Two different Formula 1 teams and drivers won at Shanghai on a Chinese Grand Prix weekend that proved surprisingly storied.
While Sunday’s race itself was not a classic, it still threw up some in-race drama and plenty after it, giving us lots to learn from the event as a whole.
Verstappen doesn't think much of this Red Bull
Max Verstappen is hanging onto the early pace in the championship despite clearly being unimpressed with his Red Bull.
Verstappen will need to fight for the title with what might be only F1’s fourth-best car. It might even be worse than that over one lap at times - hence his allusion to the Racing Bulls car being quicker.
That may seem absurd given Verstappen has been on the first two rows and outqualified both Ferraris at the first two events, but the margins are so tight between the top teams that a driver excelling (as Verstappen has) while others underachieve (as rivals have) can swing things in his favour.
The Red Bull’s not a bad car. It’s a quick one in the right conditions. But it doesn’t seem to have a broader working range than its predecessor after all, and with a lack of grip when Verstappen needs it in the corners, hence how restrained he had to be in the opening stint, biding his time with a full tank of fuel.
He implied the balance was the same late on in the race, when he was more competitive, as the difficult first stint - just with more grip. Maybe there's a lesson in there for Red Bull, or maybe it was just helped by the track conditions changing.
But between the comment about his struggling team-mate Liam Lawson being quicker if he had a Racing Bull, and not expecting to have “any kind of battle” in the race, Verstappen couldn’t have made his feelings about the RB21 much clearer this weekend.
Norris more vulnerable than Piastri to McLaren issue
Shanghai was a track that proved tricky for McLaren. According to team principal Andrea Stella, this was for two reasons, “one mainly related to the behaviour of the tyres on this surface, and the other more related to the behaviour of the car that makes exploiting the car at the limit a bit difficult”.
This made life difficult for both drivers but “it’s more a penalty for Lando given his driving style and the way he wants to generate laptime”.
To break that down, this is about Norris’s preferred style in corners with combined braking and turn-in. He struggled at the hairpin in particular, making an error there in sprint qualifying as he tried to force the issue, putting more stress on the front tyres.
On a weekend where front graining is a limitation, that’s a problem for him. But as the track improved and this became less of a problem, so his performance level improved.
Norris’s default style is more to ‘U’ the corner, so keeping up the minimum speed but asking more of the car on turn-in, while Oscar Piastri is more a classic ‘V’ driver. Of course, both adapt and modify but this is a fascinating difference between the two that will have a role in the ebb and flow as they battle over the course of the year.
Mercedes' boring car is a useful weapon
On Thursday in China, George Russell described the car as a bit easier to drive but without the step the team had hoped for. Then on Sunday he scored a second podium in two races to start the season - having qualified on the front row.
It’s all relative, and every team is dismayed by the perceived gap to McLaren at the front. Russell has been particularly Doomsday in his appraisal of the McLaren advantage. Clearly, Mercedes hoped to be fighting for wins, not just competing strongly for podiums. But it has been a decent start to the year and at the moment Russell has a useful weapon: a fairly boring car.
Compared to the McLaren and the Ferrari, the Mercedes seems a lot more consistent. Compared to the Red Bull, it seems a lot more user-friendly. It just seems less dramatic and less fussy than its predecessors and its opposition and, at least for now, that’s a good thing.
It’s letting Russell crack on with banking good results, giving Kimi Antonelli a pretty gentle introduction to life in F1, and has Mercedes off to its best start in this rules era: even subtracting the points from the China sprint it is 12 points better off than in 2022 and 2023 after two races, and 24 points ahead of last year.
The question is whether the more benign nature of the 2025 Mercedes has come at the cost of overall performance, or if Mercedes can nudge the peak up without bringing in some nastier traits - and if that’s even enough to overhaul McLaren.
“Yes, the platform is stabler,” said team boss Toto Wolff.
“When we turn the screw on some kind of mechanical device, wing or surface, it does what we expected.
“But we have to also be realistic that it’s not where we want to be.”
Ferrari needs a rapid reset
An embarrassing double disqualification from Sunday’s race was a big blow for Ferrari, which needs a rapid reset to avoid spiralling at the start of 2025.
