Oscar Piastri took victory in the F1 Chinese Grand Prix race on Mar. 23, with teammate Lando Norris coming home second for a McLaren 1-2 at the Shanghai International Circuit.
“The Crowd Are All Here For Me”
“It’s been an incredible weekend from start to finish. The car’s been pretty mega the whole time. I think today was a bit of a surprise with how differently the tyres behaved,” said Piastri. He had lost out on a strong result last weekend in Australia when he was caught out by a rain shower and slid onto the wet grass.
“I’m just so proud of the whole weekend. This is what I feel like I deserved from last week. The team did a mega job with the one-two. I’m very happy,” Piastri said.
In the run-up to last year’s Chinese Grand Prix, Piastri revealed that he was one-sixteenth Chinese, and made further reference to his roots during the post-qualifying press conference at the Shanghai International Circuit.
Asked by a reporter about his background, Piastri replied: “The 1/16th heritage wasn’t a joke – that’s real,” prompting fellow racer George Russell to respond, “What? Wow!”
With Zhou Guanyu not in a race seat this year, there is no Chinese driver on the 2025 F1 grid, and Piastri joked that the crowd had thrown its weight behind him instead.
“They [the crowd] are all here for me, not for Lewis [Hamilton]!” Piastri quipped.
“Lucky to Finish the Race”
Behind Piastri, Norris passed Russell on lap 1 to take second, but never got close to challenging his teammate’s lead, and had to slow his pace considerably in the last couple of laps after complaining of a braking issue.
The Briton said he was lucky to finish the Chinese Grand Prix, and stretch his F1 championship lead to eight points, after a brake problem became critical in the closing stages.
“I was lucky. Lucky to finish the race today, which is not something you want to be saying,” Norris told Sky Sports television.
Ferraris’ Disqualified
Unfortunately, Lewis Hamilton, Charles Leclerc and Pierre Gasly have all been disqualified after their cars failed post-race scrutineering checks.
Sixth-placed Hamilton was excluded for excessive plank wear on the underside of his Ferrari, while his teammate Charles Leclerc, who had finished fifth on the road, was disqualified for an underweight car.
Pierre Gasly’s Alpine was also found to have been underweight, though the Frenchman had finished the race 11th and out of the points.
The Ferraris’ exclusion sees Haas’ Esteban Ocon move up to fifth, with the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli sixth, ahead of Alex Albon’s Williams and Ollie Bearman in the second Haas.
Shanghai Wins Global Fans
With immersive, city-wide activities, the event has brought racing culture directly to the public and helped Shanghai win global fans.
On the second day upon the F1 drivers’ arrivals in Shanghai, racing teams had already posted striking photos of the city on their international social media accounts.
F1 drivers became part of the cityscape. Some locals cycled alongside Valtteri Bottas near Yuanxiang Lake, others crossed paths with Lewis Hamilton at the Bund, and a few even spotted Andrea Kimi Antonelli enjoying Happy Valley amusement park.
Travel platform Ctrip launched bundled packages pairing F1 tickets with access to Shanghai’s landmarks. Statistics show that among the buyers,21 percent are international tourists visiting China, a sign that the event gave a strong lift to both cross-province and inbound travel.
Last year’s F1 Chinese Grand Prix drew nearly 200,000 on-site visitors, generating a direct economic impact of 1.4 billion yuan. The event boosted six main tourism industries — food, accommodation, transportation, sightseeing, shopping and entertainment — by 1.6 billion yuan.
“This year, we anticipate an even greater impact,” Huang Ming, general manager of Shanghai Juss Event Management Co Ltd stated.
Written by Yetao Gu, additional reporting by China Daily, Xinhua, and Reuters
