The 2025 Chinese Grand Prix (officially known as the Formula 1 Heineken Chinese Grand Prix 2025) was a Formula One motor race that was held on 23 March 2025 at the Shanghai International Circuit in Shanghai, China. It was the second round of the 2025 Formula One World Championship and the first of six Grands Prix in the season to utilise the sprint format.
Lewis Hamilton in the Ferrari took sprint pole position and kept the lead to win the sprint ahead of Oscar Piastri (McLaren) and Red Bull driver Max Verstappen. Piastri took his maiden career pole position for the main race, ahead of George Russell driving for Mercedes and teammate Lando Norris.
In the main race, Piastri converted his pole position to a win ahead of teammate Norris and Russell. Following the race, Charles Leclerc, Lewis Hamilton and Pierre Gasly were disqualified from fifth, sixth and eleventh respectively. Leclerc and Gasly were disqualified due to their cars being underweight, whilst Hamilton was disqualified due to excessive plank wear.
The result meant that Norris extended his lead in the Drivers' Championship to eight points over Verstappen, with Russell a further point adrift in third. Following his first win of the season, Piastri moved to fourth with 34 points. McLaren extended their lead in the Constructors' Championship to 21 points over Mercedes, while Red Bull remained in third with 36 points. Despite the double disqualification, Ferrari progressed to fifth with 17 points, the same amount with Williams in fourth. Prior to the 2026 Dutch Grand Prix, this race marked Liam Lawson's most recent start for the senior Red Bull team. Following two consecutive pointless races, Lawson was swapped with Yuki Tsunoda from the following Japanese Grand Prix onward.
Background The event took place across the weekend of 21–23 March and was the 18th edition of the Chinese Grand Prix, all of which had been held at the Shanghai International Circuit in Shanghai. The Grand Prix was the second round of the 2025 Formula One World Championship and the 18th running of the Chinese Grand Prix. It was also the first of six Grands Prix in the season to utilise the sprint format and the second time overall that the Chinese Grand Prix featured it.
Prior to the event, teams and tyre supplier Pirelli faced "logistical issues" involving the transportation of equipment from Melbourne, venue of the preceding Grand Prix, to Shanghai. As a result, the FIA gave special dispensation to reduce the night curfew period on Wednesday before the event from eleven and a half to six hours in order to minimise the impact on the event.
Championship standings before the race Going into the event, Lando Norris led the Drivers' Championship with 25 points, 7 points ahead of Max Verstappen in second, and 10 ahead of George Russell in third. McLaren entered the round as Constructors' Championship leaders on 27 points, ahead of Mercedes, also on 27 and Red Bull Racing, who were third with 18 points.
Entrants
The drivers and teams were the same as published in the season entry list, with no additional stand-in drivers for the race. The Grand Prix marked the last for Liam Lawson at Red Bull Racing and Yuki Tsunoda for Racing Bulls; from the Japanese Grand Prix onward, the drivers would swap teams.
Tyre choices
Tyre supplier Pirelli brought the C2, C3, and C4 tyre compounds designated hard, medium, and soft, respectively, for teams to use at the event.
Track changes The DRS zone leading in to turn 14 was lengthened by .
Practice The sole free practice session was held on 21 March 2025, at 11:30 local time (UTC+8). Led out by Oliver Bearman, all drivers started the session fitted with the medium-compound tyres. Early in the session, both Liam Lawson and Alexander Albon drove into the gravel. By the mid-way point of practice, George Russell led the timesheets with a time of 1:32.377, half a second clear of Charles Leclerc in second and one second quicker than the previous year's pole time. An issue with Jack Doohan's Alpine forced a red flag, halting the session until there were only 7 minutes remaining. In the end, Lando Norris topped the session, followed by Leclerc, Oscar Piastri, Lewis Hamilton and Russell rounding out the top five.
Sprint qualifying Sprint qualifying was held on 21 March 2025, at 15:30 local time (UTC+8), and determined the starting grid order for the sprint.
Sprint qualifying report Lasting 12 minutes, the first of three sprint qualifying segments (SQ1) required all drivers to use the medium-compound tyres. Hamilton claimed the fastest time, ahead of Norris and Leclerc. Lawson, Nico Hulkenberg, Esteban Ocon, Pierre Gasly and Doohan where all eliminated in the first segment.
