Piastri makes statement with undoubtable Chinese GP victory

Oscar Piastri’s first win of the season was never in doubt, with the Australian putting on a flawless display to claim a flag-to-flag victory in Shanghai, leading McLaren to its 50th 1-2 finish in the team’s Formula 1 history. 

Holding the hopes of the nation on his shoulders, all of Australia cheered Piastri on as the five lights went out in Shanghai, with the extra motivation needed when it was second-place starter George Russell who initially got the better jump off the line.

As the field arrived at the first turn, however, Piastri was in the clear and working to build an instant gap over the battle for second between his teammate and the Mercedes driver.

That gap held strong over the course of the entire 56-lap race despite the momentary threat of an intra-team tussle for the lead, with his one-stop strategy going according to plan for the Australian.

Following his pitstop on Lap 15, Piastri emerged from the pitlane to instantly engage in battle with Lance Stroll, picking the Aston Martin off for P4 before later overtaking Alex Albon to regain the lead.

Confident in his tyres, the Australian agreed to extend his stint on the hard tyre until the very end, and with his teammate struggling with a “critical” brake issue in the closing stages of the Chinese Grand Prix, Piastri’s first victory of the season was never in doubt. 

He took the chequered flag 9.7 seconds ahead of Lando Norris, adding 25 points to his championship campaign in a complete turnaround of fate from his home Grand Prix tragedy.

Not quite able to put his season-opening woes behind him was Jack Doohan who struggled to make his way through the field before a 10-second time penalty rubbed salt into the Australian’s wounds. 

Completing his first full Grand Prix racing lap of the season, Doohan made up two places as he crossed the line, however, he soon found himself running in a stagnant DRS train before Alpine called its driver in for his first and only pitstop.

Rejoining the race in P18, the Australian was gradually picked off by drivers on fresher tyres, with both Carlos Sainz and Oliver Bearman just two to do so before he inherited his way into P13.

With the two-stopper of Isack Hadjar closing in behind, the Australian switched to an aggressive defensive strategy that ultimately proved costly. 

On the run into Turn 14, Hadjar forged an attack into the hairpin, however, Doohan over-ambitiously attempted to cover him off down the inside of the hairpin, locking up and running the RB driver off the circuit.

As a result, the Stewards handed him a 10-second time penalty for forcing a driver off the track, dropping him to P16 when the chequered flag was waved. 

Liam Lawson was grateful for said penalty, with the Kiwi one of two drivers to be promoted thanks to Doohan’s lapse of judgement.

Qualifying in last place, Red Bull made the decision to start Lawson from the pitlane to allow the team to make some “aggressive” set-up changes ahead of the Chinese Grand Prix.  

Trailing out of the pitlane on the uncharted hard compound tyre, the Kiwi found himself running in P18 thanks to a poor start for both Sauber drivers.

Directly ahead, the #7 was Lawson’s first genuine competitor, with the pair squabbling over the back-marker positions before the restrictions of the DRS train held up any progress. 

Lawson made his first pitstop on Lap 19, relinquishing his hard compound tyres before some of the medium tyre runners had even done so, rejoining the race in P18, six seconds behind the nearest car. 

Following a position loss to Bearman, Lawson surrendered his medium tyres on Lap 30, rejoining in P18 once again.

On one of the rare occasions in which the Kiwi was able to test out his overtaking abilities, Lawson made a pass on a struggling Nico Hulkenberg, moving up a position on track before the final boost to P15.

The biggest battle of the opening lap came slightly further behind, when Verstappen attempted a move around the sweeping Turn 1, failing to complete an overtake on Russell and Norris and instead leaving the door open for Lewis Hamilton to squeeze by.

Just a few more metres down the road, Charles Leclerc went for a gap on the Dutchman, lunging down the side of Turn 2  to pass Verstappen before accidentally making contact with his teammate, continuing with a broken front wing for the remainder of the Chinese outing.

As the race settled into a rhythm, the battle between the Ferrari drivers became one of the hottest on the circuit, with Leclerc, despite running wounded, showing pace behind Hamilton when he pressured the new recruit from within DRS range.

To the dismay of viewers, the first round of pitstops brought an end to Leclerc’s initial hunt.

It picked up again as the teammates clawed their way back within the top ten, however, this time it was with some guidance from the Ferrari pit wall.

Answering Leclerc’s calls regarding a position switch, a slower Hamilton was instructed to let the quicker of the two Ferraris by into the Turn 14 hairpin, however, the seven-time world champion opted to delay his relegation for “when he’s closer”.

That finally came on Lap 21, only after Hamilton said he would dictate “when we swap” as the #16 swapped around the sweeping first turn.

Leclerc instantly got to work, closing the gap to Russell until he was with DRS range of the Mercedes driver in third.

The Ferrari driver, with lesser downforce in his weaponry, began sliding and twitching through the 16-corner circuit, with the task ultimately proving too great for Leclerc to achieve after a costly error at the hairpin put seconds between the drivers. 

His teammate was one of few drivers to opt for a two-stop strategy, with hopes of the fresh rubber giving him some extra pace.

That didn’t prove to be true when Hamilton rejoined 18 seconds behind Verstappen, barely able to close the gap to the Dutchman who suddenly found a burst of late pace.

The revitalised hard tyres allowed Verstappen to creep closer to the lead Ferrari driver in P4, and with five laps to go, the interval between the two was just four-tenths. 

A scary vision in Leclerc’s mirrors, the Dutchman soon disappeared out of sight, reappearing and remaining ahead of the #16 after a tussle through the first three corners of the Shanghai International Circuit. 

To cover off the threat of a now-unoccupied Russell, McLaren asked Norris to pick up the pace, however, he was hesitant due to the impacts dirty air was proving to have on tyre wear.

That soon became the least of the #4’s concerns when the topic of brake pedal issues ruled the remainder of his race and became “critical” in the final laps.

Advised to cautiously make his way to the line with two laps to go, the interval between Norris and Russell dropped dangerously fast from a McLaren standpoint. 

Picking up on his competitor’s issue, Russell picked up the pace, slowly appearing in the background of TV screens as he charged towards the Australian Grand Prix winner’s rear.

It wasn’t to be for Russell, with the pairing ultimately crossing the line 1.4 seconds behind Norris to round out the podium in Shanghai.

Aside from the podium contenders, Oliver Bearman was a standout as one of three drivers to start on the opposing hard tyre.

The 18-year-old showed absolute confidence after completing countless overtakes at the Turn 14 hairpin, waving “ciao” to his more experienced rivals on his way to round out a double points-scoring Chinese Grand Prix for the Haas F1 Team.

On the other end of the spectrum, it was a disappointing outing for both Sauber drivers, with a lack of pace, and specific moments of error, seeing the team ending their Shanghai outing in P19 and P20.

Teams and drivers are now granted one week off to reset after a full-on double-header to start the season, with racing picking up once again at the iconic Suzuka Circuit for the Japanese Grand Prix.

Returning to a conventional weekend format, the weekend will run across April 4-6, with FP1 kicking off at 13:30 AEDT on the Friday. 

Image: Formula 1

Chinese Grand Prix Race Results:

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