2025 Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix Highlights

Max Verstappen dug deep in Shanghai on Sunday to finish fourth at the 2025 Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix behind the McLaren 1-2 of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris and secure 12 crucial 2025 FIA Formula One World Championship points in the defence of his drivers’ title.

Oracle Red Bull Racing teammate Liam Lawson finished in 15th but rose to 12th following post-race disqualifications to three drivers. He will look for a better overall performance when the F1 paddock moves on to the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka in early April.

Max Verstappen, Driver, Red Bull Racing

Today, the beginning of the race was quite tough on mediums. We set out to do our pace, which was slower than the cars around us, as we worked to try not to destroy our tyres. It was a tough beginning on the hard tyre, but on the second stint, the performance was much more promising, and we saw a lot more pace in the car. The last 19 laps were more positive and better than expected, as we had equal lap times to the front runners. We were handling the car better and had a lot more grip on the tyres, so everything looked more hopeful, and it was more fun to drive. We can take a lot of lessons from this weekend, and hopefully, this means we can see a better performance in Japan, especially on a circuit that I enjoy driving at. We still have a lot of work to do, as we are not where we want to be, and our car is not that easy to drive, but at least the final stint was more promising, and there is a lot that we can go back and analyse. Overall, it was nice racing in Shanghai: it is a great track and great city.

Liam Lawson, Driver, Red Bull Racing:

It was pretty tough out there; starting from the pitlane, we tried something different, and it was a gamble to try and figure out the set-up of the car. We tried to do something aggressive, which didn’t work; it was quite a big step, but we struggled with pace, and the car felt more tricky than Melbourne. Our pace in the Sprint yesterday was better. It is not something you can put into words; it is a tiny window with this car, and if you miss it, it is very penalising. The more we drive, the more we try stuff and learn from it; unfortunately, it didn’t go in the right direction today. I need to drive this car faster. It has nothing to do with external pressure, but the team has been extremely supportive. It is a unique track here, but we will reflect and learn from it in the future.

CHRISTIAN HORNER, CEO and Team Principal

That was a race of two halves from Max today, following up after a strong sprint weekend here in Shanghai. As you can see, we didn’t have the straight line speed today; the Ferrari was properly quick on the straight. Max delivered when needed and made a great pass on Charles to finish fourth. It was a tough day for Liam at the office; he struggled at points and had some issues with balance. We have plenty to look at after today. We gave away too much in the first stint and need to understand the limitations. We were competitive in the race’s second half but had given up too much ground at that point. There are many lessons to take, and we know where we need to improve, but we still managed to come away with 12 points and have kept it close with the top competitors these first two flyaways, and we’ll look to do more with Japan up next.

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