F1’s first Sprint weekend of the year was by no means a classic. Still, McLaren will leave feeling pretty pleased with the way 2025 is shaping up as Oscar Piastri took a domination victory in China, leading home his teammate for an equally dominant 1-2 for the team in the main race. The Sprint was won in equally dominant fashion by Lewis Hamilton for Ferrari but Sunday turned into a disaster for the Scuderia as both cars were disqualified after post-race inspections.
While I will take into account the Sprint when picking my ratings, it’s the main race that really counts. I see the Sprint as equal to a qualifying session, it can help your score but isn’t going to define it. Lets get into it.
Oscar Piastri – 8.5
Oscar looked the quickest McLaren, and so the quickest car, pretty much all weekend apart from a few sectors in Quali but most importantly he was able to put the laps together when it counted, which Lando didn’t. Once Oscar defended Russell’s advances into Turn 1 and broke DRS to his teammate over the next lap or two, he wasn’t bothered again. This was a significant victory for the young Aussie, similar to Norris’ at Singapore last year. A mature, controlling drive from the front, to prove that they could do it. Finishing 2nd to Hamilton in the Sprint was a nice added extra, overtaking Verstappen late on to put that cherry on top.
Lando Norris – 7.1
A scruffy weekend for Lando as he got to grips with adapting his driving style to better suit the McLaren MCL39. He didn’t hook up the laps when needed in both qualifying sessions which left him out of ideal position. We are seeing Lando abandon final laps in Quali more regularly than the other top drivers, which will need to be remedied, those little mistakes can cost in a championship fight. He went backwards in the Sprint to finish 8th but came home with very solid points in 2nd for the main race, after nursing a brake issue late. Despite the scruffiness, 19 points is a good return.
George Russell – 7.9
Gorgeous George is living up to his name and driving beautifully at the moment. He has maximised his weekends so far in 2025. His final, front-row-securing lap in Quali was awesome (Lando take note) and set him up for his podium finish. He kept the McLarens honest throughout the race and even undercut Lando at the stops to take back 2nd. While he did lose it again soon after, he made sure that if the McLarens fell into problems, he would be the one to pick up the pieces, which very nearly happened.
Max Verstappen – 7.5
It’s hard to determine the outright speed of the Red Bull as his teammate is absolutely nowhere at the moment, but you have to assume that Max is pushing its performance as far as it can go. Which means that it is the 3rd fastest car in the field. So a 3rd and 4th place over the weekend for Max is essentially overachieving. He was really in no man’s land for most of the race. Not quick enough for the McLarens and George but fast enough to find his way past the Ferraris when needed. His highlight overtake of Leclerc around the outside of Turn 3 was simply lovely and his pace on the Hards will encourage Red Bull into Japan.
Esteban Ocon – 8.1
Ocon finds himself best of the rest after the Ferrari disqualification, in a fantastic 5th place. This was a really strong performance from the Frenchman, taking advantage of an optimised strategy with great pace on the hard tyre after pitting on Lap 11. His overtake on Antonelli into Turn 14 was really brave, putting half of his car on the grass and keeping his foot in. The adjustments Haas have made to their car have all been positive and Esteban took full advantage.
Kimi Antonelli – 7.3
Not quite as spectacular a performance as his debut in Aus, but another solid weekend. The performance gap between himself and Russell was 0.4 in quali which translated to around 40 seconds in the race but I think Kimi can be satisfied with that. No big mistakes and solid points again for 7th and 6th in the races, which is more than some of the other rookies. Another good foundational step for the young Italian.
Alex Albon – 7.5
Mr Reliable will be Albon’s new nickname I think. With 6 or 7 spots at the front accounted for through McLaren, Verstappen, Ferrari and the Mercedes, there are smaller points to fight for, for the likes of Williams, and Alex used his Williams well. Was comfortable with the medium wear in the first stint from 10th on the grid, and was consistent in the second to finish 9th on the road, which moved him up to 7th after the Ferraris DSQs.
Ollie Bearman – 7.7
Much better from Ollie in China! Which isn’t saying much after a disaster in Australia. After outqualifying his teammate for Sprint, he wasn’t able to get out of Q1 which we can put down to some rookie inconsistency and inexperience as others improved their setups in between the sessions. However, in the race he took advantage of the alternate strategy; starting on the hards and switching to the mediums and used his tyre advantage beautifully, setting multiple drivers up for lovely switchback moves at the Turn 14 hairpin to finish 10th and take his first points for Haas, which turned into even more once the DSQs were handed out. A great haul for Haas and a confidence booster for Bearman.
Lance Stroll – 7.1
Honestly, we didn’t see much of Stroll on TV this weekend but he did beat his teammate in both races! I know Alonso retired from one of them, but still! Stroll likes an alternate strategy and it worked for him in China. He gave the rest of the grid the green light to go to a 1 stop with his long stint on the hards and I did glimpse a nice lunge into the hairpin to overtake Lawson. Lance will take the points when he can get them in this Aston.
