After a wet Australian Grand Prix, the 2025 Chinese Grand Prix took place in dry weather, allowing us to have a better gauge of race pace.

The race, however, was all about tires, with the hard being the dominant compound. That meant it kept us wondering if the drivers and the teams would opt for one or two pit stops, which made it exciting.

So, how did the race go? Here’s what we saw.

1. McLaren is the quickest. In the Grand Prix format, to be exact. Oscar Piastri took his first-ever pole and had a lights-to-flag victory. In the Sprint, he qualified third (behind Max Verstappen) and finished second, showing his pace.

He bagged 32 points (13 more than Lando Norris), cutting the deficit to 10 points (34 to 44).

Norris, meanwhile, finished the Grand Prix in second (with McLaren claiming its 50th 1-2 finish). At times, he and George Russell were dicing for second. The McLaren driver had a brake issue toward the end of the race, however, with CEO Zak Brown describing the situation as “manageable to critical with two laps remaining.”

Norris finished 9.7 seconds behind Piastri.

2. Mercedes is consistent. Speaking of Russell, he finished on the podium two races in a row in a car that’s second to McLaren, squeezing the maximum.

Kimi Antonelli, meanwhile, finished in the points once again (sixth), with team principal Toto Wolff saying it was another learning weekend for his young driver. He unknowingly claimed driver of the day, which can only mean this guy and the team are getting quite the attention.

The results put Mercedes second in the constructors’ standings (57 to McLaren with 78).

3. Ferrari—winner on Saturday, loser on Sunday. Lewis Hamilton took his first-ever pole and win in the Sprint for Ferrari. However, he could not replicate the pace on Sunday.

His teammate, Charles Leclerc, had better pace even with an end-plate missing from his front wing after colliding with Hamilton at the start. Leclerc, though, couldn’t keep Verstappen behind in the end. He finished fifth with Hamilton behind in sixth. Being Ferrari, such results are nothing to write home about. And to add insult to injury, the team was given a double disqualification for separate infringements—an underweight car for Leclerc and a plank beyond permissible wear for Hamilton.

We hear of a disqualification every now and then, but a double disqualification for separate infringements? We can’t even recall that happening.

We recall both Ferraris being disqualified at the Malaysian Grand Prix due to an infringement with the barge boards of Eddie Irvine and Michael Schumacher. Only for it to be appealed, then reinstated.

Those 18 points would’ve put Ferrari a point behind Red Bull in third (36 points). It’s currently fifth with 17 points, already 61 points behind championship leader McLaren.

Team principal Fred Vasseur, however, says he’s optimistic about the car’s performance seeing Leclerc’s pace on Sunday.

4. A turnaround for Haas and double points. As to some head-scratching as to why the car was lacking pace in Australia, and a lack of track time for Ollie Bearman due to spins in Free Practice 3 and Qualifying, Haas was on it in China.

Esteban Ocon and Bearman were not only fast, but the team also nailed the strategy.

Ocon crossed the line in seventh, with Bearman 10th. As if seven points weren’t enough for the team’s efforts, it went home with 14 after Ferrari’s double DQ, putting it in sixth.

5. Lawson continues to struggle. Liam Lawson’s radio conversations along with his disappointed tone said everything. He was apologetic to his engineer for “not finding the window of grip” during qualifying, putting him last on the grid.

By not getting the tires to work, his problem was rotating the car, which resulted in a loss of a tenth in the corners, adding to the deficit in total. Learning what you need to learn on this track isn’t easy, let alone this round being a Sprint weekend.

We can only imagine it’s hard to get the balance right in the Red Bull car, with only Verstappen getting on top of it. But Lawson himself was not to be blamed. The RBR environment can get toxic. Just ask Pierre Gasly, Alex Albon, and even Daniel Ricciardo, who all got the boot before Sergio Perez did.

The next race is the Japanese Grand Prix on April 6. Because it’s all about the high-speed stuff, it should suit McLaren.