SQ2 was 10 minutes long session with drivers again mandated to use the medium tyres. After the first sequence of laps, Norris claimed the top time, and held it throughout the session. Fernando Alonso, Bearman, Carlos Sainz Jr., Gabriel Bortoleto and Isack Hadjar were knocked out.
Sprint qualifying classification DriverConstructorSprintgridSQ1SQ2SQ3144 Lewis HamiltonFerrari1:31.2121:31.3841:30.849121 Max VerstappenRed Bull Racing-Honda RBPT1:31.9161:31.5211:30.8672381 Oscar PiastriMcLaren-Mercedes1:31.7231:31.3621:30.9293416 Charles LeclercFerrari1:31.5181:31.5611:31.0574563 George RussellMercedes1:31.9521:31.3461:31.169564 Lando NorrisMcLaren-Mercedes1:31.3961:31.1741:31.3936712 Kimi AntonelliMercedes1:31.9991:31.4751:31.7387822 Yuki TsunodaRacing Bulls-Honda RBPT1:32.3161:31.7941:31.7738923 Alexander AlbonWilliams-Mercedes1:32.4621:31.5391:31.85291018 Lance Stroll1:32.3271:31.7421:31.982101114Aston Martin Aramco-Mercedes1:32.1211:31.815N/A111287 Oliver BearmanHaas-Ferrari1:32.2691:31.978N/A121355 Carlos Sainz Jr.Williams-Mercedes1:32.4571:32.325N/A13145Kick Sauber-Ferrari1:32.5391:32.564N/A14156 Isack HadjarRacing Bulls-Honda RBPT1:32.171 No timeN/A15167 Jack DoohanAlpine-Renault1:32.575N/AN/A161710Alpine-Renault1:32.640N/AN/A171831 Esteban OconHaas-Ferrari1:32.651N/AN/A181927 Nico HülkenbergKick Sauber-Ferrari1:32.675N/AN/A2030 Liam LawsonRed Bull Racing-Honda RBPT 1:32.729N/AN/A19107% time: 1:37.596Source: Notes – Nico Hülkenberg qualified 19th, but was required to start the sprint from the pit lane as his car was modified under parc fermé conditions.
Sprint The sprint was held on 22 March 2025, at 11:00 local time (UTC+8), and was run for 19 laps.
Sprint report Hamilton held the lead throughout the sprint to take his and Ferrari's first sprint victory. The remaining podium positions were secured by Oscar Piastri in the McLaren and Max Verstappen in the Red Bull. Early championship leader Lando Norris in the McLaren finished eighth having lost places at the start of the race.
Sprint classification DriverConstructorTime/RetiredPoints1 44 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 19 30:39.965 1 82 81 Oscar Piastri McLaren-Mercedes 19 +6.889 3 731Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT19 +9.80426463 George RussellMercedes19 +11.59255516 Charles Leclerc Ferrari19 +12.190446 22 Yuki Tsunoda Racing Bulls-Honda RBPT 19 +22.288 8 3712 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 19 +23.0387 284 Lando Norris McLaren-Mercedes19 +23.4716 1918 Lance Stroll 19 +24.916101014 19 +38.218 111123 Alexander Albon Williams-Mercedes 19 +39.29291210 Alpine-Renault 19 +39.64917136 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls-Honda RBPT 19 +42.400151430 Liam Lawson Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT 19 +44.904191587 Oliver Bearman Haas-Ferrari19 +45.649121631 Esteban Ocon Haas-Ferrari 19 +46.182181755 Carlos Sainz Jr.Williams-Mercedes 19 +51.376 1318 5 Kick Sauber-Ferrari 19 +53.940 141927 Nico Hülkenberg Kick Sauber-Ferrari19 +56.682207 Jack DoohanAlpine-Renault19 +1:10.21216Source: Notes – Jack Doohan finished 20th on track, but received a post-sprint ten-second time penalty for causing a collision with Gabriel Bortoleto. The penalty made no difference as he was classified in the last position.
Qualifying Qualifying was held on 22 March 2025, at 15:00 local time (UTC+8), and determined the starting grid order for the main race.
Qualifying report Oscar Piastri in the McLaren took his maiden Grand Prix pole position ahead of George Russell in the Mercedes. Piastri's teammate Lando Norris qualified third having topped the opening two segment of qualifying.
