China - Race

After the excitement of Hamilton's first win with Ferrari and Piastri's first-ever Grand Prix pole, emotions were high coming into the second race Sunday of the year. Most drivers lined up on the grid on medium tires, with the only exceptions being Stroll, Bearman, and Ocon, all of whom decided to begin on the hardest available compound. 

As soon as the engines fired up, Russell began attacking Piastri. The strategy left him vulnerable to Norris' actions. The McLaren driver managed to find a way past his fellow Brit so, in the end, Russell not only didn't improve his position but fell to third before the first lap ended. Behind the top three, both Ferraris overtook Verstappen, improving to 4th and 5th. 

Leclerc's moves in the first corners led to him making contact with the back of his teammate's car. The incident resulted in damage to his front wing, as he lost one of his endplates. For a while, it looked like he would have no choice but to pit early. His engineer told him that while he was losing a bit of pace, he should be able to still do well enough to wait with the change of the front until his first scheduled stop. To the surprise of everyone, the Monegasque was able to drive so well that the wing was never changed at all.

But the beginning of the race wasn't as lucky for everyone. Bortoleto spun on the very first lap and drove to the pits immediately after, falling to P20 in the process. Only a few laps later, Alonso's Aston Martin began slowing down due to rapidly overheating breaks. He had no choice but to retire the car, marking his second consecutive DNF. 

Gasly was the first driver to drive in for his scheduled pit, opening the window for all others. Hamilton and Verstappen both pitted on lap 14, with Piastri waiting a lap longer for his change of tires. This made Norris the temporary leader, although only for one lap. He dove into the pit lane on lap 16, alongside Leclerc. The lead went to Albon, who kept it until Piastri, on his fresh hard tires, managed to catch up with him. He stayed within the top 5 until lap 21 when he was called in for a stop of his own.

The two Ferraris spent most of the race close together, with Hamilton staying in front of his teammate. Despite his lack of endplate, Leclerc kept within less than a second of the Brit, and seemed to be the quicker out of the two. On lap 19, they were told to swap positions, to give Leclerc a chance to catch up to Russell and secure a spot on the podium. 

Without a car in front of him, he quickly began closing the gap to the Mercedes. After a few laps of building speed, he was within Russell's DRS and preparing for attack. Although for a while it looked like an overtake was imminent, the Ferrari was never close enough and soon enough began falling away from the Brit. 

As the laps ticked down, it seemed more and more likely that many of the top teams would opt for one stop, instead of the predicted two. For the McLarens, the decision was made once Russell confirmed that it was the strategy he was going to go for. Piastri looked calm and steady in the front, while Norris was told to pick up the pace enough to build more of a gap to the Mercedes behind him. 

Ferrari decided to keep one of their drivers on the predicted strategy. Hamilton pitted for the second time on lap 38 and ended up 6th, between the Red Bull of Verstappen and the Haas of Ocon. None of his immediate opponents changed their strategy on his account. 

While Hamilton focused on bridging the gap between himself and Verstappen, Max set his sights on Leclerc in front of him. He was quicker than the Ferrari and was able to quickly make up the few seconds separating them. On lap 53, he performed a brilliant overtake, and although Leclerc tried to push back and regain the lost position, he couldn't find a way past the Red Bull.

The last laps were filled with chaos and issues both in the front and back of the grid. Tsunoda saw his race unraveling completely as his front wing broke for seemingly no reason, forcing him to drive in for a late stop. The issue cost him quite a few places and he ended the race as the last classified finisher. At the same time, Norris was fighting a battle against his brake pedal. The seconds separating him from Russell melted with a surprising pace and had the race gone on for a lap longer, he would have lost his second position to the charging Mercedes. 

The Grand Prix saw a second McLaren victory in a row, although this time it was Piastri who crossed the checkered line first, with his teammate behind and Russell in third. This marked the Australian's 3rd career win. After the race had finished, both Ferraris and one Alpine were disqualified. For Leclerc and Gasly the issue were weight breaches, while Hamilton lost his points due to a skid block breach. 

 

Order of the grid:

1. Oscar Piastri

2. Lando Norris

3. George Russell

4. Max Verstappen

5. Esteban Ocon

6. Kimi Antonelli

7. Alex Albon

8. Oliver Bearman

9. Lance Stroll

10. Carlos Sainz

11. Jack Doohan

12. Isac Hadjar

13. Liam Lawson

14. Gabriel Bortoleto

15. Nico Hulkenberg

16. Yuki Tsunoda

DNF: Fernando Alonso

DSQ: Charles Leclerc, Lewis Hamilton, Pierre Gasly