McLaren driver Lando Norris enters an F1 race weekend as the leader of the drivers' standings for the first time in his career. His outstanding victory at the season-opening race in Melbourne has solidified his position as a contender for the 2025 overall title, while also establishing the McLaren team as an early frontrunner this season.
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03-26, 2025The weekend could have been even more perfect for McLaren, the reigning team champion. However, Australian driver Oscar Piastri, competing in his home Grand Prix, spun out of second place late in the race, missing an opportunity to further extend their advantage.
Notably, this marks the first time since the 2022 Monaco Grand Prix that Max Verstappen has not entered a race weekend as the leader in the drivers' standings. This change undoubtedly adds more suspense to the competition this season.
Despite the heightened excitement surrounding Norris, the 25-year-old British driver was quick to temper discussions about the overall title, considering it's only the first of 24 Grand Prix races this season. "I'm not thinking about it. I don't really care about it. It shouldn't change anything I'm doing. It shouldn't change anything the team is doing," he said at the Thursday Chinese Grand Prix driver press conference. "I had a good weekend – people need to calm down a little bit. I'm focused on trying to do the same here." He added, "I probably won't think about the championship until at least the middle of the year."
This weekend's Chinese Grand Prix will be the first race of the season to include a sprint race. A total of six weekends this season will feature sprint races, including Miami, Belgium, United States (Austin), São Paulo, and Qatar Grand Prix weekends. This weekend, drivers will have only one free practice session before heading into the sprint qualifying and sprint race. This contrasts with Melbourne, where drivers and teams had three one-hour practice sessions to prepare for the Grand Prix.
After a four-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Max Verstappen won last year's Chinese Grand Prix. It was the Dutch driver's first victory at the Shanghai circuit and the Red Bull team's third (Sebastian Vettel in 2009, Daniel Ricciardo in 2018). Lewis Hamilton has been a master of the Shanghai International Circuit, which first hosted the F1 Grand Prix in 2004. Hamilton has won the race six times. Fernando Alonso is another active driver who has won the Chinese Grand Prix, winning in 2005 and 2013 respectively. McLaren has not reached the top step of the podium in Shanghai since Hamilton's victory in 2011.
