While the Chinese GP will not be remembered as an all-time classic, it featured performances that will raise eyebrows.
Oscar Piastri: 10
Grid Position: P1, Race Position: P1
Piastri’s first win of 2025 sent a message of intent to teammate Lando Norris and other title contenders. Flawless from lights out to the chequered flag, his silent but effective performance mirrored that of Kimi Raikkonen in his prime.
Holding his lead into turn 1, Piastri never surrendered his lead after the start. Always having an answer to any charge from Norris, the Australian looked in complete control of his afternoon. Viewers hardly saw or heard from him during the race, an indication of a driver in his prime.
The Chinese GP saw the new ice cometh. May he continue to chill his rivals.
Lando Norris: 9
Grid Position: P3, Race Position: P2
Norris returned to form in losing positions at the start of the race. He quickly recovered to second place, but never really had the measure of Piastri on Sunday.
However, he deserves an award for managing the terrifying situation of driving an F1 car without brakes. The final eight laps were a real test of his fortitude and ability to stay calm under pressure as the issue worsened.
That he managed it and secured second at the chequered flag indicates a very different driver from last season. He needs to work on his starts, but Norris’ ability to keep calm is what ultimately saved his race.
George Russell: 9
Grid Position: P2, Race Position: P3
Russell shone once again at the Chinese GP. Nailing his start, he briefly took second from Norris before surrendering his position at the first corner.
He battled Norris once again after the first round of pit stops, able to hold up Norris for a short time before the McLaren surged past.
The Briton may have had a lonely race, but he is comfortably faster than Max Verstappen’s Red Bull and both Ferrari’s, and team-mate Andrea Kimi Antonelli. For the pace of his car, Russell has nailed his start to 2025.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli: 8
Grid Position: P8, Race Position: P6
Antonelli enjoyed another strong race in Shanghai. While not entirely on the pace of Russell, his crucial move at the start of the race to jump both Racing Bulls set up his afternoon of another strong points finish. Although he lost out fighting Esteban Ocon, he still took an impressive sixth place en-route to his Driver of the Day award.
Max Verstappen: 8
Grid Position: P4, Race Position: P4
Verstappen’s race came alive in the closing stages of the race, as he hunted down Charles Leclerc for fourth. Relentless and phenomenally quick, he extracted everything possible from Red Bull’s problem child of a car. Carrying the team’s efforts once again, the reigning world champion will be hoping for a better race in Japan.
Liam Lawson: 1.5
Grid Position: Pit lane, Race Position: P12
Achieving a score half a point higher than last week only because he finished the race, Lawson’s time in Red Bull is becoming a driver’s worst nightmare. The car is clearly set up to Verstappen’s unique requirements, which Lawson, with such minimal testing time before the season, cannot manage.
Such is the nadir of his situation, Lawson could be dropped ahead of China. The ship is now sinking fast, water has flooded the top deck, and the end looks to be in sight.
Esteban Ocon: 8
Grid Position: P11, Race Position: P5
Ocon and Haas enjoyed a productive afternoon. Last week, the VF-25 looked like a car in a different category compared to its disastrous showing in Australia. Battling for position all through the race, Ocon demonstrated that Haas could well challenge for points on multiple circuits.
Olllie Bearman: 9.0
Grid Position: P17, Race Position: P8
The difference a week can make in F1 is sometimes mind-boggling. After an awful first round in Australia at the back, Bearman resembled the super-sub driver of 2024 at the Chinese GP. Pulling off aggressive moves all through the race, he thoroughly enjoyed himself, and more than deserved the promotion to P8. Hopefully we see more of this version of Bearman in the season ahead.
Alexander Albon: 9
Grid Position: P10, Race Position: P7
Albon once again finished an F1 weekend comfortably as the lead Williams driver. He looks a driver reborn, clearly able to handle the quirks of the FW47. While benefitting from both Ferrari’s disqualification, Albon was already in the points to ensure he capitalised. All thoughts of not matching Carlos Sainz are rapidly fading.
