2025 Chinese Grand Prix

The event took place across the weekend of 21–23 March and was the 18th edition of the Chinese Grand Prix, all of which had been held at the Shanghai International Circuit in Shanghai.^[5] The Grand Prix was the second round of the 2025 Formula One World Championship and the 18th running of the Chinese Grand Prix.^[6] It was also the first of six Grands Prix in the season to utilise the sprint format and the second time overall that the Chinese Grand Prix featured it.^[7]

Prior to the event, teams and tyre supplier Pirelli faced "logistical issues" involving the transportation of equipment from Melbourne, venue of the preceding Grand Prix, to Shanghai. As a result, the FIA gave special dispensation to reduce the night curfew period on Wednesday before the event from eleven and a half to six hours in order to minimise the impact on the event.^[8]

Going into the event, Lando Norris led the Drivers' Championship with 25 points, 7 points ahead of Max Verstappen in second, and 10 ahead of George Russell in third. McLaren entered the round as Constructors' Championship leaders on 27 points, ahead of Mercedes, also on 27 and Red Bull Racing, who were third with 18 points.^[9]

The drivers and teams were the same as published in the season entry list, with no additional stand-in drivers for the race.^[10] The Grand Prix marked the last for Liam Lawson at Red Bull Racing and Yuki Tsunoda for Racing Bulls; from the Japanese Grand Prix onward, the drivers would swap teams.^[11]

Tyre supplier Pirelli brought the C2, C3, and C4 tyre compounds designated hard, medium, and soft, respectively, for teams to use at the event.^[12]

The DRS zone leading in to turn 14 was lengthened by 75 metres (246 ft).^[12]

The sole free practice session was held on 21 March 2025, at 11:30 local time (UTC+8).^[1] Led out by Oliver Bearman, all drivers started the session fitted with the medium-compound tyres. Early in the session, both Liam Lawson and Alexander Albon drove into the gravel. By the mid-way point of practice, George Russell led the timesheets with a time of 1:32.377, half a second clear of Charles Leclerc in second and one second quicker than the previous year's pole time. An issue with Jack Doohan's Alpine forced a red flag, halting the session until there were only 7 minutes remaining. In the end, Lando Norris topped the session, followed by Leclerc, Oscar Piastri, Lewis Hamilton and Russell rounding out the top five. ^[13]

Sprint qualifying was held on 21 March 2025, at 15:30 local time (UTC+8), and determined the starting grid order for the sprint.^[14]

Lasting 12 minutes, the first of three sprint qualifying segments (SQ1) required all drivers to use the medium-compound tyres. Hamilton claimed the fastest time, ahead of Norris and Leclerc. Lawson, Nico Hulkenberg, Esteban Ocon, Pierre Gasly and Doohan where all eliminated in the first segment.^[15]

SQ2 was 10 minutes long session with drivers again mandated to use the medium tyres. After the first sequence of laps, Norris claimed the top time, and held it throughout the session. Fernando Alonso, Bearman, Carlos Sainz, Gabriel Bortoleto and Isak Hadjar where knocked out.^[15]

Pos.	No.	Driver	Constructor	Qualifying times			Sprint grid
				SQ1	SQ2	SQ3
1	44	Lewis Hamilton	Ferrari	1:31.212	1:31.384	1:30.849	1
2	1	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT	1:31.916	1:31.521	1:30.867	2
3	81	Oscar Piastri	McLaren-Mercedes	1:31.723	1:31.362	1:30.929	3
4	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	1:31.518	1:31.561	1:31.057	4
5	63	George Russell	Mercedes	1:31.952	1:31.346	1:31.169	5
6	4	Lando Norris	McLaren-Mercedes	1:31.396	1:31.174	1:31.393	6
7	12	Kimi Antonelli	Mercedes	1:31.999	1:31.475	1:31.738	7
8	22	Yuki Tsunoda	Racing Bulls-Honda RBPT	1:32.316	1:31.794	1:31.773	8
9	23	Alexander Albon	Williams-Mercedes	1:32.462	1:31.539	1:31.852	9
10	18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin Aramco-Mercedes	1:32.327	1:31.742	1:31.982	10
11	14	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin Aramco-Mercedes	1:32.121	1:31.815	N/A	11
12	87	Oliver Bearman	Haas-Ferrari	1:32.269	1:31.978	N/A	12
13	55	Carlos Sainz Jr.	Williams-Mercedes	1:32.457	1:32.325	N/A	13
14	5	Gabriel Bortoleto	Kick Sauber-Ferrari	1:32.539	1:32.564	N/A	14
15	6	Isack Hadjar	Racing Bulls-Honda RBPT	1:32.171	No time	N/A	15
16	7	Jack Doohan	Alpine-Renault	1:32.575	N/A	N/A	16
17	10	Pierre Gasly	Alpine-Renault	1:32.640	N/A	N/A	17
18	31	Esteban Ocon	Haas-Ferrari	1:32.651	N/A	N/A	18
19	27	Nico Hülkenberg	Kick Sauber-Ferrari	1:32.675	N/A	N/A	PL1
20	30	Liam Lawson	Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT	1:32.729	N/A	N/A	19
107% time: 1:37.596
Source:[16][14]