Qualifying classification DriverConstructorQ1Q2Q3181 Oscar PiastriMcLaren-Mercedes1:31.5911:31.2001:30.6411263 George RussellMercedes1:31.2951:31.3071:30.723234 Lando NorrisMcLaren-Mercedes1:30.9831:30.7871:30.793341 Max VerstappenRed Bull Racing-Honda RBPT1:31.4241:31.1421:30.8174544 Lewis HamiltonFerrari1:31.6901:31.5011:30.9275616 Charles LeclercFerrari1:31.5791:31.4501:31.021676 Isack HadjarRacing Bulls-Honda RBPT1:31.1621:31.2531:31.0797812 Kimi AntonelliMercedes1:31.6761:31.5901:31.1038922 Yuki TsunodaRacing Bulls-Honda RBPT1:31.2381:31.2601:31.63891023 Alexander AlbonWilliams-Mercedes1:31.5031:31.5951:31.706101131 Esteban OconHaas-Ferrari1:31.8761:31.625N/A111227 Nico HülkenbergKick Sauber-Ferrari1:31.9211:31.632N/A1213141:31.7191:31.688N/A131418 Lance StrollAston Martin Aramco-Mercedes1:31.9231:31.773N/A141555 Carlos Sainz Jr.Williams-Mercedes1:31.6281:31.840N/A151610 Pierre GaslyAlpine-Renault1:31.992N/AN/A161787 Oliver BearmanHaas-Ferrari1:32.018N/AN/A17187 Jack DoohanAlpine-Renault1:32.092N/AN/A18195 Gabriel BortoletoKick Sauber-Ferrari1:32.141N/AN/A192030 Liam LawsonRed Bull Racing-Honda RBPT1:32.174N/AN/A107% time: 1:37.351Source: Notes – Liam Lawson qualified 20th, but was required to start the race from the pit lane as his car was modified under parc fermé conditions.
Race The race was held on 23 March 2025, at 15:00 local time (UTC+8), and was run for 56 laps.
Race report Polesitter Oscar Piastri in the McLaren kept the lead on the first lap, while his teammate Lando Norris moved up to second. Lewis Hamilton in the Ferrari tagged with teammate Charles Leclerc, causing the left endplate of Leclerc's front wing to come off. On the fifth lap, Fernando Alonso in the Aston Martin retired from the race due to overheating on his rear brakes caused by his brake duct assembly setup being different to that from his teammate Lance Stroll, while Gabriel Bortoleto of Sauber spun into the gravel on the same lap, though he was able to keep going.
Piastri and Norris, the latter suffering from a worsening brake issue, completed the 50th 1-2 finish for McLaren ahead of George Russell in the Mercedes.
Post-race Following the race, Leclerc of Ferrari and Gasly of Alpine were disqualified due to their cars being underweight, while sprint winner and Leclerc's teammate Hamilton was disqualified for excessive skid wear. This marked the first double disqualification for a team since Renault's double disqualification at the 2019 Japanese Grand Prix, the first Grand Prix to see more than two disqualifications since the 2004 Canadian Grand Prix, and the first time in Formula One history that both Ferrari cars had been disqualified from a Grand Prix.
Race classification DriverConstructorTime/RetiredPoints181 Oscar PiastriMcLaren-Mercedes56 1:30:55.02612524 Lando NorrisMcLaren-Mercedes56 +9.748318363 George RussellMercedes56 +11.09721541 Max VerstappenRed Bull Racing-Honda RBPT56 +16.656412531 Esteban OconHaas-Ferrari56 +49.9691110612 Kimi AntonelliMercedes56 +53.74888723 Williams-Mercedes56 +56.321106887 Oliver BearmanHaas-Ferrari56 +1:01.303174918 Lance Stroll56 +1:10.2041421055 Carlos Sainz Jr.Williams-Mercedes56 +1:16.38715 1116 Isack HadjarRacing Bulls-Honda RBPT56 +1:18.875 71230 Liam LawsonRed Bull Racing-Honda RBPT56 +1:21.147137 Jack DoohanAlpine-Renault56 +1:28.401 18145 Gabriel Bortoleto Kick Sauber-Ferrari55 +1 lap1915 27 Nico Hülkenberg Kick Sauber-Ferrari55 +1 lap121622 Yuki Tsunoda Racing Bulls-Honda RBPT55 +1 lap9 14 4 Brakes13 16 Charles Leclerc Ferrari56 Underweight644 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari56 Plank wear510 Pierre GaslyAlpine-Renault56 Underweight16Source: Notes