Oscar Piastri led McLaren’s 50th 1-2 finish at the Chinese Grand Prix, led over teammate Rand Norris.
Piastri’s race won from the line when they got an equal launch with front row starter George Russell. He pinned Mercedes to the inner line to compromise Russell’s line, then swept the lead unharmedly into Turn 1.
Squealing Russell had the double effect of qualifying for third, helping Norris, who was able to chase Piastri over the outside of Mercedes, taking second place from the inside line of turn 3.
A clear air of lead allowed the piastry to set the pace. This is an important advantage of the afternoon when tires were ultimately dominated by unfounded concerns that they would not drive distances on Shanghai’s newly resurfaced circuit.
The medium compounds that most of the field began the race were particularly delicate, and the pack continued to be bundled during the opening stint trying to reach the first pit stop window.
The first tire change in the center of the pack only took 10 laps. And when Piastri switched media with Russell for a set of hards, a cascade of stops finally reached the front of the field.
Norris continued on the next tour, but the undercut effect was strong with a much more durable hard compound. He slid behind Russell, not just Russell, but the late Lance walk, who hadn’t pited yet at that stage.
Norris took him to pass both until 18 laps – he needed a big rush inside turn 1 to beat Russell – and a pass from Alex Albon, out of position, brought him back to second on the next lap.
By then, however, Piastri’s lead was just under four seconds, and tire management was still considered important to lead the hard tires to the finish, so the gap remained stable until the final 10 laps when Norris began taking a slight bite from his deficit.
However, his advances were stagnant due to extensions of the brake pedal. His team advised him that his brake function had not been compromised, but he was told to limit the pressure on his brakes to avoid the problem getting worse.
Already working hard in qualifying and opening stints, Piastri skipped the third of his career, the 9.7S victory.
“It was an incredible weekend from start to finish,” he said. “The car was pretty mega the whole time.
“I’m very proud of the entire weekend. This is something I think I deserve since last week. The team has worked for the mega. I’m very happy.”
Norris appeared to have bleeding time on the final lap when braking issues got “critical” in just 1.3 seconds, but the British were pleased to complete their team’s third and second finish since 2010, and many seasons.
“It’s my worst nightmare,” he said of the brake issues. “When you have a nightmare, it is when the brakes are broken.
“I was a little scared, but we survived and made it to the end. I wanted to try it a little and put Oscar under a bit of pressure, but today it’s not. We’re happy.
Russell completed the podium at the end of the clean and quiet Grand Prix, consolidating Mercedes’ second place in the title table.
“It’s a great result,” he said. “We knew McLaren was a faster Smidge than us.”
Max Verstappen’s fourth slow pass at Charles Leclerc was a rare highlight in a race that passed the front.
Verstappen lost place to both Ferrari drivers on the first lap, but his Red Bull car had no pace on the podium, but there was the tire’s studied protection after giving him the advantage of grip in the second half of the race where he rewinded the scar star car at the first pit stop.
Sprint winner Lewis Hamilton came out of Verstappen’s path, but Leclair went outside to defend his position. It has made Dutchman more creativity. On lap 56, 53, he swept the outside of the Ferrari on the first turn, finding Leclerc on the outside line of turn 2 and protecting the inside line on turn 3.
Verstappen darted the opposite way, and his grip advantage allowed him to maintain his momentum on the left-handed outer line and take the position to end turn 3.
Leclerc finished fifth as a Ferrari driver despite carrying a broken front wing after light contact with Hamilton on the first lap.
Hamilton, the only driver to be stopped twice in the top 10, was one of only five players on the field, finishing sixth.
Esteban Ocon was excellent for Haas after pitting early on lap 11. He then went up the field with a long stint judged well on hard tires. He hit Mercedes rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Williams veteran Alex Albon to the spot.
Haas Rookie Oliver Bearman started on hard, finished in medium, and completed the top 10 after cutting midfield to score the final points.
Pierre Guthrie finished 11th ahead of Lance Stroll, Carlos Sainz, Isaac Hajar and Liam Lawson.
Jack Doohan was categorized as 16th after offering a teen penalty for running Hager off the road at the hairpin, moving ahead of Sauber’s teammates Gabriel Boltret, Nico Halkenberg and Yuki Tsunoda.
Fernando Alonso was his only retirement in the race, stopping on lap 4 due to braking issues.
Final results after disqualification:
