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F1 2025 Chinese Grand Prix preview: Hamilton wins Sprint and Piastri score GP pole

Hamilton wins Sprint and Piastri scores GP pole position in F1 2025 Chinese GP

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Starting grid front runners for 2025 F1 Chinese GP are Piastri, Russell, and Norris.
Courtesy of F1

The second race of the 2025 F1 schedule, the 2025 Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix, is this weekend. The main Grand Prix race on Sunday will start at 3:00 a.m. ET, which is 3:00 p.m. local time in Shanghai.

This is the second race in the 2025 F1 season. It’s also one of just six this year that includes a Sprint race. Sprint races are exciting for fans because they offer more racing action and allow drivers and teams to earn extra Championship points. Points are awarded to drivers finishing in the top eight positions of the Sprint race.

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The weekend schedule started with a Free Practice session on Friday, followed by Sprint Qualifying later. Saturday featured the Sprint race, where drivers could earn up to eight Championship points. A few hours after the Sprint race, the standard Qualifying event determined the starting positions for the Grand Prix.

F1 2025 Chinese Grand Prix: the race track

Shanghai International Circuit.
Shanghai International Circuit Courtesy of F1

The Shanghai International Circuit, built in 2003, hosted its first Grand Prix in 2004. The event was paused due to COVID-19 and only returned last year. The circuit is 3.39 miles long, and the race consists of 56 laps, totaling 185.6 miles. Michael Schumacher set the record for the fastest lap at 1 minute, 32.238 seconds in 2004, which may be broken Sunday.

The racetrack was repaved this year, making it slicker than last year’s surface. It is quite different from the Melbourne track in last week’s Australian GP. The Shanghai circuit has two DRS zones, two extremely long straightaways, some long sweeping turns, and a notably sharp, needle-like turn. The long straightaways are located between turns 13 and 14 and between turns 16 and 17, making this track especially interesting for racing.

F1 2025 Chinese Grand Prix Sprint race results

Lewis Hamilton in the 2025 Australian Grand Prix.
Courtesy of F1

During the Free Practice session on Friday, the track was exceptionally slippery, causing several drivers to spin out or leave the track due to the new asphalt.

After Sprint Qualifying, the starting order for the Sprint race had Lewis Hamilton in the first position, followed by Oscar Piastri (McLaren), Charles Leclerc (Ferrari), and George Russell (Mercedes) to round out the first five spots. The finishing order of the drivers who gained Sprint race Championship points was: Lewis Hamilton first place for eight points, Oscar Piastri was second, Max Verstappen third, George Russell fourth, Charles Leclerc fifth, Yuki Tsunoda sixth, Kimi Antonelli seventh, and Lando Norris eighth. Norris won one point.

F1 2025 Chinese Grand Prix Qualifying results

McLaren driver Oscar Piastri qualified for pole position in the F1 2025 Chinese Grand Prix.
Courtesy of McLaren

Qualifying for the Grand Prix determines the starting grid and happens in three rounds. In the first round (Q1), all 20 drivers aim for their fastest lap, and the five slowest are eliminated, taking positions 16 to 20 on the grid. The second round (Q2) features the remaining 15 drivers, with the bottom five eliminated and taking positions 11 to 15. The final round (Q3) determines the top 10 positions, with the pole position (first place) being the most sought-after spot because it gives drivers “clean air” without turbulence from other cars.

In Q3, McLaren’s Oscar Piastri earned his first career pole position. Mercedes driver George Russell took second place, with McLaren’s Lando Norris in third. Four-time consecutive world champion Max Verstappen from Red Bull qualified fourth, followed by Lewis Hamilton in fifth. Hamilton is a seven-time world champion now driving for Ferrari and aiming for a record-breaking eighth title. Because his teammate Lando Norris doesn’t have a great record holding pole position, it will be interesting to see if Piastri maintains the lead after the first lap.

Bruce Brown
Bruce Brown
Former Contributing Editor
Bruce Brown Contributing Editor   As a Contributing Editor to the Auto teams at Digital Trends and TheManual.com, Bruce… Read Full Bio
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