Winners and Losers from the Shanghai Grand Prix

The 2025 Formula One season’s second race in Shanghai presented a stark contrast to the thrilling mixed-weather duel in Melbourne, yet familiar faces graced our winners-losers section this week.

Winner: Oscar Piastri

If Lando Norris’ composed win in the wet-dry-wet race in Australia showcased his title contender potential, then teammate Oscar Piastri responded with a statement of intent over the Shanghai weekend. Determined to avenge his unfortunate off in his home race that dropped him to ninth, the Australian demonstrated superiority throughout the McLaren team all weekend. His cool, almost flawless pole-to-flag drive on Sunday secured his maiden F1 pole and a third career grand prix win. Despite Norris’ late brake issues, Piastri’s victory never seemed in doubt, as he also outperformed Norris in the sprint qualifying and race. Norris may not have assumed he would have it all his own way this season, but Piastri has certainly shown signs of improvement from an inconsistent 2024 campaign. With one win each, both drivers’ title campaigns are off to a promising start.

Loser: Ferrari

Lewis Hamilton’s pole-to-flag victory in China’s sprint was a welcome boost for fans and tifosi alike. However, when it came to the main grand prix, Ferrari seemed to revert to its usual qualifying position. Despite a cleaner Q3 this time, neither driver appeared comfortable. They were ultimately unable to keep Max Verstappen at bay after a dismal medium-tyre opening stint for the Dutchman. Leclerc’s collision with Hamilton at the start could have been much worse, but if anyone can explain why Leclerc still enjoyed better race pace despite a broken front wing – and consequently swapped places – please send your answers to Maranello. Unfortunately, both drivers were disqualified for two separate technical infractions: Leclerc’s car was underweight, and Hamilton had excessive skid wear. Despite salvaging an 18-point haul on Sunday, remains in the losers category.

Winner: Max Verstappen

Max Verstappen continues to impress with another strong result in China, snatching a second-place finish that his Red Bull RB21 didn’t entirely deserve. Verstappen has developed an air of invincibility, consistently extracting more than the car seems capable of. Despite Red Bull’s struggles, Verstappen finds himself second in the drivers’ championship. It remains to be seen how long he can maintain this position, but his determination is unwavering.

Loser: Red Bull

Even the talented and mercurial Verstappen cannot defy the gravity of Red Bull’s downturn. Liam Lawson has endured a chilling stint with Red Bull, risking an early axe as early as Japan, according to our sources. However, Red Bull shares some of the blame for Lawson’s struggles thus far. The team has not addressed the car balance issues that frustrated Verstappen and defeated Sergio Perez last year, with Verstappen suggesting that Lawson would have been quicker driving the sister team’s Racing Bulls car. Linked to the car’s lack of consistency, Red Bull must address its crippling tire degradation issues, with Verstappen lagging behind in the opening medium-tyre stint in China by an average of around eight tenths compared to the McLarens. However, there is still hope for Red Bull, as improved pace on hard tires offers a glimmer of hope that they can still challenge with some much-needed updates.

Winner: Haas

Concerns about Haas were alleviated after a strong performance in Shanghai following their disappointing debut in Australia. Esteban Ocon demonstrated solid speed, passing several drivers on the grass to finish seventh on the road, which became an impressive fifth after the double exclusion of the Ferraris. Credit also goes to Oliver Bearman for rebounding from a difficult weekend in Melbourne. Despite qualifying further back, Bearman banked on a reverse hard-medium strategy and managed to pick up a point, which eventually became four due to the Shanghai scrutineers’ decisions. Team boss Ayao Komatsu was buoyant about the team’s performance, acknowledging that everyone learns from failure but defining themselves by how they recover.

Loser: Racing Bulls

Red Bull’s satellite team once again finds itself in the losers category for squandering another opportunity to score big points. Both Yuki Tsunoda and Isack Hadjar opted for a two-stop strategy instead of following the mainstream’s push towards a one-stopper. Tsunoda could have scored points if his vibrating front wing hadn’t collapsed, but Haas finished where Red Bull should have been. There are positives for Racing Bulls, however. The team’s car has shown speed across different layouts and track conditions, and Hadjar has rebounded impressively from his Australia exit with a strong weekend, outqualifying Tsunoda in all three qualifying stages.

Winner: George Russell

Amid the buzz about McLaren‘s formidable speed and Hamilton’s sprint success for Ferrari, George Russell has quietly moved himself between Verstappen and Piastri in the drivers’ championship with an impressive weekend. Russell had no business splitting the s in qualifying – thanks to Norris’ slip-up at the hairpin – and gave it his all trying to undercut his fellow Briton in the race. Despite being unable to resist the quicker , Russell finished well clear of Mercedes’ direct rivals to claim his second podium in as many races. This consistency will serve him well when the top teams are closely matched, and he has so far had the measure of his inexperienced but fast teammate Andrea Kimi Antonelli.

Loser: Alpine

Carlos Sainz just managed to avoid entering this category after failing to get up to speed as quickly as he would have liked. The situation is more confusing for Alpine, which looked capable of competing with Williams and Racing Bulls in Bahrain testing – if not slightly ahead on long-run pace depending on who you ask. However, after the China weekend, Alpine remains the only team yet to score points, having missed an opportunity to capitalize on Ferrari‘s double disqualification due to Pierre Gasly’s car being thrown out for exceeding the weight limit. Jack Doohan is performing well, being very close to Gasly in one-lap performance, but equally lacked the race pace to escape the bottom of the pack and received a 10-second penalty for an incident with Hadjar. Alpine has a better starting package than last year’s overweight machine, but they are currently on the wrong side of a very close midfield.