Two different technical infringements completely eliminated Ferrari’s attempt at seeing the silver lining from a tough race, as the team initially emphasised how it was leaving China with the weekend’s second-high points total, and scoring well on tough weekends was important for a title bid.
Now that it’s level with Williams in the constructors’ championship, the silver linings aren’t so easy to make out. And it has transformed the narrative from a weekend that started with Lewis Hamilton's first pole and win for the team, even if they did come in sprint form.
Beyond the obvious need to not get disqualified, Ferrari has some homework to do after this double-header. Its car looks great at its best - Hamilton did overachieve with pole for the sprint but the win, and Charles Leclerc’s late pace, indicated Ferrari might genuinely have had the quickest car in that stint.
But then came a baffling race as Hamilton toiled and Leclerc, even with a damaged front wing, was flying. Working out why is tricky.
Were there set-up changes that compromised Hamilton but Leclerc loved? Both drivers seemed to think s0. Did the front wing damage somehow rebalance the Ferrari perfectly? Leclerc felt his wounded Ferrari was much slower than in optimum condition - but he was still quicker than Hamilton.
And above all of that, was Ferrari simply enjoying a higher peak at Shanghai because a smoother resurfaced circuit let it run the car in its optimal window - the one many felt, and Leclerc hinted, it had to raise the car out of in Melbourne?
This is a long season and Fred Vasseur’s Ferrari has been effective at not falling into the same traps as past eras. But the swings in performance, little communication gripes, and of course the big technical compliance oversights are early alarm bells that need heeding.
Racing Bulls is wasting a very good car
In qualifying, a Racing Bulls driver has been the best of the midfield in all three sessions so far this year. With the exception of Yuki Tsunoda’s sixth place in the China sprint, that’s turned to dust in the races.
In Australia, Tsunoda ran in the top six for much of the race but finished 12th. In China, Tsunoda and Isack Hadjar ran eighth and ninth in the first stint but converted that to 16th and 11th in the final results despite three cars being excluded.
That’s not down to any lack of race pace. Granted, Tsunoda’s front-wing failure (so far there’s no cause identified, and no evidence it was caused by any driver error) also played its part, but the problem so far is obvious. As Tsunoda put it after the race, “strategy-wise, I couldn’t understand”.
The blunder in Australia was easier to comprehend. When the rain came with 13 laps to go, Tsunoda initially stayed out on slicks and after some flip-flopping by the pitwall he eventually came in three laps later. Sometimes, such calls are a coin toss, although it’s fair to say this team tends to do far worse than 50/50 when such decisions are made.
In China, the error was different. Most expected the race to be a two-stopper, and once locked in after stopping relatively early Racing Bulls simply did not deviate from the plan. That’s indicative of a certain strategic flat-footedness that has contributed to this team too often not delivering the results it should over the years.
Haas haul after crisis isn't the true picture
The contrasts could not be greater for Haas. From one of its worst F1 weekends in Australia, Haas enjoyed one of its best in China as a double points finish (even before the Ferrari exclusions) was a mighty impressive effort.
With pretty much the same car that had been so horrendous in Australia, Esteban Ocon (fifth) and Ollie Bearman (eighth) were in a much happier place as they could finally attack high-speed corners without the aerodynamic oscillations that were so troublesome in Melbourne.
However, it would be wrong to suggest that Haas has dug itself out of its hole just yet.
While the team had pulled together a better platform for its car, the progress in China owed an awful lot to the silky smooth new resurfaced track – which allowed the VF-25 to run much closer to the ground without fear of bouncing.
This perhaps flattered its progress, but the team will take what it can – as it crosses its fingers that the new asphalt in Suzuka next time out is just as flat.
Lawson's start tests Red Bull already
This seemed to be the weekend that reality dawned on both Red Bull and its new driver Lawson.
For Lawson, the disappointment he brushed aside fairly easily in Australia came back with a vengeance in China, and he seemed a lot more aware of the fact the car really is difficult to drive.
This felt much more like Lawson’s eyes being opened to the job Verstappen’s doing and how hard it is to replicate that - whether that’s driving style, hanging onto the car, or whatever the nuances actually are of Lawson’s struggles.
And for Red Bull, it suddenly seemed to realise it had signed a driver of only 11 races (of mixed quality) to partner Verstappen in a car that it maybe hasn’t improved as much as it expected.
