Chinese GP

 Oscar Piastri won the Chinese Grand Prix ahead of Norris, Russell finished third.

Photo: Steven Tee

McLaren took a double in China after Piastri won and his teammate finished in second place. After the sprint, things didn't look as good for McLaren as they did in Australia, with the team finishing in second and ninth place. However, in the qualifying for the race, they looked stronger, with Piastri securing pole position and Norris in third. In the race, Piastri pretty much dominated, securing his third career victory. Lando had a slightly tougher time, and for a moment, it seemed like he might not even finish the race due to increasing brake issues, but he ultimately joined Oscar on the podium, and McLaren took home a full set of points from the race.

Thanks to Russell, Mercedes secured its second consecutive podium finish. Rookie Antonelli finished in sixth place, unable to match his teammate’s performance. Mercedes is currently in second place in the Constructors' Championship, 21 points behind the leading McLaren. So far, it looks like Russell has very effectively replaced Lewis Hamilton as the team's leader.

Photo: Clive Rose

Red Bull is struggling significantly with their car this season, with even Max Verstappen unable to extract more performance from his car, finishing in fourth place. As for his teammate, he secured the last spot in qualifying and finished 15th in the race. However, due to disqualifications of other drivers, he ended up in 12th place. Lawson is struggling greatly, and rumors from the paddock suggest that he could be replaced starting from the Japanese Grand Prix, with Yuki expected to take his place. Red Bull, as confirmed by Helmut Marko, will have a meeting this week to discuss their very poor start to the season.

The question before the weekend was whether Williams could maintain their speed and score points again, and the answer is yes. Alex Albon finished in 7th place, while his teammate took 10th and earned his first points with the new team. However, a pleasant surprise came from Haas, who had no speed at all in Melbourne, and even Ollie Bearman couldn’t help, as he crashed his car in the first practice. In China, however, it was the complete opposite, with Haas leaving with 14 points.

Photo: Meg Oliphant

Ferrari experienced a rollercoaster of a weekend, starting with POLE in the SQ for Hamilton and a sprint race victory, followed by a mini collision between the drivers in the first corner. In the end, they could only manage fifth and sixth places, and this disappointing result was further emphasized by the disqualification of both drivers—Leclerc for being below the minimum weight and Lewis for excessive floor wear.

Photo: Clive Mason

1	Oscar Piastri	McLaren
2	Lando Norris	McLaren
3	George Russell	Mercedes
4	Max Verstappen	Red Bull
5	Esteban Ocon	Haas
6	Andrea K. Antonelli	Mercedes
7	Alexander Albon	Williams
8	Oliver Bearman	Haas
9	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin
10	Carlos Sainz	Williams
11	Isack Hadjar	Racing Bulls
12	Liam Lawson	Red Bull
13	Jack Doohan	Alpine
14	Gabriel Bortoleto	Kick Sauber
15	Nico Hülkenberg	Kick Sauber
16	Júki Cunoda	Racing Bulls
DSQ	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari
DSQ	Lewis Hamilton	Ferrari
DSQ	Pierre Gasly	Alpine
-	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin