Liam Lawson of Red Bull Racing Photo: PHOTOSPORT
McLaren's Formula One leader Lando Norris can complete a hat-trick of wins for the first time in his career at the Chinese Grand Prix this weekend.
The 25-year-old Briton started the season in Australia with a confident win -- just as he ended 2024 in Abu Dhabi -- and now, at a track where he finished second last year, will try to make it three in a row.
"I'm confident that when we go to China... we can be very strong because we were strong there last year with not a very good car," the title favourite said after last Sunday's race in Melbourne sent him top of the standings for the first time.
Shanghai is the first sprint weekend of the season, with extra points on offer and less practice than usual on a track that has been freshly resurfaced since last year's return post-Covid. Warm and sunny weather is expected.
Norris's teammate Oscar Piastri, who spun off and finished ninth in his home race last Sunday after starting on the front row and challenging for the lead, has another good chance to rev up his season.
The 23-year-old also has a strong record in sprints.
Shanghai is a new track for Liam Lawson who struggled in Melbourne.
His Red Bull was among the slowest on the track and he spun out with 10 laps to go.
While he needs more time in the car, he won't really get it because of the sprint race. There is just one practice before sprint qualifying.
Liam Lawson hits the wall at the Melbourne Grand Prix. Photo: Screenshot / X / F1
Lawson said it was obviously a unique track to drive, but he was ready.
"I just want to totally reset coming into this weekend and show what we are capable of," he said
Lawson's number one priority in 2025 is to back up Verstappen and get as many points as he can for Red Bull in the constructors championship.
His Red Bull team-mate Max Verstappen won in China from pole last year, and also took the sprint. He finished second in Melbourne and cannot be counted out, having won 11 of 18 sprint races held to date.
"The tyre degradation particularly impacted us in Melbourne, but we came away with a lot of learnings and ways to improve," said the Dutch driver.
"We don't have a huge amount of time to turn everything around, especially with just one practice session, but the team are working hard to improve.
"I have always enjoyed racing in Shanghai; there are lots of opportunities for overtaking here and the circuit has a unique layout, so we will see what the weekend brings."
Ferrari, last year's championship runners-up, were licking their wounds after Melbourne but seven-times world champion Lewis Hamilton has a record six wins in Shanghai.
Mercedes, with 18-year-old rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli enjoying a spectacular fourth place on his debut in Melbourne and George Russell third, arrive in high spirits.
Racing Bull's rookie Isack Hadjar will be in the limelight and has plenty to prove after a difficult debut in Australia.
There is also sure to be plenty of scrutiny of the cars' upper rear wings after the governing FIA said it would be introducing tougher tests from this weekend.
The FIA said all cars tested in Melbourne had been legal but reduced the rear wing 'slot gap' limit from two millimetres to 0.5 with a tolerance of 0.25 for China due to the short notice.
Lando Norris of McLaren celebrates Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Statistics for Sunday's Chinese Formula One Grand Prix at the Shanghai International Circuit, round two of the 24-race season and the first of six sprint weekends:
Lap distance: 5.451km. Total distance: 305.066km (56 laps)
2024 pole position: Max Verstappen (Netherlands) Red Bull one minute 33.660 seconds.
2024 winner: Verstappen
Race lap record: Michael Schumacher (Germany) Ferrari, one minute and 32.238 seconds. (2004)
Start time: 0700GMT/1500 local
China
The race made its debut in 2004 and returned in 2024 after a five-year absence due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Ten of the 17 Chinese Grands Prix have been won from pole but the first seven were all won by different drivers.
There is no Chinese driver on the starting grid after Zhou Guanyu, who raced last year, lost his seat at Sauber. He will still be in attendance as Ferrari reserve.
Lewis Hamilton is the most successful driver with six wins (2008, 2011, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2019).
Two other current drivers have won in China -- Fernando Alonso in 2005 and 2013, and Max Verstappen in 2024.
Mercedes have won six times, Ferrari four, McLaren and Red Bull three each. Red Bull's first Formula One win was at the circuit in 2009.
The lowest winning grid slot in China is sixth for Daniel Ricciardo in 2018 and Schumacher in 2006 -- when the seven-times world champion took his 91st and final victory in Formula One.
The track has two long straights and 16 turns and puts stress on the front tyres. It has been fully resurfaced for this year, with only one practice session due to the sprint format.
Hamilton has been on pole a record six times in China. Alonso and Verstappen have also been on pole in Shanghai.
Championship
McLaren's Lando Norris leads the drivers' championship for the first time after winning in Australia.
Four-times world champion Verstappen had previously led since the Spanish Grand Prix of May 2022, a span of 1,029 days, and had also won the 2023 and 2024 season-openers.
Race wins
Hamilton has a record 105 career victories from 357 starts. Verstappen has won 63 grands prix and is third on the all-time list after Schumacher on 91.
Norris has now won two races in a row -- the last of 2024 and first of 2025 -- for the first time.
Pole position
Hamilton has a record 104 career poles, his most recent in Hungary in 2023.
Sprints
Verstappen has won 11 of 18 sprints held to date and scored more points in them than any driver.
Rookies
Only two of the six drivers starting a season for the first time finished in Australia: Andrea Kimi Antonelli for Mercedes and Oliver Bearman for Haas.
Gabriel Bortoleto (Sauber), Mick Doohan (Alpine) and Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls) have yet to score while Liam Lawson is waiting to open his account at Red Bull after moving up from Racing Bulls.
Milestone
Antonelli -- at 18 years, six months and 18 days -- became the youngest F1 debutant to score points with fourth place in Australia.
He is also the second youngest driver ever to score after Verstappen and the third youngest to start a race.
Antonelli is the first driver since Brazilian Felipe Nasr in 2015 to finish in the top five on his debut.
-Reuters
