Second F1 GP of the year, and the McLarens are looking capable of winning at the Chinese GP .
Liam Lawson, due to start at the back of the grid, has taken the opportunity to make changes on the car, and will therefore start from the pitlane.
After winning the Sprint, Hamilton is looking confident going into today’s race. Starting in fifth for the GP, the Ferrari driver has a shot at a maiden race win with the team.
Throughout Practice, Qualifying, and the Sprint, the drivers haven’t had the opportunity to trial the hard compound tyre, drive in dirty air, or experience real graining on the tyres.
It will be interesting to see which of the tyres performs best throughout the race.
The formulation lap is underway, led by Oscar Piastri, followed by George Russell, and then his McLaren teammate, Lando Norris.
The top ten on the starting grid are as follows: Oscar Piastri, George Russell, Lando Norris, Max Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton, Charles Leclerc, Isack Hadjar, Kimi Antonelli, Yuki Tsunoda, and Alex Albon.
The following ten drivers, starting outside of the points, are: Esteban Ocon, Nico Hulkenberg, Fernando Alonso, Lance Stroll, Carlos Sainz, Pierre Gasly, Oli Bearman, Jack Doohan, Gabriel Bortoleto, and Liam Lawson.
Race start and opening laps
And! It’s lights out and away we go at the F1 Chinese GP.
Piastri manages to secure his lead throughout the first lap despite a slow getaway, and pressure from Russell behind him.
There seems to be contact between Hamilton and Charles Leclerc, with Verstappen coming to the radio to report a broken front wing on the Ferrari.
The rear of Hamilton’s car collided with the front of Leclerc’s. Leclerc has damage to his front wing, but nothing major at current.
Verstappen lost two places during the start, uncharacteristic for the world champion, but he has plenty of time to make it up.
Despite this, the first lap finishes with most drivers relatively unscathed.
The first yellow flag of the session is being waved, but it’s short-lived and the track returns to normal.
Alonso reports that he has no brakes on lap 4, and ultimately retires from the race on lap 6.
First of the pit stops at the Chinese GP
Gasly is the first driver to pit, making a stop on lap 11 for the hard compound.
Leclerc’s front wing is seen to be bouncing off the ground as he races, but he’s quick on track, maintaining P5.
Tsunoda, Ocon, Doohan, all come in to pit for hards on lap 12, reacting to Gasly’s initial stop. Antonelli and Hadjar follow suit on lap 13.
Lap 14 and Hamilton and Verstappen come in for a tyre change, reacting to the other team’s earlier stops. This brings them out in P10 and P11 respectively.
Russell and Piastri are next to pit. We now await Norris, currently sitting in P1, to make a tyre change.
Mercedes managed to pull off the undercut, with Russell passing Norris as he comes out of the pits.
Albon, on his birthday, inherited P1 and leads the Chinese GP, before being passed by Piastri.
Leclerc came in to pit and didn’t make a change to his front wing – the stewards must be happy with the state of his car at current.
20 laps in and Ferrari strategy
On lap 20, the top ten is as follows, Piastri, Norris, Albon, Russell, Hamilton, Leclerc, Stroll, Verstappen, Bearman, and Tsunoda.
Albon finally pits and comes out in P14, now on the hard compound.
Ferrari are given team orders to swap, as Leclerc has more pace in the car, despite having a broken front wing. Hamilton eventually makes the swap, moving back to P5, just ahead of Verstappen.
After swapping the cars around, Hamilton asks for more feedback from the pit wall on his radio.
His teammate, Leclerc, is now within a second of Russell and should be able to catch him soon.
McLaren avoiding undercut from Russell
Lap 29 and McLaren need to avoid an undercut from Russell.
Piastri has been asked to aid Norris behind him in gaining speed and avoiding a pass by the Mercedes. Norris is being asked to target a 4-second gap between them.
Next round of pit stops
Lawson gets passed by Bearman on lap 31 and then makes a pitstop for the hard compound tyres, changing from the set of mediums he had on prior.
This drops him back to P19, last in the race due to Alonso’s retirement.
Lap 34 and Hadjar is next to pit, coming out in P16.
Lap 36 and Stroll is yet to pit at all, putting in a respectable shift on a single set of tyres.
Tsunoda is next to go in, coming out in P15 ahead of teammate Hadjar and behind Doohan’s Alpine.
Stroll finally pits and rids himself from the hard compound tyres, returning to the track P14.
Hamilton is next, returning to the track P6, a long way behind Verstappen in P5.
15 laps to go!
Bearman makes it past Gasly and into the top ten, vital points for himself and for Haas. His teammate Ocon, currently sits in P7.
Piastri leads Norris with a 4-second gap, comfortably racing towards the win. A 1-2 for McLaren is an ideal result, and Norris has a safe gap to Russell behind him.
Verstappen is gaining slowly on Leclerc ahead in P4, whilst Hamilton is safely behind him, with a gap of around 16 seconds.
10 laps to go!
Piastri leads Norris over Russell. Hamilton, down in 6th, has fastest lap.
Tsunoda’s front wing snaps down the main straight and he comes to pit for new tyres and a new front wing on lap 48. This brings him out last in P19.
Doohan is under investigation, awaiting a likely penalty, for running Hadjar off the track.
Verstappen is still gaining on Leclerc, the gap now under 2 seconds, but does he have enough time for the overtake?
Doohan is hit with a 10-second time penalty for forcing another driver off the track.
Verstappen is now looming behind Leclerc, less than a second behind the Ferrari. Lap 53 and he makes the pass. Verstappen is up into P4.
Norris is told to watch his braking due to an issue with his brake pedals. He currently sits P2 but is attempting to catch his teammate for P1.
Norris manages his tyres and brake issues for the final laps of the race.
Piastri wins! McLaren finish 1-2 at the F1 Chinese GP
And that wraps up the F1 Chinese GP, with a major win for McLaren, and a third win for Piastri!
The top ten are Piastri, Norris, Russell, Verstappen, Leclerc, Hamilton, Ocon, Antonelli, Albon, and Bearman.
Following them are Gasly, Stroll, Sainz, Doohan, Hadjar, Lawson, Bortoleto, Hulkenberg, Tsunoda, and Alonso (retired).
Following the race, Doohan moves down to P15 due to his penalty.
