Lap 32/56: You know you’re old when even the fathers of professional sportspeople look young. Ollie Bearman’s dad David has just been shown on TV and he looks about 30. The Haas driver is only 19, of course.

This is crazy, by the way.

The Shanghai skyline has seen plenty of development over the last 20 years 🏙️#ChineseGP pic.twitter.com/tftjgLwViY
— Autosport (@autosport) March 22, 2025

Ollie Bearman is battling the Aston Martin of Lance Stroll for seventh position. Photograph: Go Nakamura/Reuters

Lap 20/56: Norris goes again, overtaking Albon to retake second position. Williams are ordering their driver to box; he’s stayed out there longer than anyone else and on medium tyres.

LAP 20/56 CLASSIFICATION

Albon, Stroll, Bearman and Hulkenberg have yet to pit#F1 #ChineseGP pic.twitter.com/K3FIkZIrvz
— Formula 1 (@F1) March 23, 2025

Lap 18/56: Lando Norris employs DRS and overtakes Russell. What a battle we’ve had between the two Brits already.

Norris is now third, Russell fourth, while Piastri is back at the front, with Albon second.

LAP 18/56

Russell doesn't stay ahead of Norris for long

The McLaren sweeps past the Mercedes to regain P2#F1 #ChineseGP pic.twitter.com/7pmtYBhpyd
— Formula 1 (@F1) March 23, 2025

Lap 16/56: Leclerc and Norris now pit …. and Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin gets in Norris’ way as he emerges from the pit lane, meaning Russell has an advantage over the McLaren driver.

Alex Albon is now leading this race, having not pitted yet.

LAP 16/56

Norris pits for fresh rubber but he can't keep Russell behind him as he comes back out on track#F1 #ChineseGP pic.twitter.com/j4cXL0u7SC
— Formula 1 (@F1) March 23, 2025

Lap 14/56: Verstappen, Piastri and others are pitting now, too.

George Russell has said on the Mercedes radio that he thinks his car can handle just the one stop … but now comes into the pit lane.

LAP 14/56

Hamilton and Verstappen pit on the same lap

Both have clean stops and are back out on track in 10th and 12th #F1 #ChineseGP pic.twitter.com/4OFwNQqn54
— Formula 1 (@F1) March 23, 2025

Max Verstappen struggles in the middle of the pack. Photograph: Andy Wong/AP

Lap 7/56: Only Lance Stroll, Ollie Bearman, Liam Lawson and Gabriel Bortoleto – the latter who’s just had a spin-out and is dead last – are using the harder tyres, so could be going for a one-stop policy. The rest are on medium tyres.

The running order with seven of the 56 laps gone ⤵️#F1 #ChineseGP pic.twitter.com/WNNjQDNUT7
— Formula 1 (@F1) March 23, 2025

Lap 6/56: Fernando Alonso has no brakes and looks set to retire. That’s such a shame for the veteran Aston Martin driver.

LAP 5/56

📻 "No brakes, no brakes"

No luck for Alonso who returns to the pit lane and out of the race ❌#F1 #ChineseGP pic.twitter.com/ovaFHvI1t4
— Formula 1 (@F1) March 23, 2025

Lap 1/56: Verstappen says “Charles has a broken front wing” so clearly there was contact between his Red Bull and the Frenchman’s Ferrari.

Further down the grid, Andrea Kimi Antonelli has jumped ahead of the two Racing Bulls, while British rookie Ollie Bearman is struggling; he’s been passed by a couple of cars.

LAP 1/56

Norris is up to second, Russell has dropped to third and there's been contact between the two Ferrari's with Leclerc suffering front wing damage 👀#F1 #ChineseGP pic.twitter.com/hNUhh89sMu
— Formula 1 (@F1) March 23, 2025

Piastri holds George Russell off on the first turn and Lando Norris nips into second in the process. Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc have squeezed past Max Verstappen too!

⚫️⚫️⚫️⚫️⚫️
⚫️⚫️⚫️⚫️⚫️

LIGHTS OUT IN SHANGHAI!!!

Russell fights hard to snatch the lead off Piastri but it's the Aussie who leads into Turn 1#F1 #ChineseGP pic.twitter.com/RHw9uDguzR
— Formula 1 (@F1) March 23, 2025

AND AWAY WE GO!

Lights out in Shanghai! Watch the race start 👇#F1 #ChineseGP pic.twitter.com/TKRizAC4hb
— Formula 1 (@F1) March 23, 2025

Here’s a reminder of how they start, by the way. It’s advantage Piastri and McLaren.

The starting grid for Sunday's Shanghai showdown 🤩#F1 #ChineseGP pic.twitter.com/UGfZotzl7F
— Formula 1 (@F1) March 22, 2025

It was an intriguing day of firsts in the Shanghai heat on Saturday. Lewis Hamilton picked up his first win of any kind in Ferrari colours, winning the sprint race – the first Ferrari win in the short format since it was introduced in 2021; then Oscar Piastri picked up his first ever pole, sealing top spot in qualifying ahead of his teammate Lando Norris, who was third and struggling for top speed, despite his Grand Prix win in Australia last week.

Breaking up the McLaren stronghold is another Brit, George Russell, who produced a white-hot final qualifying lap to sit P2. A place on the front row isn’t quite the clean air Piastri will enjoy racing into, but it gives the Mercedes driver a sporting chance. Max Verstappen is fourth with the two Ferraris of Hamilton and Charles Leclerc lurking just behind.

At the back of the grid sits Verstappen’s new Red Bull colleague Liam Lawson, who is struggling to come to terms with his role – by his own admission. It’s a long way back from P20 as the New Zealander may discover today. Let’s see how things pan out.