Oscar Piastri delivers perfect race to win Chinese Grand Prix and prove title credentials
Oscar Piastri has sent an emphatic message to his chief Formula One rivals after a dominant victory at the Chinese Grand Prix.
Australia’s Oscar Piastri coasted to victory in the Chinese Grand Prix, sending an emphatic warning to his main Formula One rivals that he is up for the fight in this year’s world championship.
Completing a near perfect weekend after finishing second in Saturday’s sprint race, Piastri was untroubled in taking the chequered flag by nearly 10 seconds after starting on pole position for the first time.
“Mega job guys, thanks very much,” Piastri told his engineers after crossing the line.
“That was one satisfying weekend.”
Unflustered in the cockpit despite driving the last 41 of the 56 laps on the same set of hard compound tyres, this was Piastri’s first victory of 2025 and the third of his short F1 career after he won in Hungary and Azerbaijan last year.
His McLaren team mate Lando Norris, who won last weekend’s season-opener in Melbourne, finished runner-up in Shanghai to retain his early lead in the drivers’ championship standings after two of 24 rounds.
Norris now has 44 points, with Piastri climbing to fourth place on 34 points after he missed out on a bigger haul at Albert Park when he spun in the rain and finished ninth at Albert Park while chasing Norris for the lead.
“I’m super proud and what I feel like I deserve from last week. I’m extremely happy and the team did a mega job, a one-two obviously, I’m very happy,” Piastri said.“I’m very proud of the race we managed to pull off and it wasn’t an easy one going in, I’m proud of the whole team and the weekend I’ve been able to pull off.”
Mercedes driver George Russell came third, securing back-to-back podium finishes to remain third in the standings, on 35 points, one behind four-time world champion Max Versteppan, who recovered from a slow start to take fourth in his Red Bull after.
It is still early days, but this year’s championship is already shaping up as a potential two-way battle between the two McLaren pilots, with Norris saying he might have got closer to his team mate had he not experienced a brake failure in the closing laps.
“Oscar drove well, he was quick the whole race, so I tried to get close but in the end I just couldn’t,” Norris said.
“He deserved the win, he drove really well all weekend. I’m happy with second.
“I would have liked to give it a bit of a try and put Oscar under a bit of pressure but not today, we’re satisfied, great result and we’ll go again next time.”
Together, Piastri and Norris ended McLaren’s 26-year drought to claim the constructors’ title in 2024 and the papaya-coloured cars look ever more dominant this season.
A year and a half older but a lot more experienced in F1 than Piastri, Norris is the early favourite to win the drivers’ title but the 23-year-old Australian is closing in fast.
Earmarked for greatness after winning the F3 and F2 championships, Piastri has made rapid improvements since being promoted to the sport’s premier category in 2023.
He had two podium finishes in his first season, as well as winning a sprint race, to finish ninth in the standings.
PAPAYAAAAAA BOYS pic.twitter.com/vCRw4gLWP3
— McLaren (@McLarenF1) March 23, 2025
In his second season, he finished fourth after winning two Grands Prix and a sprint race.
But all the signs are that he is going to be even better this year, having converted his first pole into the easiest of his three Grand Prix wins to date, while McLaren, the second most successful manufacturer in F1 history, registered its 50th one-time finish.
Australia’s Jack Doohan, already under pressure to retain his seat with the Alpine team just three races into his F1 career, finished 14th but was demoted two places to 16th after being handed a 10-second penalty for forcing another driver off the road.
The next race is the Japanese Grand Prix on April 6.
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Originally published as Oscar Piastri delivers perfect race to win Chinese Grand Prix and prove title credentials
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