Notes

• ^1 – Nico Hülkenberg qualified 19th, but was required to start the sprint from the pit lane as his car was modified under parc fermé conditions.^[14]

The sprint was held on 22 March 2025, at 11:00 local time (UTC+8), and was run for 19 laps.^[1]

Hamilton held the lead throughout the sprint to take his first and Ferrari's and first sprint victory. The remaining podium positions were secured by Oscar Piastri in the McLaren and Max Verstappen in the Red Bull. Early championship leader Lando Norris in the McLaren finished eighth having lost places at the start of the race.^[17]

Pos.	No.	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	44	Lewis Hamilton	Ferrari	19	30:39.965	1	8
2	81	Oscar Piastri	McLaren-Mercedes	19	+6.889	3	7
3	1	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT	19	+9.804	2	6
4	63	George Russell	Mercedes	19	+11.592	5	5
5	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	19	+12.190	4	4
6	22	Yuki Tsunoda	Racing Bulls-Honda RBPT	19	+22.288	8	3
7	12	Kimi Antonelli	Mercedes	19	+23.038	7	2
8	4	Lando Norris	McLaren-Mercedes	19	+23.471	6	1
9	18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin Aramco-Mercedes	19	+24.916	10
10	14	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin Aramco-Mercedes	19	+38.218	11
11	23	Alexander Albon	Williams-Mercedes	19	+39.292	9
12	10	Pierre Gasly	Alpine-Renault	19	+39.649	17
13	6	Isack Hadjar	Racing Bulls-Honda RBPT	19	+42.400	15
14	30	Liam Lawson	Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT	19	+44.904	19
15	87	Oliver Bearman	Haas-Ferrari	19	+45.649	12
16	31	Esteban Ocon	Haas-Ferrari	19	+46.182	18
17	55	Carlos Sainz Jr.	Williams-Mercedes	19	+51.376	13
18	5	Gabriel Bortoleto	Kick Sauber-Ferrari	19	+53.940	14
19	27	Nico Hülkenberg	Kick Sauber-Ferrari	19	+56.682	PL
20	7	Jack Doohan	Alpine-Renault	19	+1:10.2121	16
Source:[14][18]

Notes

• ^1 – Jack Doohan finished 20th on track, but received a post-sprint ten-second time penalty for causing a collision with Gabriel Bortoleto. The penalty made no difference as he was classified in the last position.^[19]

Qualifying was held on 22 March 2025, at 15:00 local time (UTC+8), and determined the starting grid order for the main race.^[1]

Oscar Piastri in the McLaren took his maiden Grand Prix pole position ahead of George Russell in the Mercedes. Piastri's teammate Lando Norris qualified third having topped the opening two segment of qualifying.^[20]

Pos.	No.	Driver	Constructor	Qualifying times			Final grid
				Q1	Q2	Q3
1	81	Oscar Piastri	McLaren-Mercedes	1:31.591	1:31.200	1:30.641	1
2	63	George Russell	Mercedes	1:31.295	1:31.307	1:30.723	2
3	4	Lando Norris	McLaren-Mercedes	1:30.983	1:30.787	1:30.793	3
4	1	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT	1:31.424	1:31.142	1:30.817	4
5	44	Lewis Hamilton	Ferrari	1:31.690	1:31.501	1:30.927	5
6	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	1:31.579	1:31.450	1:31.021	6
7	6	Isack Hadjar	Racing Bulls-Honda RBPT	1:31.162	1:31.253	1:31.079	7
8	12	Kimi Antonelli	Mercedes	1:31.676	1:31.590	1:31.103	8
9	22	Yuki Tsunoda	Racing Bulls-Honda RBPT	1:31.238	1:31.260	1:31.638	9
10	23	Alexander Albon	Williams-Mercedes	1:31.503	1:31.595	1:31.706	10
11	31	Esteban Ocon	Haas-Ferrari	1:31.876	1:31.625	N/A	11
12	27	Nico Hülkenberg	Kick Sauber-Ferrari	1:31.921	1:31.632	N/A	12
13	14	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin Aramco-Mercedes	1:31.719	1:31.688	N/A	13
14	18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin Aramco-Mercedes	1:31.923	1:31.773	N/A	14
15	55	Carlos Sainz Jr.	Williams-Mercedes	1:31.628	1:31.840	N/A	15
16	10	Pierre Gasly	Alpine-Renault	1:31.992	N/A	N/A	16
17	87	Oliver Bearman	Haas-Ferrari	1:32.018	N/A	N/A	17
18	7	Jack Doohan	Alpine-Renault	1:32.092	N/A	N/A	18
19	5	Gabriel Bortoleto	Kick Sauber-Ferrari	1:32.141	N/A	N/A	19
20	30	Liam Lawson	Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT	1:32.174	N/A	N/A	PL1
107% time: 1:37.351
Source:[21][22]