Carlos Sainz: 4.5
Grid Position: P15, Race Position: P10
Sainz is extremely lucky to be walking away from Shanghai with a single point. Does he deserve it? Sadly, absolutely not. His race pace was abysmal compared to Albon as he continued to struggle with setup issues. Now down 2-0 to Albon in race results, he must bounce back in Japan.
Lance Stroll: 7
Grid Position: P14, Race Position: P9
Lance Stroll is carrying Aston Martin so far in 2025. A bizarre statement: it is like discovering Ferrari can execute a race without a strategic blunder. Faster than Alonso all afternoon, he was rewarded with points after the disqualifications of both Ferraris. To place Stroll and the Scuderia in the same rating, with Ferrari as the negative party shows the growth of Stroll. May it continue.
Fernando Alonso: 5
Grid Position: P13, Race Position: DNF
Alonso’s Sunday ended early with a retirement, preventing fans from seeing what he could do in Shanghai. Running on the fringes of the points in the early stages, the Spaniard is enduring a challenging start to 2025, and is far from the ruthless competitor seen during his career.
Isack Hadjar: 7
Grid Position: P7 Race Position: P11
Although awarding Hadjar a high score after he dropped out of the points may seem odd, it is entirely logical. His team compromised Hadjar’s race, as the two-stop strategy proved to be incorrect. Despite this, he kept pace with team-mate Yuki Tsunoda all afternoon, justifying his seat. Taking avoiding action when Jack Doohan defended too aggressively, he finished on the fringes of the points. Nice work Isack.
Yuki Tsunoda: 7
Grid Position: P9, Race Position: P16
As speculation about his future continues to grow, Tsunoda once again put in a masterful performance in Shanghai. Fast, and comfortably outpacing Liam Lawson, the Japanese driver stands on the fringes of securing the seat for his home race. His front wing failure in the closing stages ruined a good afternoon, but his time at Racing Bulls looks set to end soon.
Jack Doohan: 2
Grid Position: P9, Race Position: P16
Doohan is now driving for his career, and it showed in entirely the wrong way. An optimistic and ill-advised defensive move on Hadjar into the hairpin resulted in a 10-second time penalty, ruining his race. That he then kept Hadjar at bay for the rest of the race was about as pointless as driving a car with a chocolate steering wheel in searing heat. His time in F1 looks set to close in the next few races.
Pierre Gasly: 6
Grid Position: P16 Race Position: DSQ
Prior to his disqualification, Gasly finished just five seconds away from the points. Not much could have been achieved with the Alpine on Sunday, and Gasly extracted what he could out of an underperforming car. His disqualification was caused by the team, not Gasly.
Gabriel Bortoleto: 5
Grid Position: P19, Race Position: P14
Bortoleto stayed ahead of his team-mate at the chequered flag, but that was the only positive from a terrible afternoon for him and Sauber.
Nico Hulkenberg: 5
Grid Position: P12, Race Position: P15
How fortunes reversed in the space of a week for Hulkenberg. With no pace, he sipped down the order, and finished He will need a good weekend next time out to bury the memories of the Chinese GP.
Charles Leclerc: 6
Grid Position: P6, Race Position: DSQ
Leclerc’s race became undone at the first corner when he side-swiped team-mate Lewis Hamilton. Running faster than Hamilton for most of the race, he was helpless in the closing stages to prevent Verstappen cruising past. That it the front wing behind the issue caused his disqualification after the race acted as a poetic end for an underwhelming afternoon.
Lewis Hamilton: 5
Grid Position: P7, Race Position: DSQ
Hamilton struggled to match Leclerc’s pace all afternoon and failed to match his performance in Saturday’s sprint race. His disqualification came from excessive plank wear, and he, too, will look to Japan for a better result. While Hamilton is rejuvenated at Ferrari, he and the team have a lot of niggles to iron out.
