Oscar Piastri beat team-mate Lando Norris as McLaren sealed a dominant one-two at the Chinese Grand Prix.
Pole-sitter Piastri never looked like relinquishing the win, the third of his F1 career, and made the perfect response after spinning last weekend at his home event in Melbourne.
Norris was given a scare in the closing laps due to a brake problem but held onto second from Russell, who made it back-to-back podiums to start the season in third.
Max Verstappen overtook Charles Leclerc for fourth in a great battle in the latter stages of the Grand Prix to limit the damage and is eight points behind Norris in the F1 Drivers’ Championship.
Lewis Hamilton finished in a lonely sixth as he was unable to make the two-stop race work compared to the other front-runners on a one-stop.
Having won Saturday’s Sprint, Hamilton was expected to contend for the top spots but rarely showed great pace and was asked to let Leclerc through early in the race
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It was an exciting start to the Chinese GP with Charles Leclerc losing his left front wing after clipping Ferrari team-mate Lewis Hamilton!
The Ferrari duo made contact on the opening lap and Leclerc damaged his front wing but it did not affect his pace.
Esteban Ocon scored his first points for Haas in seventh, ahead of Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli and Williams’ Alex Albon in ninth.
British teenager Oliver Bearman impressively charged through the field in the second half of the race on an alternative strategy to take the final point in 10th.
Chinese GP Result: Top 10
1) Oscar Piastri, McLaren2) Lando Norris, McLarenl3) George Russell, Mercedes4) Max Verstappen, Red Bull5) Charles Leclerc, Ferrari6) Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari7) Esteban Ocon, Haas8) Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes9) Alex Albon, Williams
10) Oliver Bearman, Haas
Piastri cruises to victory as Norris overcomes brake issues
Aside from the pit stop phase, Piastri led every lap of the Chinese Grand Prix and showed why he is a title contender this year.
He helped team-mate Norris by squeezing Russell down to Turn 1, which allowed Norris to sweep around the outside and move into second place with everyone aware of the importance of track position in Shanghai.
Norris was undercut by Russell though during the first, and only, pit stops for the leaders but the McLaren driver quickly got back into second place with a move down the inside into the first corner.
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Lando Norris, George Russell and Lance Stroll had a three-way battle for position from lap 16-18 of the Chinese GP
At one point, Norris was making inroads into his five-second deficit to Piastri before he was encouraged to manage his tyres so never got within two seconds of the Australian.
In the final six laps, Norris told the team he was suffering from a “long pedal” due to a brake issue so he backed off but had enough of a margin to fend off Russell by 1.3 seconds.
Reigning world champion Verstappen maximised the performance of his car again in fourth when it looked like he was going to be sixth.
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Lando Norris held onto second spot at the Chinese GP after critical breaking issues left George Russell breathing down his neck
After Hamilton decided to pit for a second time, Verstappen moved up to fifth and caught Leclerc before overtaking him with a stunning move around the outside at Turn 3.
Red Bull and Ferrari will be concerned by McLaren’s pace after finishing over 15 seconds behind race-winner Piastri on a track that traditionally demonstrates the best car aerodynamically.
McLaren’s one-two puts them 25 points ahead of Mercedes in the Constructors’ Championship ahead of Suzuka in two weeks’ time.
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Oscar Piastri, Lando Norris and George Russell gave their insight into what transpired during the Chinese Grand Prix
Hamilton and Leclerc collide but it makes no difference
Ferrari’s pace in the Sprint did not translate into Sunday’s 56-lap race but they almost had bigger issues when Leclerc touched Hamilton’s rear tyre at the opening corners.
Leclerc was side by side with Verstappen and said he “did not expect” Hamilton to move across in front of him but said it was not his team-mate’s fault.
The Monegasque driver suffered front wing damage, with Ferrari saying he lost “20 to 30 points” of downforce which is around 0.2 to 0.3s per lap.
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Lewis Hamilton was left frustrated with the performance of his Ferrari after finishing sixth at the Chinese Grand Prix
However, Leclerc was faster than Hamilton and the latter was asked to let his team-mate through, doing so after the first pit stops.
Hamilton was the only driver in the top 10 to pit twice and was unable to make the strategy work as he crossed the line in sixth.
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Yuki Tsunoda’s front wing snapped out of nowhere on a straight, dropping him to the back of the pack during the Chinese GP
Elsewhere, it was a largely incident-free race as Haas’ Bearman made the alternative hard-medium strategy work with some great overtakes on his way to 10th.
Red Bull’s Liam Lawson showed little pace down in 15th and rookie Jack Doohan was given the only penalty of the race for forcing Isack Hadjar off the track on his way to 16th.
Hadjar and Yuki Tsunoda were set to score points but Racing Bull’s two-stop strategy put them both in the pack and they could not come back through the field.
Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso was the only retiree due to a brake problem.
Driver Team Time 1) Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:30:55.026 2) Lando Norris McLaren +9.748 3) George Russell Mercedes +11.097 4) Max Verstappen Red Bull +16.656 5) Charles Leclerc Ferrari +23.211 6) Lewis Hamilton Ferrari +25.381 7) Esteban Ocon Haas +49.969 8) Kimi Antonelli Mercedes +53.748 9) Alex Albon Williams +56.321 10) Oliver Bearman Haas +1:01.303 11) Pierre Gasly Alpine +1:07.195 12) Lance Stroll Aston Martin +1:10.204 13) Carlos Sainz Williams +1:16.387 14) Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls +1:18.875 15) Liam Lawson Red Bull +1:28.401 16) Jack Doohan Alpine +1 lap 17) Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber +1 lap 18) Nico Hulkenberg Sauber +1 lap 19) Yuki Tsunoda Racing Bulls +1 lap Fernando Alonso Aston Martin DNF
What the top three said
Oscar Piastri, McLaren – 1st: “It’s been an incredible weekend from start to finish. The car’s been pretty mega the whole time. I think today was a bit of a surprise with how differently the tyres behaved.
“I’m just so proud of the whole weekend. This is what I feel like I deserved from last week. The team did a mega job with the one-two. I’m very happy.
“On the medium it was still a bit tricky but much better than yesterday, and then the hard was a much better tyre than everyone expected, or certainly than we expected.
“To go all the way to the end like that was a bit of a surprise, but a happy surprise.”
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Lando Norris, McLaren – 2nd: “A few fun moments. The start, I was hoping for exactly that, so Turn 1 went to plan. Then George got me on the pit stops. I was a little bit nervous but our pace was a lot better in the second stint.
So a tough race just with the management. I don’t think many people expected a one-stop today so it was good and Oscar drove well, he was quick the whole race.
“Tried to get close but in the end just couldn’t. He deserved the win and drove very well all weekend. I’m happy with second, it’s good points and great points for us as a team with a one-two. Just how we wanted the race to go.”
George Russell, Mercedes – 3rd: “Really pleased with the P3. We knew McLaren were a smidge quicker than us, a few crucial points, but well done to those two.
“I felt it from quite early on that a one-stop could be possible and it turned out it was slightly easier than we probably all anticipated.
But, nevertheless, the car has been great this weekend and probably one of my best weekends in Formula 1 in terms of performance, so really pleased with that.”
Formula 1 heads to the iconic Suzuka Circuit for the Japanese Grand Prix on April 4-6, live on Sky Sports F1. Stream Sky Sports with NOW – No contract, cancel anytime
