<p>The second race of the Formula 1 season is in the books, and it looks like McLaren are going to be hard to stop.</p> <p>Oscar Piastri won the Chinese Grand Prix – his third F1 victory – and made amends for his mistake in Melbourne that probably cost him a podium. His teammate in papaya Lando Norris was second and George Russell finished third for the second consecutive race.</p> <p>McLaren already have a 21-point lead in the Constructors race over Mercedes, with Ferrari – who many thought would challenge McLaren – a remarkable 61 points behind.</p> <p>The post-race proved just as dramatic as the on-track action, with both Ferraris and Pierre Gasly’s Alpine disqualified for technical breaches.</p> <p>Here’s this week’s rundown:</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h2>Chinese Grand Prix 2025 Recap - The Good</h2> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Oscar Piastri </strong>drove flawlessly from his first ever F1 pole position to win his third Formula 1 race and establish himself as a real chance to win the Drivers world championship. The young Aussie was quicker than McLaren teammate Lando Norris all weekend.</p> <p>It was another great race for <strong>Mercedes,</strong> with George Russell finishing third for the second straight race and Kimi Antonelli grabbing sixth place. Toto Wolff’s team are a solid second place in the Constructors’ standings behind McLaren.</p> <p><strong>Haas</strong> must have put in some serious work following the Australian Grand Prix because they looked like a different team in Shanghai. Esteban Ocon and Ollie Bearman both finished in the points (elevated to 5th and 8th after the Ferrari DQ’s) which is a great result considering how bad they were in Melbourne (last and next to last).</p> <p><strong>Ferrari’s Sprint Race</strong> was a double win for the Prancing Horse. It was not only their first-ever Sprint Race victory, it was Lewis Hamilton’s maiden triumph in a Ferrari. Unfortunately, the joy of Saturday turned into despair on Sunday (see below).</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h2>Chinese Grand Prix 2025 Recap - The Bad</h2> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Disaster for Ferrari on Sunday</strong>, with both Hamilton and Charles Leclerc disqualified after post-race inspections. Leclerc – who originally finished fourth despite a broken front wing – found out that his car was underweight, while Hamilton’s skid block under the car was ruled beyond legal limits. Ferrari went from 18 points to zero on the weekend.</p> <p>The pressure continues to mount on <strong>Liam Lawson.</strong> Only two races in and the rumours are already starting about Red Bull making a change to their second driver seat. The team worked on Lawson’s car during parc ferme, hoping to make the car more drivable for the young Kiwi. But it was to no avail as Lawson could only finish 15th (elevated to 12th after the disqualifications of Hamilton, Leclerc and Gasly).</p> <p><strong>Carlos Sainz</strong> continues to look uncomfortable in the Williams. He spun off the track at Albert Park and while he ended up 10th in Shanghai thanks to the disqualifications, he is way off the pace of teammate Alex Albon.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h2>Chinese Grand Prix 2025 Recap - The Questions</h2> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h3>Is Piastri a Future World Champion?</h3> <p>Watching the maturity of the 23-year-old, there is no doubt that he has what it takes to become a world champ. With a fast McLaren underneath him, the only question is whether or not the presence of his teammate Lando Norris will become a contentious issue as the season goes on.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h3>Do Racing Bulls need a New Strategist?</h3> <p>The surprise packets at the Australian Grand Prix looked to be on for another good result in China, with rookie Isack Hadjar qualifying 7th and Yuki Tsunoda 9th.</p> <p>However, the team’s insistence on sticking with its two pitstop strategy proved to be ill-advised, with both drivers finishing out of the points.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h3>What About Jack Doohan?</h3> <p>He’s struggled mightily but the fact that the Alpine car in general doesn’t look good might play in the Aussie rookie’s favour. After a DNF in Melbourne, Doohan finished 13th in Shanghai, but that looks better because of the three DQ’d cars ahead of him.</p> <p>We know Alpine boss Flavio Briatore doesn’t mess around and we know Franco Colapinto is waiting in the wings, but given the performance of the car, it’s hard to see Doohan being the fall guy … yet.</p>