Image: Liauzh
Chinese Grand Prix crowns Piastri winner and kicks off the 2025 F1 Academy season.
SHANGHAI, CHINA – The Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix 2025 continued the positive trajectory for the McLaren team resulting in a 1-2 for Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris, while Lewis Hamilton showed took home a maiden victory in the Ferrari during the sprint race. Shanghai also marked the kick off of the 2025 racing season.
F1 Academy season
F1 Academy Eighteen women lined up at the beginning of the weekend to launch the 2025 F1 Academy season. Last years second placed driver, Doriane Pin, was dominant across Free Practice and Qualifying and secured herself P4 in the reverse grid Race 1 ahead of winning Race 2 placing her at the top of the driver standings.
Race 1 was won by Alisha Palmowski for Red Bull Racing, a first F1 Academy race win for the British driver.
After the first round, Pin dominates the Driver’s Standings with 31 points, closely followed by Maya Weug and Chloe Chambers at 26 and 24 points respectively. The next F1 Academy round takes place in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on April 18th-20th.
Formula 1
The weekend commenced with the first F1 Sprint Race of the season in which Lewis Hamilton claimed his first victory win for Ferrari ahead of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen. Hamilton built out a comfortable lead in the race, while Piastri and Verstappen battled it out behind, followed by a similar battle for P4 and P5 between George Russell and Charles Leclerc.
When it came to the main race, McLaren’s Oscar Piastri was in control throughout all 56 laps, with him and the rest of the top five finishers only visiting the pits once. The McLarens formed a 1-2 front keeping Mercedes’ George Russell firmly at bay until the chequered flag despite Norris reporting late braking issues.
Defending champion Max Verstappen came in P4 after predicting a difficult race, in front of Haas driver Esteban Ocon and Mercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli, who again finished well in the points.
Overall, Lando Norris leads the driver standing, followed by Verstappen and Russell whose more consistent performance gave them a points advantage to McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri. Drivers now have one week off ahead of the Formula 1 triple header beginning in Japan on April 4th.