Obviously this is a far worse start than anyone could have expected (it is the weakest for any Red Bull driver ever in terms of results). But the sudden nature of Red Bull’s doubt over Lawson’s capability to progress is alarming.
This is a big test of the team. It has a duty to stand by the driver it gambled on but seems to be wobbling already.
Albon has the upper hand on Sainz
Alex Albon has been one of the standout drivers of the first two events of the season, combining pace with excellent race execution to bag 16 points so far. New Williams team-mate Carlos Sainz, on the other hand, has struggled.
Partly, that’s to be expected as he adapted to his new team. At the end of testing, he lamented the lack of preparation and that deficit is hurting him. The trouble is, he’s not yet fully understood the problem, saying in China it’s a case of “theories rather than confirmations”.
The trickiness of the Williams, which appears a little more wind sensitive and yaw-sensitive than some, is likely part of that. But Sainz is a methodical character and will put the gap between now and the Japanese Grand Prix to good use.
“It’s not an easy car to understand especially on a track like this that is so front limited and sensitive with the tyres,” said Sainz when asked by The Race if the inconsistencies of the car are making life difficult. “At the same time, I know we need to still go through a lot of analysis this week, make a few changes and see where the pace is in Japan.”
Sainz will get there, no question, and the inherited point for 10th is at least some reward for his efforts. But amid the justified excitement of the ex-Ferrari driver being lured to Williams, Albon’s outstanding performances are a reminder of how high a level he is operating at – and will continue to even once Sainz has his feet under the table.
Alpine loses from F1's mini-DRS clampdown
Mini-DRS concerns had triggered a flexi wing clampdown for China, with the FIA saying that four or five teams had had to make changes to their cars for the Shanghai race.
While some outfits were being coy about what they had done, Alpine was the only one that put its hand up and admitted that the tougher rear wing flexibility tests were something that had forced it to work on modifications.
That knowledge, off the back of a challenging weekend where neither Pierre Gasly nor Jack Doohan made it out of a Q1 session, certainly pointed to there being a link between things.
Gasly suggested that the team would need to dig into the data to fully understand just how much the wing changes had hurt its form.
But considering Alpine was understood to be at the more extreme end of those messing around with mini-DRS, its conclusion almost certainly will be that a small top speed edge it may have enjoyed before has evaporated and proved quite costly.
Stroll's started 2025 the better Aston Martin driver
There are hints that Lance Stroll is more engaged this year, which combined with a more stable car has allowed him to start the season well.
While his pace wasn’t as strong as Fernando Alonso’s in Australia, he kept it clean while his Aston Martin team-mate made errors in both qualifying and the race to bag sixth after being called in to switch to inters on the right lap.
In China, his pace was right there with Alonso and from trackside he looked more on top of the car than his team-mate on Friday in particular. While Alonso outqualified him, it could have gone either way between the two and Stroll produced a decent race drive to take 12th on the road, which became ninth after the exclusions. Given the Aston Martin was probably the eighth-best car in China, that’s a good result.
“A solid drive without mistakes in every session, in every race, so far,” was Aston Martin chief trackside officer Mike Krack’s summary. “In Melbourne it was really tricky and there weren’t many who went through without errors. He kept it clean all the time and you build on this.
“There is a dynamic developing, you are feeling confident, you accept what the limitations are and I think when you get that acceptance you move on.
“He’s matured quite a lot over the years, learning from Fernando, and it’s impressive how he’s handling things at the moment.”
If Stroll can sustain this, a big question given he’s rarely strung such performances together, it will mark a genuine step forward after a dismal 2024.
Zhou's absence didn't kill the event
It is very easy for races to enjoy packed grandstands when there is a home hero racing – and Zhou Guanyu's presence on China’s F1 return last year was viewed as a key factor in making the event such a success.
But any fears that his absence from the grid this year would trigger a more low-key event were wiped away last weekend – as the local fans seemed even more enthusiastic about things than ever.
Even as a Ferrari reserve, Zhou was still a star attraction, and the busy fan zones, cheers from the crowds whenever there was any incident on track, and buzz around Shanghai showed that a new generation of F1 supporters were still in love with grand prix racing.
As Zhou said about how different things were this year without him racing: “Honestly, if anything, it is actually even bigger than last year!”
