F1 Chinese GP: Piastri wins in dominant McLaren 1-2

A half-century of one-two finishes in the history of McLaren showed it is again the team to beat at present.

Piastri squeezed Russell off the line, allowing Norris to make a move as the Papaya Rules saw the McLaren team-mates work together to lead the field.

It was the opposite story at Ferrari, however, as Leclerc clipped Hamilton and suffered wing damage, although the duo did both pass Verstappen’s Red Bull.

Meanwhile, Norris was complaining of graining on the troublesome left-front tyre with just eight laps on the board, with Piastri taking advantage of running in clean air.

The pitstop window opened on lap 11 as Leclerc disagreed with his team over which plan to implement, as the Monegasque ran close behind his team-mate.

Both Hamilton and Verstappen stopped on lap 14, with Piastri boxing a lap later and having a slower stop than he would have wanted as he was stationary for 3.8 seconds.

Norris was in a lap later and lost out to Russell, who came in a lap earlier to regain his net second place in the grand prix, but it lasted just one lap before the McLaren retook the position into turn one the next time around.

On his 29th birthday, Albon inherited the lead, having not stopped yet, but soon fell into the clutches of the overall frontrunners.

Elsewhere, Hamilton was resisting requests from Ferrari to swap places with Leclerc, with both homing in on Russell, but begrudgingly ceded to the team call at the start of lap 21.

McLaren was managing its two lead drivers well, Piastri pushing the pace to allow Norris to follow suit and pull further clear of Russell without entering the dirty air of the race leader.

As those two-stopping started to pit again, the leaders were quick enough to stay out on the hard compound, with Verstappen coming alive and chasing the pack.

Hamilton opted to pit on lap 38 for fresh hard tyres in the aim of catching the top five towards the end of the race, although it did not pan out for the winner of Saturday’s sprint race.

Out front, Norris reported a brake issue as the pitwall urged caution rather than pushing to close in on Piastri in the closing stages.

There was no such warning for Verstappen, who attacked Leclerc and got through with three laps left.

Piastri took the chequered flag and Norris nursed the second McLaren over the line despite losing over three seconds to the chasing Russell on the last lap.

Chinese Grand Prix results

Photos from Chinese GP – Race