System 1 spent this previous weekend in Shanghai for the 2025 Chinese language Grand Prix. There was a little bit one thing for everybody: entertaining racing on-track, completely different winners for the dash and Grand Prix, some driver and staff intrigue, rumors of a possible technical shake-up taking place quickly, and a little bit of an argument that exposes the leisure facet of the game.
As soon as out within the countryside, skyscrapers are beginning to fill within the backdrop behind the Shanghai Worldwide Circuit. One of many mid-2000s crop of race tracks designed by Hermann Tilke, it is characterised by the neverending lowering radii which can be turns 1 and a pair of, plus the longest straight on the calendar. It was freshly resurfaced for this yr, eliminating the bumps and rising the grip stage to repair a botched job carried out forward of final yr’s F1 race.
China was dwelling to the primary dash weekend of the yr, with a 19-lap race on Saturday instead of that morning’s observe session forward of the 56-lap race on Sunday. Lewis Hamilton, now clad in shiny Ferrari purple, led from begin to end, displaying the type of capacity that has led him to 105 race wins. Hamilton’s final yr with Mercedes was higher than the winless 2022 and 2023, however his new Ferrari already seems to go well with him higher.
Bryn Lennon – System 1/System 1 through Getty Pictures
A smiling Lewis Hamilton after Saturday’s dash race.
Bryn Lennon – System 1/System 1 through Getty Pictures
Mark Sutton – System 1/System 1 through Getty Pictures
F1 has solely gotten extra fashionable within the final yr, and far of that progress has been in China.
Mark Sutton – System 1/System 1 through Getty Pictures
A smiling Lewis Hamilton after Saturday’s dash race.
Bryn Lennon – System 1/System 1 through Getty Pictures
F1 has solely gotten extra fashionable within the final yr, and far of that progress has been in China.
Mark Sutton – System 1/System 1 through Getty Pictures
This was very a lot the excessive level of Ferrari’s weekend. Each Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton had been disqualified from the race outcomes, Leclerc attributable to his automotive being 1 kg underweight and Hamilton for having worn away an excessive amount of of the wood “legality plank” beneath the automotive, which is a telltale signal that the automotive is working too near the bottom.
Purple Bull’s rising downside
Purple Bull, by comparability, has not constructed a automotive that fits its drivers effectively. Sure, Max Verstappen completed second in Australia, however he wanted all of his generational expertise to take action in a automotive that’s clearly not the quickest (and in addition has a tiny working window). Verstappen desires a automotive with an immense entrance grip, and Purple Bull has gone down that design route with much past success.