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Laurence Edmondson
SHANGHAI — Oscar Piastri beat teammate Lando Norris to victory at the Chinese Grand Prix as McLaren continued to look a cut above the competition at the second round of the new Formula 1 season.
In a grand prix that revolved around tyre management, Piastri held the lead from pole position at the start of the race and then cruised to victory over a one-stop strategy.
The win followed a disappointing season-opener for Piastri after he spun out of second place at his home race in Australia one week ago.
“The car was very lovely and good work on reacting to the [tyre] deg,” Piastri told his team over the radio after the chequered flag. “Good team effort, that is one very satisfying weekend.”
In a post-race interview he said it was a surprise: “It’s been an incredible weekend, the car has been pretty mega. Today was a surprise, how differently the tyres behaved. This feels like what I deserved from last week.”
Norris finished 9.7 seconds behind his McLaren teammate after struggling with a brake pedal issue in the final laps of the race.
The British driver, who still leads the championship by virtue of his race win at the season-opener, never got close to challenging Piastri for victory and instead had to repass George Russell for second place after losing a place to the Mercedes in the pit stops.
Norris said after the race: “A few fun moments. The start I was hoping for, but then George got me in the pit stops. I was a little nervous, but we were better in the second stint.
“Oscar drove well, he deserved the win. I’m happy with second, good points and great points for the team with a one-two. [The brake pedal] was my worst nightmare, I was losing two, three, four seconds the last two laps. It was scary but we made it to the end.”
Russell secured the final place on the podium and with it moved up to second place in the championship, one point ahead of Piastri and nine points behind Norris.
“It’s a great result, finishing P3,” Russell said. “We knew McLaren were a smidge quicker than us, but more crucial points. I felt it from quite early on that a one-stop was possible, and it turned out easier than we thought possible. It turned out as one of my best weekends in F1.”
The Mercedes driver lost second place to Norris at the start, briefly regained the position after the first round of pit stops, but did not have the pace to hold off Norris at Turn 1 on Lap 18.
Max Verstappen secured fourth place for Red Bull after overtaking Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc for the position with three laps remaining. Verstappen started fourth but lost places to both Ferrari drivers on the opening lap before fighting back from sixth.
1:23
Verstappen moves past Leclerc into 4th place
Max Verstappen has moved past Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc to move into 4th place at the Chinese GP.
Leclerc, who finished fifth, lost part of his front wing on the opening lap in a minor collision with teammate Lewis Hamilton. Leclerc and Hamilton passed Verstappen in the first corner of the first lap, but as Leclerc dived to the inside of Turn 3, he clipped the right rear tyre of Hamilton.
Despite the damage, Leclerc looked faster than Hamilton in the opening phase of the race and Ferrari eventually asked their drivers to swap position on Lap 21, despite Hamilton initially asking to delay the team order.
Clearly struggling with tyre management, Hamilton opted for a two-stop strategy while the five cars ahead of him completed the distance with just one tyre change. The alternative approach made little difference at the end, with Hamilton finishing just 2.1 seconds behind Leclerc.
Just one week after Haas looked like the slowest team in the field in Australia, Esteban Ocon secured seventh place in China ahead of the second Mercedes of Andrea Kimi Antonelli in eighth.
Alex Albon secured two points for Williams in ninth ahead of the second Haas of Oliver Bearman, who adopted an alternative strategy and moved through the field in the second half of the race to take tenth place.
Formula 1 paid tribute to Eddie Jordan with a one minute silence on the grid ahead of the race. Former F1 team owner Jordan died aged 76 earlier this week.
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