2025 F1 Chinese GP: Top 10 Conclusions

The 2025 F1 Chinese GP is now done and dusted, and it was Oscar Piastri who won the race ahead of Lando Norris, with the duo being followed by George Russell. McLaren has a pace advantage over the rest of the field, and the duo exploited it to great effect.

George Russell was brilliant in his race execution and made it two P3 finishes in two races. At the same time, however, there was drama after the race as both Ferrari drivers, Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc, were disqualified from Chinese GP for technical infringements.

As the 2025 F1 Chinese GP race weekend comes to an end, what did we learn? Let's take a look.

2025 F1 Chinese GP: What did we learn?

#1 Oscar Piastri is a title contender after Chinese GP

Oscar Piastri had a question mark over him going into the season because Lando Norris has more or less had the edge over him. Hence, when it became clear that McLaren would have the fastest car on the grid, there was a fear that Norris might just run away with it.

The first race in Australia ended up proving that correct as Lando won the race while Oscar's singular mistake cost him massively. Well, the Australian has turned it around in the F1 Chinese GP. Closing the gap massively on his teammate and beating him in a head-to-head battle, Piastri has established himself as a title contender.

#2 McLaren cannot continue to stage-manage races the way they did in Chinese GP

It did appear that both drivers were told to drive at a delta throughout the race, and hence there was a lap time that both of them were following. It's okay for now because it is the second race of the season, but slowly and steadily things will have to change.

McLaren cannot continue to stage-manage these races because a title is on the line, and after a point, the drivers are not going to comply with it. "Let them race" sounds great, but we're getting very close to a point where it is a reality. Either Lando Norris or Oscar Piastri is going to break the "drive at a delta" pact very soon, and the team is naive to think that this arrangement will last.

#3 After Chinese GP, How long until Charles Leclerc loses patience with Ferrari?

For Lewis Hamilton, all of this is still new. He's not used to Ferrari having strange ups and downs in form and suffering from freak issues. He's seen it from the outside and many a time benefited from it. The 7x champion would think that he can probably be the change that helps the team overcome these shortcomings.

Charles Leclerc, on the other hand, is in his 7th year now. His latest commitment to Ferrari was made in 2024 when he signed a long-term contract. Getting DSQ'd from a race and falling back in the performance pecking order after a strong end to 2024 is a hard pill to swallow. You have to wonder if the Monagasque driver might be having a chat or two with Lawrence Stroll at Aston Martin, especially since the project needs a leader and Max Verstappen is off the market.

#4 Max Verstappen is doing best to keep himself in contention

The P4 was the best that the Red Bull was capable of. Max Verstappen, on his part, knows that the car is not in contention for wins at this stage, but he also knows one more thing. The 2-3 tenths of a second per lap deficit can be overcome in a season.

What the Dutch driver needs to do right now is continue to chip away, score the most points possible from every race, and then hope Red Bull makes improvements with the car. Unless Max Verstappen loses his head and gets frustrated, the driver will continue to be an outside contender in the championship.

#5 George Russell has made some serious steps over the winter.

There's a step that George Russell has made over the winter where he's obviously a step better than how he was last season. The driver commands respect at Mercedes with the manner in which he conducts himself. At the same time, he is also extracting the best from the car wherever he can.

The F1 Chinese GP was the second race weekend where Russell nailed everything. He surely has to keep this up, but the start of the year has been very impressive.

#6 Haas scripts a stunning comeback at the Chinese GP

You have to tip your hat to Ayao Komatsu and team for turning things around remarkably in the F1 Chinese GP. Just 7 days back this team was languishing at the bottom of the sheets. We still don't exactly know what went wrong, but whatever it was, it is either fixed or was not a problem in Shanghai.

With that being said, Esteban Ocon and Ollie Bearman also deserve credit for keeping things steady and bringing home the points. The French driver in particular would have been in a dark place after what happened in Australia. To come to the F1 Chinese GP, overtake his former teammate from Alpine on the track, and then pick up a P5 result, that's impressive and very satisfying for sure.

While Ocon might not admit it, looking at where Haas is in the championship and where Alpine languishes is certainly going to bring a smile to his face. Especially with how the partnership ended.

#7 Racing Bulls has significantly thwarted Yuki Tsunoda

Yuki Tsunoda should have scored points in both Australia and China but was horribly thwarted by the team's strategy. In both races, it was the team making some horrible calls that left the driver in a position where the points were just out of range.

While it's safe to say that Yuki Tsunoda has made an impression on Red Bull already with his early season form, Racing Bulls has to get its act together if it wants to build some momentum in the championship.

#8 Liam Lawson is not the problem, Red Bull is

There are reports making rounds that Red Bull is considering replacing Liam Lawson with Yuki Tsunoda at the senior team. The fact that this call is being made two races into the season shows the gravity of the situation. At the same time, the fact that Lawson is the 4th Max Verstappen teammate who is nowhere close to him in terms of performance is also an indicator of something.

The RB21, just like many of its predecessors, is a tough nut to crack. It is a car that has made proven race winners like Sergio Perez and Pierre Gasly look mediocre in front of Max Verstappen. If brilliant drivers look bad driving a particular car, then are the drivers the problem or the car? The answer to that is one that the onlookers have already realized, but Red Bull is unwilling to. The team needs a different design philosophy because only Max Verstappen can get on top of this one.

#9 Midfield battle would be decided by operational excellence

It does appear that although there appears to be a pattern in place when it comes to the midfield pecking order, the gap between teams is very, very small. As a result, the drivers would mix things up amongst themselves, and at the same time, the operational unit managing the pitstops and the race strategies becomes even more important.

The F1 Chinese GP saw a blunder from midfield leaders Racing Bulls, and hence the team goes home with zero points. That's the margin of error we're talking about here.

#10 We can't "race" with these cars anymore

The current regulations set was introduced with a primary motive of making it easier to race. The turbulent air was expected to drop significantly as well as a result. The 2022 season showed how F1 could be if turbulent air is not an issue. Unfortunately, the aerodynamic development in the next few years has reintroduced the turbulent air.

The F1 Chinese GP was just a reminder that overtaking is going to be a tough task this season, and we're probably going to have a few slow burners because you just can't follow other cars.