2025 Chinese Grand Prix
The 2025 Chinese Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race that was held on 23 March 2025 at the Shanghai International Circuit in Shanghai, China. It was the second round of the 2025 Formula One World Championship and the first of six Grands Prix in the season to utilise the sprint format.
Lewis Hamilton in the Ferrari took sprint pole position and kept the lead to win the sprint ahead of Oscar Piastri in the McLaren and Max Verstappen in the Red Bull. Piastri took his maiden career pole position for the main race, ahead of George Russell in the Mercedes and teammate Lando Norris.
In the main race, Piastri converted his pole position to a win ahead of teammate Norris and Russell. Following the race, Charles Leclerc, Lewis Hamilton and Pierre Gasly were disqualified from fifth, sixth and eleventh respectively. Leclerc and Gasly were disqualified due to their cars being underweight, whilst Hamilton was disqualified due to excessive plank wear.
Background
The event was held at the Shanghai International Circuit in Shanghai for the 18th time in the circuit's history, across the weekend of 21–23 March. The Grand Prix was the second round of the 2025 Formula One World Championship and the 18th running of the Chinese Grand Prix. It was also the first of six Grands Prix in the season to utilise the sprint format and the second time overall that the Chinese Grand Prix featured it.Prior to the event, teams and tyre supplier Pirelli faced what the FIA referred to as logistical issues regarding the transportation of equipment from Melbourne, venue of the preceding Grand Prix, to Shanghai. As a result, the FIA gave special dispensation to reduce the night curfew period on Wednesday before this event only from 11.5 hours to just six hours in order to minimise the impact of these issues on the event.
Championship standings before the race
Going into the event, Lando Norris led the Drivers' Championship with 25 points, 7 points ahead of Max Verstappen in second, and 10 ahead of George Russell in third. McLaren and Mercedes, both holding 27 points, entered this round as the leaders of the Constructors' Championship from Red Bull Racing, who are third with 18 points.Entrants
The drivers and teams were the same as published in the season entry list, with no additional stand-in drivers for the race. The Grand Prix marked the last for Liam Lawson at Red Bull Racing and Yuki Tsunoda for Racing Bulls; from the Japanese Grand Prix onward, both drivers would swap teams.Tyre choices
Tyre supplier Pirelli brought the C2, C3, and C4 tyre compounds designated hard, medium, and soft, respectively, for teams to use at the event.Track changes
The DRS zone leading in to turn 14 was lengthened by.Practice
The sole free practice session was held on 21 March 2025, at 11:30 local time, and was topped by McLaren driver Lando Norris, ahead of Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc, and Norris's teammate Oscar Piastri. A red flag was observed after Jack Doohan's Alpine A525 lost power steering, stranding him on track.Sprint qualifying
Sprint qualifying was held on 21 March 2025, at 15:30 local time, and determined the starting grid order for the sprint.Sprint qualifying classification
Notes- – Nico Hülkenberg qualified 19th, but was required to start the sprint from the pit lane as his car was modified under parc fermé conditions.
Sprint
The sprint was held on 22 March 2025, at 11:00 local time, and was run for 19 laps.Sprint report
Lewis Hamilton in the Ferrari took pole position and held a lead throughout the sprint to take his first and also Ferrari’s first ever sprint victory. The remaining podium positions were secured by Oscar Piastri in the McLaren and Max Verstappen in the Red Bull. Early championship leader Lando Norris in the McLaren finished eighth having lost places at the start of the race.Sprint classification
Notes- – Jack Doohan finished 20th on track, but received a post-sprint ten-second time penalty for causing a collision with Gabriel Bortoleto. The penalty made no difference as he was classified in the last position.
Qualifying
Qualifying was held on 22 March 2025, at 15:00 local time, and determined the starting grid order for the main race.Qualifying report
Oscar Piastri in the McLaren took his maiden Grand Prix pole position ahead of George Russell in the Mercedes. Piastri's teammate Lando Norris qualified third having topped Q1 and Q2.Qualifying classification
Notes- – Liam Lawson qualified 20th, but was required to start the race from the pit lane as his car was modified under parc fermé conditions.
Race
The race was held on 23 March 2025, at 15:00 local time, and was run for 56 laps.Race report
Polesitter Oscar Piastri in the McLaren kept the lead on the first lap, while his teammate Lando Norris moved up to second. Lewis Hamilton in the Ferrari tagged with teammate Charles Leclerc, causing the left endplate of Leclerc's front wing to come off. On the fifth lap, Fernando Alonso in the Aston Martin retired from the race due to overheating on his rear brakes caused by his brake duct assembly setup being different to that from his teammate Lance Stroll, while Gabriel Bortoleto of Sauber spun into the gravel on the same lap, though he was able to keep going.Piastri and Norris, the latter suffering from a worsening brake issue, completed the 50th 1-2 finish for McLaren ahead of George Russell in the Mercedes.
Post-race
Following the race, Charles Leclerc of Ferrari and Pierre Gasly of Alpine were disqualified due to their cars being underweight, while sprint winner and Leclerc's teammate Lewis Hamilton was disqualified for excessive skid wear. This marked the first double disqualification for a team since Renault's double disqualification at the 2019 Japanese Grand Prix, the first Grand Prix to see more than two disqualifications since the 2004 Canadian Grand Prix, and the first time in Formula One history that both Ferrari cars had been disqualified from a Grand Prix.In the days that followed the Grand Prix, Red Bull announced that Liam Lawson would undergo a driver swap with Racing Bulls' Yuki Tsunoda, with the latter taking his seat at Red Bull from the Japanese Grand Prix onward.
Race classification
Notes- – Jack Doohan finished 14th, but received a ten-second time penalty for forcing Isack Hadjar off-track. This initially dropped him to 16th in the provisional classification, but was promoted three positions following the disqualifications of Charles Leclerc, Lewis Hamilton and Pierre Gasly.
- – Charles Leclerc and Pierre Gasly finished fifth and 11th, respectively, but were disqualified as their cars were found underweight.
- – Lewis Hamilton finished sixth, but was disqualified for excessive plank wear.
Championship standings after the race
The result meant that Norris maintained his lead in the Drivers' Championship by eight points over reigning champion Verstappen, with Russell a further point adrift in third. Following his first win of the season, Piastri moved up to fourth in the standings with 34 points, twelve clear from Antonelli in fifth. After McLaren and Mercedes were tied on 27 points following the conclusion of the previous round, the former extended their lead in the Constructors' Championship to 21 points over Mercedes, while Red Bull remained in third with 36 points. Despite the double disqualification at the main race, Ferrari moved up to fifth in the standings with 17 points, tied with Williams that were fourth.;Drivers' Championship standings
;Constructors' Championship standingsNote: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.