The 2025 Chinese Grand Prix delivered a weekend of contrasts. After the high drama of Lewis Hamilton securing his emotional first Ferrari win in Saturday’s Sprint, Sunday’s main event initially seemed a more straightforward affair, dominated by a commanding performance from Oscar Piastri.

Bouncing back emphatically from a costly late error at his home race in Australia just a week prior, the young Australian converted his maiden F1 pole position into a seemingly flawless victory, leading home teammate Lando Norris for a celebratory McLaren 1-2. However, the celebrations in the papaya camp were later amplified by a significant post-race shake-up that saw three drivers disqualified, dramatically altering the points classification.

Piastri’s Masterclass, McLaren’s Might

From the moment the five lights went out at the Shanghai International Circuit, Piastri was in control. While Mercedes’ George Russell initially challenged off the line, Norris expertly slipped past the Mercedes into Turn 1 to secure second place behind his teammate. Piastri managed the 56-lap race with an assuredness that belied his relative youth, mastering the strategic puzzle of whether a one-stop or two-stop strategy would prevail.

Behind the leading McLarens, the opening lap wasn’t without incident. Hamilton and Charles Leclerc managed to get past the seemingly struggling Red Bull of Max Verstappen, only for drama to strike between the new Ferrari teammates. Leclerc, bouncing off the Turn 2 kerb, tagged the rear of Hamilton’s car, sustaining front wing damage. Despite the contact and a reported loss of “20 to 30 points” of front downforce, Leclerc bravely opted to stay out, settling into fifth place. Further back, Fernando Alonso’s race ended prematurely with brake failure on his Aston Martin, while Gabriel Bortoleto spun his Kick Sauber into the gravel, necessitating an early pit stop.

As the race settled, Piastri maintained a crucial gap of just over a second to Norris, keeping his teammate out of DRS range. The strategic intrigue centred around tyre life. Pirelli had predicted a two-stop race as optimal, but as the laps ticked by, drivers reported their medium tyres holding up better than expected. Russell, running third, commented over the radio, “I think it’s going to go one stop,” signalling a potential shift in strategy across the field.

The pit stop phase saw the leading contenders, except for those attempting a long first stint like Lance Stroll and Ollie Bearman, commit to their stops around laps 11-16. Hamilton and Verstappen were among the first frontrunners to switch to hard tyres. Piastri and Russell pitted together on lap 15, with Norris and Leclerc following a lap later. This sequence briefly saw Russell utilise the undercut to get ahead of Norris, but the championship leader, armed with DRS, swiftly retook second place on lap 18.

Ferrari employed team dynamics when Hamilton, struggling for pace compared to his Sprint performance, was asked to let the damaged-yet-faster Leclerc through to challenge Russell for the final podium spot. Verstappen, meanwhile, ran a quiet race in the top six, his pace seemingly confirming his pre-race predictions of a challenging Sunday for Red Bull.

Late-Race Tension and a Surprise Twist

While Piastri controlled the pace out front, managing the gap back to his teammate, drama unfolded in the sister McLaren. Norris began reporting a developing brake issue, with his pedal “going long.” The McLaren pit wall confirmed the problem would likely worsen, adding significant tension to the closing laps and threatening their perfect 1-2 finish.

Further back, Hamilton became the only leading driver to commit to a second stop, bolting on fresh hard tyres on lap 41. While he unleashed a series of fastest laps, the gap to Verstappen (who had picked up the pace and eventually passed the struggling Leclerc for P4 on lap 53) proved too large to overcome in the remaining laps.

As Piastri serenely crossed the line to claim a deserved second career victory and ignite his championship challenge, Norris nursed his ailing car home, holding off Russell by just 1.3 seconds to secure the maximum points haul for McLaren – their 50th 1-2 finish in F1 history. Verstappen took fourth, ahead of Leclerc and Hamilton. Esteban Ocon delivered a stellar drive for Haas, initially finishing seventh, followed by Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes), Alex Albon (Williams), and Ollie Bearman (Haas), who drove impressively after his late stop.

The Post-Race Bombshell: Disqualifications Rewrite the Results

As the teams began packing up, news emerged that threw the race results into disarray. The stewards summoned Leclerc, Hamilton, and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly (who had finished 11th) for potential technical infringements. Hours later, all three were disqualified.

The Technical Breaches Explained

Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) & Pierre Gasly (Alpine): Both cars were underweight following the mandatory post-race scrutiny, breaching Article 4.1 of the Technical Regulations. This rule states the car’s mass without fuel must not be less than 800kg.

• Leclerc’s car initially weighed exactly 800kg. After accounting for his damaged front wing components, the weight rose to 800.5kg. However, when the standard procedure of draining the remaining fuel (2 litres as per Ferrari’s declaration) was completed, the car weighed 799kg – 1kg underweight.
• Gasly’s car also weighed 800kg initially. After draining 1.1kg of fuel (as per Alpine’s declared procedure), it too measured 799kg.
• The stewards noted neither team challenged the measurements and confirmed they were genuine errors. With no mitigating circumstances, disqualification was the mandatory penalty. Ferrari suggested Leclerc’s high tyre wear on the one-stop strategy contributed to the car being underweight.

Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari): Hamilton’s disqualification stemmed from a breach of Article 3.5.9 e) concerning the car’s plank assembly thickness. Checks revealed excessive wear on the skid block beneath the car.

• The rule requires the plank to be 10mm thick (± 0.2mm) when new, with a minimum thickness of 9mm permitted to account for wear.
• Measurements on Hamilton’s car showed thicknesses of 8.6mm (left), 8.6mm (centreline), and 8.5mm (right) at designated points – all below the 9mm minimum.
• Again, Ferrari acknowledged the measurements were correct, attributing the breach to a “misjudgement” in predicting skid wear consumption. Disqualification was the standard penalty.

The Aftermath: Revised Standings and Team Reactions

These disqualifications caused a significant shuffle in the final classification and points distribution.

• Esteban Ocon was promoted from P7 to a brilliant P5 for Haas.
• Kimi Antonelli moved up to P6 for Mercedes.
• Alex Albon secured P7 for Williams on his birthday weekend.
• Ollie Bearman capped off his impressive drive with P8, securing double points for Haas.
• Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) and Carlos Sainz (Williams) were elevated into the final points positions, finishing P9 and P10 respectively.

The disqualifications dealt a particularly harsh blow to Ferrari, wiping out points for both drivers and impacting their championship aspirations. Ferrari released a statement stressing there was “no intention to gain any advantage,” citing high tyre wear for Leclerc’s issue and a miscalculation for Hamilton’s. They vowed to learn from the errors. Alpine simply stated they accepted the decision regarding Gasly.

For Oscar Piastri and McLaren, it was an “incredible weekend,” capped off by a dominant performance and maximum points, solidifying their strong start to the 2025 campaign. For Ferrari and Alpine, however, it was a weekend ending in technical infringements and lost points, serving as a stark reminder of the fine margins and stringent regulations that govern Formula 1.

As the paddock packs up and looks ahead to the Japanese Grand Prix in Suzuka, the ramifications of the Shanghai disqualifications will surely linger.