Notes

• ^1 – Liam Lawson qualified 20th, but was required to start the race from the pit lane as his car was modified under parc fermé conditions.^[22]

The race was held on 23 March 2025, at 15:00 local time (UTC+8), and was run for 56 laps.^[1]

Polesitter Oscar Piastri in the McLaren kept the lead on the first lap, while his teammate Lando Norris moved up to second.^[23] Lewis Hamilton in the Ferrari tagged with teammate Charles Leclerc, causing the left endplate of Leclerc's front wing to come off.^[24] On the fifth lap, Fernando Alonso in the Aston Martin retired from the race due to overheating on his rear brakes caused by his brake duct assembly setup being different to that from his teammate Lance Stroll, while Gabriel Bortoleto of Sauber spun into the gravel on the same lap, though he was able to keep going.^[23][25]

Piastri and Norris, the latter suffering from a worsening brake issue, completed the 50th 1-2 finish for McLaren ahead of George Russell in the Mercedes.^[23]

Following the race, Leclerc of Ferrari and Gasly of Alpine were disqualified due to their cars being underweight,^[26] while sprint winner and Leclerc's teammate Hamilton was disqualified for excessive skid wear.^[3] This marked the first double disqualification for a team since Renault's double disqualification at the 2019 Japanese Grand Prix, the first Grand Prix to see more than two disqualifications since the 2004 Canadian Grand Prix, and the first time in Formula One history that both Ferrari cars had been disqualified from a Grand Prix.^[b][29]

Pos.	No.	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	81	Oscar Piastri	McLaren-Mercedes	56	1:30:55.026	1	25
2	4	Lando Norris	McLaren-Mercedes	56	+9.748	3	18
3	63	George Russell	Mercedes	56	+11.097	2	15
4	1	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT	56	+16.656	4	12
5	31	Esteban Ocon	Haas-Ferrari	56	+49.969	11	10
6	12	Kimi Antonelli	Mercedes	56	+53.748	8	8
7	23	Alexander Albon	Williams-Mercedes	56	+56.321	10	6
8	87	Oliver Bearman	Haas-Ferrari	56	+1:01.303	17	4
9	18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin Aramco-Mercedes	56	+1:10.204	14	2
10	55	Carlos Sainz Jr.	Williams-Mercedes	56	+1:16.387	15	1
11	6	Isack Hadjar	Racing Bulls-Honda RBPT	56	+1:18.875	7
12	30	Liam Lawson	Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT	56	+1:21.147	PL
13	7	Jack Doohan	Alpine-Renault	56	+1:28.4011	18
14	5	Gabriel Bortoleto	Kick Sauber-Ferrari	55	+1 lap	19
15	27	Nico Hülkenberg	Kick Sauber-Ferrari	55	+1 lap	12
16	22	Yuki Tsunoda	Racing Bulls-Honda RBPT	55	+1 lap	9
Ret	14	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin Aramco-Mercedes	4	Brakes	13
DSQ	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	56	Underweight2	6
DSQ	44	Lewis Hamilton	Ferrari	56	Plank wear3	5
DSQ	10	Pierre Gasly	Alpine-Renault	56	Underweight2	16
Source:[22][30][31]

Notes

• ^1 – Jack Doohan finished 14th, but received a ten-second time penalty for forcing Isack Hadjar off-track. This initially dropped him to 16th in the provisional classification, but was promoted three positions following the disqualifications of Charles Leclerc, Lewis Hamilton and Pierre Gasly.^[32]
• ^2 – Charles Leclerc and Pierre Gasly finished fifth and 11th, respectively, but were disqualified as their cars were found underweight.^[33][34]
• ^3 – Lewis Hamilton finished sixth, but was disqualified for excessive plank wear.^[35]

The result meant that Norris extended his lead in the Drivers' Championship to eight points over reigning champion Verstappen, with Russell a further point adrift in third. Following his first win of the season, Piastri moved up to fourth in the standings with 34 points, twelve clear from Antonelli in fifth. McLaren extended their lead in the Constructors' Championship to 21 points over Mercedes, while Red Bull remained in third with 36 points. Despite the double disqualification, Ferrari moved up to fifth in the standings with 17 points, on equal points with Williams in fourth.

Drivers' Championship standings Pos. Driver Points 1 Lando Norris 44 2 Max Verstappen 36 3 George Russell 35 5 4 Oscar Piastri 34 1 5 Kimi Antonelli 22 Source:[36]

Constructors' Championship standings Pos. Constructor Points 1 McLaren-Mercedes 78 2 Mercedes 57 3 Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT 36 4 Williams-Mercedes 17 2 5 Ferrari 17 Source:[36]

• Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.