flag, while his Ferrari teammate Leclerc was unable to fight back ahead of Russell, who finished fourth for Mercedes.

Yuki Tsunoda put in a strong showing to take sixth for Racing Bulls, fending off Andrea Kimi Antonelli as Norris found a way past Stroll to take eighth place and the final sprint race point.

So not the most thrilling sprint race and yet a feel good story for Formula 1 with the most successful driver in the sport winning in red. Congratulations to Lewis Hamilton in taking victory for Scuderia Ferrari. Okay, this is not the main race but a win is a win. Hopefully the first of many.

Chinese Grand Prix, sprint race results:
1 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 30:39.965
2 Oscar Piastri McLaren +6.889s
3 Max Verstappen Red Bull +9.804s
4 George Russell Mercedes +11.592s
5 Charles Leclerc Ferrari +12.190s
6 Yuki Tsunoda Racing Bulls +22.288s
7 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes +23.038s
8 Lando Norris McLaren +23.471s
9 Lance Stroll Aston Martin +24.916s
10 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin +38.218s
11 Alexander Albon Williams +39.292s
12 Pierre Gasly Alpine +39.649s
13 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls +42.400s
14 Liam Lawson Red Bull +44.904s
15 Oliver Bearman Haas +45.649s
16 Esteban Ocon Haas +46.182s
17 Carlos Sainz Williams +51.376s
18 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber +53.940s
19 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber +56.682s
20 Jack Doohan Alpine +60.212s

Lewis Hamilton achieved his first pole position for Scuderia Ferrari by taking P1 for the sprint race at the Chinese Grand Prix. The seven-time champion will start alongside his old title rival Max Verstappen.

McLaren had looked dominant until the third sprint qualifying segment, with Oscar Piastri only third while Lando Norris was down in sixth after making mistakes on both of his attempts.

Hamilton had been hooked up for the whole day and, having taken six Grand Prix poles and six victories in Shanghai, he will once again start from P1 with a lap-record time of one minute 30.849 seconds.

The seven-time world champion struggled on his Ferrari debut in Australia but looked much more comfortable and will be hoping to convert pole to sprint victory on Saturday.

Verstappen, who finished second in Melbourne, starts on the front row following his own fine lap, while Charles Leclerc is fourth for Ferrari.

The Mercedes pair of George Russell and Andrea Kimi Antonelli will be disappointed to only be fifth and seventh, respectively, while Yuki Tsunoda, Alex Albon and Lance Stroll rounded out the top ten.

It had appeared the McLarens were trying to edge each other to take pole but Piastri’s best effort was ultimately beaten by both Hamilton and Verstappen while two small mistakes cost Norris a shot at being further up the field.

Fernando Alonso will start the sprint race in P11 with Oliver Bearman impressing for Haas by taking P12 ahead of Carlos Sainz, Gabriel Bortoleto and Isack Hadjar.

While Norris ran wide on his first SQ1 run, Piastri took half a second out of the Ferraris who had been sitting at the top of the timesheets.

However, it was another tricky session for Liam Lawson, who was last and over a second and a half off SQ1 pace-setter Hamilton having had a lap time deleted.

Both Alpines were also eliminated in SQ1, Jack Doohan beating Pierre Gasly for P16, while Esteban Ocon and Nico Hulkenberg were slower than their respective rookie teammates down in P18 and P19.

So a surprising and yet welcoming news that Lewis Hamilton achieved his first pole position in red. Yes, this is for the sprint but it is still a fantastic result for Lewis. That gives confidence that the seven-time champion still has the speed.

Chinese Grand Prix, sprint qualifying results:
1 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:30.849
2 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:30.867
3 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:30.929
4 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:31.057
5 George Russell Mercedes 1:31.169
6 Lando Norris McLaren 1:31.393
7 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:31.738
8 Yuki Tsunoda Racing Bulls 1:31.773
9 Alexander Albon Williams 1:31.852
10 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 1:31.982
11 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 1:31.815
12 Oliver Bearman Haas 1:31.978
13 Carlos Sainz Williams 1:32.325
14 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber 1:32.564
15 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls No time
16 Jack Doohan Alpine 1:32.575
17 Pierre Gasly Alpine 1:32.640
18 Esteban Ocon Haas 1:32.651
19 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber 1:32.675
20 Liam Lawson Red Bull 1:32.729

That was Drive to Survive for Lando Norris as the McLaren driver won the opening race of the new 2025 Formula 1 world championship at the Australian Grand Prix.

Starting in the wet and with changeable conditions throughout the afternoon, Norris took the chequered flag and showed its advantage over the rest of the field.

Max Verstappen finished second, pushing Norris to the very end of the 57 laps as last season’s top two show off its class.

The curse of the home drivers hit Oscar Piastri, who finished a lowly P9 after bogging down in the grass, having followed Norris off the track on lap 44.

