In Pictures: China 2025
The 18th running of the Chinese Grand Prix, the second round of the season, immediately throws up some special challenges, not just for the teams and drivers, but also for Pirelli, starting with a completely resurfaced track and just one hour of free practice to see how much it has changed compared to past years. Last summer, a new surface was laid down on the track and the pit lane at the Shanghai International Circuit. It has only been used a few times towards the end of 2024 and should be smoother than before and, as this is the first event of the year to be held at SIC, it’s logical to expect the track to evolve very quickly.
Furthermore, as was the case in 2024, this will also be the first Sprint format event of the year, with just one free practice session on Friday. That means only 60 minutes to find the right car set-up and evaluate the performance of the various compounds over a long run, even if Saturday’s short race is a great test bed to fully assess at least one of them.
SPRINT WEEKEND: A Different Challenge in China
Unlike a standard race weekend with three practice sessions, Sprint weekends feature just one on Friday before a qualifying session sets the grid for Saturday’s 100 km Sprint race—about one-third the length of a Grand Prix. Later that day, a second qualifying session determines the lineup for Sunday’s main event.
Sprint qualifying follows a three-part format but with shorter sessions: SQ1 (12 minutes), SQ2 (10 minutes), and SQ3 (8 minutes). The first two rounds require Medium tires, while the final session mandates Softs. For the Sprint itself, drivers have free tire choice and no mandatory pit stops.
Tire allocations also differ. Each driver gets an extra set of Mediums (four instead of three) but two fewer Softs (six instead of eight), reducing the total from 13 sets to 12.
FRIDAY
In the only free practice session, all teams ran one set each of Medium and Soft tires per driver, except Jack Doohan, who used only Mediums. A new track surface led to significantly faster lap times than last year—the only previous Chinese Grand Prix with this generation of cars. Hamilton’s time was even quicker than Sebastian Vettel’s 1:31.095 pole lap in 2018.
Lewis Hamilton is the first pole-sitter of the Shanghai weekend, securing Sprint pole with a 1:30.849 in Q3, the only session run exclusively on Softs. He edged out Red Bull’s Max Verstappen by just 0.018 seconds, while McLaren’s Oscar Piastri took third, 0.080 seconds back after leading early. Lando Norris topped Q2 with a 1:31.174 on Mediums, which are mandatory for the first two sessions.
As in Melbourne, seven teams made the top ten, highlighting how competitive the field is early in the season.
SATURDAY
All drivers started the Sprint on used Mediums, with tire graining being the dominant factor over the 19 laps—the only real chance to assess long-run performance. Graining varied not just between teams but also between teammates. It was slightly worse than on Friday, accelerating wear, but the data gathered allowed teams to adjust their setups accordingly.
Shanghai saw a Saturday of firsts. In the morning, Lewis Hamilton secured his first Sprint race victory at his 19th attempt, also marking Ferrari’s first in the format. In the afternoon, Oscar Piastri claimed his maiden pole position on his 48th attempt.
It was McLaren’s 166th pole and their third in a row, following Abu Dhabi 2024 and Melbourne last Saturday. The team’s last Shanghai pole came in 2008, courtesy of Hamilton. Piastri also became the fifth Australian to take an F1 pole, joining Jack Brabham, Alan Jones, Mark Webber, and Daniel Ricciardo.
SUNDAY
On the grid, 17 drivers started on Mediums, while Lance Stroll, Oliver Bearman, and Liam Lawson chose Hards—though Lawson, serving a penalty, started from the pit lane. A two-stop strategy seemed likely, but as the race unfolded, the Hard tire’s performance—previously untested all weekend—pushed most teams toward a one-stop approach.
Medium starters pitted for Hards between laps 10 and 20, with Pierre Gasly stopping first and Alex Albon and Nico Hülkenberg last. Among the Hard starters, Lawson pitted on lap 18, Bearman on 26, and Stroll on 36. Gabriel Bortoleto had to pit on lap one for Hards and switched again after 25 laps.
In the second half of the race, the Hard tire proved effective with minimal degradation. Only three drivers—Hamilton and the two Racing Bulls—opted for a second stop, while the rest went to the finish. Stroll and Bearman switched to Mediums for their final stint.
McLaren secured a one-two finish, with Oscar Piastri taking his third career win ahead of Lando Norris. It was McLaren’s 191st victory, third straight win, and fourth in China—the first since Hamilton in 2011. Piastri and Norris also secured McLaren’s 50th one-two, their second after Budapest last year.
For the second race in a row, George Russell finished third, earning Mercedes its 300th podium (129 wins, 98 second places, and 73 thirds). Ferrari leads this tally with 829, followed by McLaren (527) and Williams (313).
A few hours after the race, the stewards disqualified Pierre Gasly and Charles Leclerc for their cars being under the minimum weight. Lewis Hamilton was also disqualified after his car’s skid block was found to be below the required thickness. Bittersweet weekend for Ferrari.
NEXT STOP: The Land Of The Rising Sun, JAPAN 🇯🇵
Excerpts from this article provided by Pirelli S.p.A. Photographs courtesy of Formula 1 teams and partners.
