If last year was any indication, two races is far too early to bang the gavel on Championship domination—but for structure's sake, let's save McLaren for last anyway. The Chinese Grand Prix is one of six sprint race weekends on the calendar this year, and in typical fashion, the sprint spoiled the contours of the feature race, if not the final results—a newly repaved tarmac that grinds through medium compound tires, combined with a track that makes for difficult passing without significant tire advantage. Then, Lewis Hamilton demonstrated some much-needed dominance for Ferrari, converting a sprint-qualifying pole into a tire-management masterclass until the end; there was even a vintage tire complaint over the radio before he pulled away from the rest of the field.
In typical Ferrari fashion, the good signs did not last very long. Whatever setup tweaks were made between the sprint race and qualifying proved a disaster. The race itself provided a laundry list of misfortunes. Neither Hamilton nor Charles Leclerc impressed in qualifying, while Oscar Piastri took his first pole in Formula 1. On the first lap of the race, Hamilton and Leclerc made contact as both cars passed Max Verstappen's Red Bull, damaging Leclerc's front wing. (One lucky break: The damaged wing barely affected Leclerc's pace.) Later, Hamilton, unable to find the pace in the car, suggested a driver swap to his race engineer.
The F1TV broadcast, clutching for a narrative in the race as the McLarens puttered off into the distance, provided a play-by-play of the events following: Hamilton's race engineer trying to dictate where and when to swap as both Ferraris navigated through traffic, while Hamilton demurred—"I'll tell you when we can swap. I'll tell you"—in favor of picking his own spot. Some consolation for Hamilton, no doubt missing his easy rapport with his former race engineer, is that Pete Bonnington back at Mercedes might miss Hamilton almost as much; after Kimi Antonelli's qualifying run, Bonnington accidentally called him "Lewis" over the radio.
But however miserable it can get in a Ferrari, it can always get worse. The grand surprise in the race was the feasibility of a one-stopper with the durability of the hard compound tires. While Hamilton still went for two pit stops, Leclerc went for just one. After the race, he was disqualified, along with his old friend Pierre Gasly, for having an underweight car. The car weighed exactly the minimum 800 kilograms immediately post-race, and reached 800.5 kilograms after adding in the broken chunk of Leclerc's front wing. The additional half a kilogram did not make a difference. After fuel was drained from the car, Leclerc's car weighed 799 kilograms, the same open-and-shut disqualification that had gotten George Russell last year.
Continuing the farce, Hamilton was later disqualified for an entirely separate issue: His rear skid block was below the minimum thickness required, the same open-and-shut disqualification that had gotten both Hamilton (then at Mercedes) and, funnily enough, Leclerc in 2023. This was the first time in the team's history that Ferrari has seen both drivers disqualified in a race. As it stands, Ferrari sits behind an Alexander Albon–led Williams in the Constructors' Championship standings.
But however miserably worse any situation can get in a Ferrari, Red Bull's second seat is always even more cursed. Liam Lawson, who won the honor over Yuki Tsunoda, has had a shocking start to the season. Not only has he yet to score a point in two races with a retirement in Australia, he has so far qualified P18 (with a pit lane start after the car was modified under parc fermé conditions), P20 (in sprint qualifying), and P20 (with a pit lane start). Meanwhile, Tsunoda has been doing his best 2021 Pierre Gasly impression by qualifying P6, P6 (again in sprint qualifying), and P9, though his race performances have been marred by poor VCARB strategy calls.
Verstappen defended his teammate by pointing to the car, which he described as "extremely tough." He continued, "I think if you put Liam in the Racing Bulls car, he will go faster. I really think so. That car is easier to drive than ours ... Last year, I didn't think the difference between him and Yuki Tsunoda was that big." During the race, Verstappen himself struggled to find pace until the final 20 laps, when he was able to pass Leclerc for P4—in retrospect a needless move, but important for the team nonetheless. Combine a rookie with little experience, a tough-to-drive car, the time it takes to adjust to a new team, and Helmut Marko calling it "a bit embarrassing" when rookie Isack Hadjar cried after crashing in his debut race, and its no surprise that the Red Bull second seat remains unenviable. Tsunoda would no doubt jump for the opportunity regardless; whether he would see any more success is still in question.
The reason why it's so easy to dedicate time in a race recap to Red Bull's second-seat drama is because there wasn't much else to look at. Piastri got a good start from pole position and was never really challenged. Lando Norris, starting in P3, pulled a brave move over George Russell to make it a McLaren 1-2 from lap one, which held for most of the race, bar one lap after Norris immediately came out of the pit lane. The final few laps had some level of drama, though not the teammate-on-teammate racing that people wanted; Norris suffered from brake issues that, had the race gone on a couple laps more, likely would've cost him a place to George Russell. But with just 56 laps, McLaren coasted to an easy 1-2.
OK, remember the start to last year, when Red Bull looked like they were about to run away with it again? No overreactions! But if you are going to overreact a little bit and say that McLaren will not have any competition in 2025, take solace that Piastri is no Sergio Pérez. This weekend cements Piastri, who outperformed his teammate in every qualifying and point-scoring session, as a worthy competitor. Whether he can continue to consistently best Norris remains to be seen, but he is at least guaranteed to make it interesting.
Still, if that's too much McLaren domination for your taste, you can focus on Haas instead. After the double Ferrari disqualifications, Esteban Ocon, who quietly had a stellar drive, and Ollie Bearman, who hit each of his opponents with a "Ciao!" over the radio after he passed them, were promoted to P5 and P8 respectively. Considering Bearman's rocky start so far, the weekend's showing proves promising for the team's core. Haas now sits at P6 in the Constructors' Championship, just three points behind Ferrari. I've always said it: It's time to start worrying about Haas.*
*The characteristics of certain tracks may influence the veracity of this statement.