It was a good day for Mercedes, with George Russell largely keeping himself out of all of the trouble to take the final step of the podium.

Russell’s new teammate Andrea Kimi Antonelli crossed the line fourth but was hit with a five-second penalty for an unsafe release and dropped below Alex Albon, who put in a fine performance for Williams.

Ferrari had underperformed in qualifying and suffered a tough race, Charles Leclerc finishing eighth and Lewis Hamilton in tenth after a gamble with the weather did not pay off.

There were strong performances for Lance Stroll, who was sixth for Aston Martin, and Nico Hulkenberg a place further back for Sauber.

The demanding conditions caught out four of the 2025 rookies, with Isack Hadjar, Jack Doohan, Gabriel Bortoleto and Liam Lawson all crashing out.

Inclement weather throughout the day meant no decision over whether to start the new season behind the safety car was taken until the last moment, with a traditional start in place as the rain held off and all 20 drivers opted for the intermediate tyre.

Hadjar was out before the race even began as he spun his Racing Bulls at turn two, damaging his rear wing against the barrier, leading to an aborted start and leaving visibly upset.

Once the delayed race was under way, Alpine’s Doohan lost it into the wall as his hopes of performing well in his home race were ended, bringing out the safety car as a result.

It was not only the newcomers who were struggling, however, as Carlos Sainz, last year’s race winner at Albert Park, crashed out on the final corner behind the safety car, prematurely ending his Williams debut.

By that point, Verstappen had already passed Piastri in the opening corners to split the McLarens, with Norris having got away with incident to lead the pack as the two accidents were cleared away.

Racing resumed at the end of lap seven with the track continuing to dry out and very quickly the drivers were having to go off-line to seek wet patches and keep the intermediate tyres working.

Piastri battled back up to second as he closed in on Verstappen before the reigning world champion made a rare mistake in the wet, going straight on at turn 11 and just avoiding the gravel.

Verstappen was unhappy with his tyres and dropped off the back of the McLaren duo, while Piastri began to make inroads into Lando’s lead up front.

The removal of Papaya Rules had suggested Norris and Piastri would be free to race one another, but as the latter closed in he was told over team radio to maintain position as both drivers worked through the first clutch of backmarkers.

“Time to go racing,” McLaren CEO Zak Brown told Sky Sports F1 after the Haas pair had been lapped, although Piastri ran wide to give Norris some breathing space as the track entered the window for slick tyres to be considered.

The stops were triggered as Fernando Alonso became the next driver to find himself in the wall; the Aston Martin spun at turn 6 with Antonelli closing in, bringing out the safety car again.

Norris and Piastri both switched to the hard compound while Verstappen, who had been nowhere near the top two before the Alonso crash, switched on a set of mediums ahead of the restart.

As the Alonso wreckage was slowly cleared away, all eyes on the pitwall turned skywards with rain clouds moving over Albert Park, although the 16 remaining runners were all on slicks by the time the safety car peeled off.

Remarkably, those collective decisions were undermined almost immediately as heavy rain started to fall, with both McLarens running off, Norris holding on to pit but Piastri running onto the grass.

With Norris pitting, Verstappen inherited the lead for the first time in the race and Hamilton moving up to second having battled past team-mate Leclerc, the Williams of Albon and Yuki Tsuonda’s Racing Bulls.

With the rain falling ever harder, Ferrari took the gamble to stay out as both Bortoleto and Lawson spun and brought out a third safety car – ruining the chances of Hamilton or Leclerc springing a surprise as they were both forced to pit for intermediates.

Once again, Norris was leading a safety car restart with just five laps remaining and he was able to keep ahead of the pack, while Leclerc edged past Hamilton as the Ferraris fought over the minor points.

Verstappen set about Norris in the closing stages but was unable to find a way past, while Piastri recovered to ninth by passing Hamilton on the final lap.

So a crazy race at Albert Park and yet Lando Norris kept calm to take McLaren first win of the new season. This is an excellent start and hopefully can build up the points to take the championship.

Australian Grand Prix, race results:
1 Lando Norris McLaren 1:42:06.304
2 Max Verstappen Red Bull +0.895s
3 George Russell Mercedes +8.481s
4 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes +10.135s
5 Alexander Albon Williams +12.773s
6 Lance Stroll Aston Martin +17.413s
7 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber +18.423s
8 Charles Leclerc Ferrari +19.826s
9 Oscar Piastri McLaren +20.448s
10 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari +22.473s
11 Pierre Gasly Alpine +26.502s
12 Yuki Tsunoda Racing Bulls +29.884s
13 Esteban Ocon Haas +33.161s
14 Oliver Bearman Haas +40.351s
Liam Lawson Red Bull DNF
Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber DNF
Fernando Alonso Aston Martin DNF
Carlos Sainz Williams DNF
Jack Doohan Alpine DNF
Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls DNF