Carlos Sainz – 5.5
Sainz admitted himself that he was off the pace in China, and I agree with him. He is lucky to get his first point for Williams from the weekend and really only has the Ferraris, Alpine and Racing Bulls to thank. I say ‘only’ and then name a quarter of the grid, but DSQs and bad strategy gifted him this point. He never got close to Albon and the top half of any session. We will caulk it down to a learning weekend for the Spaniard.
Isack Hadjar – 7.4
Isack continued his strong start to 2025 (forget the incident we shall not mention last weekend), showing great pace throughout, even outqualifying Yuki to line up 7th! This Racing Bull is showing great speed, but it’s the strategy calls that are letting them down, and costing them points. Isack was on his way to them before the team called him in for a 2nd stop, which those around him didn’t take, saving them 25 seconds that Hadjar couldn’t claw back before the flag.
Liam Lawson – 3.2
Another struggle for Liam in China. This 2nd Red Bull is definitely the Bermuda Triangle at the moment but qualifying last in 2 of the three sessions so far this season is hard to explain away. His race pace wasn’t much to write home about either, he barely progressed in the race and only finished in front of Doohan and the two Saubers. This will be the last we see of Lawson in the Red Bull as the team has taken the extraordinary decision to replace him after two races, which even for them, this is pretty brutal. Lets see if Tsunoda can do any better.
Jack Doohan – 4.9
Another rookie that improved his performance in China, but was starting from a pretty low bar. Jack was more involved this weekend but still made up the bottom third of the pack. He out-qualified his teammate for the sprint but then went backwards over the weekend. He was the last driver on the lead lap at the chequered flag and got a slap on the wrist from the stewards for some late moves in defending from Hadjar, which was fair. Small progress, but with Colapinto waiting in the wings, and Red Bull setting the precedent, if Jack doesn’t improve quick, he could be the 2nd victim of 2025.
Gabriel Bortoleto – 6.7
A quiet but good weekend for Bortoleto. This weekend is unfortunately more a clear representation of the Sauber speed, likely the slowest car on the grid but Bortoleto completed THE objective, out-perform your teammate. He finished each session ahead of his more experienced and very fast teammate, despite a clumsy spin on the first lap which put him 10 seconds back from the pack.
Nico Hulkenberg – 5.2
A really quiet weekend from Hulkenberg. Never finished outside the bottom two runners across the competitive sessions. This is all I have to say! Beaten by his teammate consistently but I’m going to say that is more on Bortoleto doing a good job, than Nico doing a bad one.
Yuki Tsunoda – 7.9
Another weekend, another strategy call that cost Yuki points. He was driving beautifully and looking set to finish 6th before his team brought him in for a second stop, which everyone else decided against. This brought him out 16th and with lots of time to make up, and he was making some progress until his front wing failed, to add insult to injury, and forced him to pit for a 3rd time, ending the race in last. Yuki can take confidence though from these weekends, despite not collecting any points, and he is going to need it to tame the Red Bull he now finds himself in.
Fernando Alonso – 6.5
A very short race for Alonso in China, lasting only 4 laps before a fiery brake made him call it a day. He was in and around his teammate all weekend, both taking up positions at the fring of the points but not quite getting there, until the Ferrari’s were disqualified. That’s two DNFs in two to start 2025 for Fernando but neither were really his fault.
Charles Leclerc – 7.6
An interesting weekend for Charles, he was thoroughly outperformed by Hamilton in the Sprint section of the weekend but then thoroughly outperformed Hamilton in the race, despite knocking part of his front wing off on the first lap, after colliding with…Hamilton. These Ferraris are going to be entertaining this year. I don’t think Charles would have challenged for a podium, despite his claim of being held up by Lewis for a number of laps, as he faded towards the end and was overtaken by Verstappen. Its a moot point anyway, as his car was found to be underweight post race, which instantly disqualified him.
Lewis Hamilton – 7.8
The first half of the weekend was classic Lewis Hamilton. Out performed his car to stick it on pole, and then calmly led the race, managing his tyres masterfully before pulling away to make it look easy to win the Sprint. However, Ferrari made some set up changes for the race, to help with tyre wear but screwed with the car’s balance and Lewis’ performance dropped off dramatically. Never really being able to show strong pace in the race, he let Charles go and couldn’t hold onto him, finishing 6th on the road. Again, moot point though, as he was disqualified for excessive wear on his car’s plank, there to stop the cars running too low to the ground. A poor judgement mistake from the team, so absolutely no points for Ferrari in the main race in China.
Pierre Gasly -7.3
Pierre was also penalised for an underweight car in China. He didn’t lose anything but pride as he finished 11th on the road, for the second weekend in a row, which was good progress from his 16th place starting position. The car looks solid in parts in the hands of Gasly, who is pushing its limits which is back end of the points at the moment. He wasn’t quite able to get into them before his disqualification but he is proving himself as the clear team leader at Alpine, just needs a bit of luck.
The Perfect Formula 