Lawson was required to start from the pit lane after his team decided to make changes to the car in parc fermé. He, along with Stroll and Bearman, opted for an alternative strategy, starting on hard tyres, while the rest of the grid began on mediums.
Russell had a rapid start but quickly began losing ground to the faster McLarens. Both Ferraris managed to overtake Verstappen, but Leclerc sustained front-wing damage after making contact with Hamilton, continuing his headache from the start of the season.
A brief yellow flag was shown for track hazard, likely due to debris from Leclerc’s front wing. He wasn’t the only driver struggling with technical issues, as Gasly reported that Alonso’s brakes were on fire moments later. Meanwhile, Bortoleto spun into the gravel but managed to recover and rejoin the race at the back of the pack. Alonso, however, was forced to retire the car in the pits.
As early as lap 8, drivers started struggling with front-left tyre wear – an expected issue given that Shanghai is a front-limited circuit. Tsunoda asked if he could push more on the fronts, but the team wasn’t keen on the idea. While Piastri was told they were sticking to Plan A, Leclerc was switched to Plan B – though he responded that if conditions stayed the same, he would rather stick with Plan A.
Midfield teams started pitting on lap 12, with Doohan, Ocon, Gasly, and Tsunoda all making early stops. Hamilton was the first driver from top teams to stop for a tyre change two laps later, closely followed by Verstappen. They fell down at the end of top 10 and into traffic though. Piastri covered by pitting at the end of the same lap. Despite reporting it can be a one stopper, Russell was called to box as well.
The undercut proved to be strong, allowing Piastri to retain the virtual lead, though Albon remained in P1 on track, yet to pit. It was a nice birthday present to him, at least. Behind him, Russell managed to get ahead of Norris. Ferrari had a tough time, as both drivers rejoined in traffic and lost touch with the front-runners, hoping to regain it later.
Interestingly, when Leclerc made his stop, the team chose not to replace his damaged rear wing. Even with 20 to 40 aerodynamical points lost, he was faster in this stint, so Ferrari asked to swap the cars. Leclerc immediately pulled two seconds clear of his teammate and later into Russell’s DRS range, where he got stuck and perhaps hoping they used team orders earlier.
Lawson was the first driver to make a second pit stop on lap 31, suggesting that Red Bull might be facing some degradation issues, as Verstappen was losing over four seconds to Hamilton in P6. In stark contrast, Stroll – running right behind Verstappen – was posting similar lap times despite not having pitted even once.
McLaren instructed both drivers to push, as Russell and Leclerc were closing in on them. Meanwhile, at the back of the field, rookies Bearman and Lawson began making overtakes.
Stroll finally pitted on lap 37, switching to mediums. Hamilton stopped the following lap, hoping to trigger a response from other teams that never came. The undercut on Verstappen didn’t prove to work for him either, losing too much time and not closing quickly enough. With fewer than 20 laps remaining, however, it seemed more likely that Verstappen would catch and pass Leclerc.
Late drama struck Racing Bulls, as Tsunoda’s front wing failed on its own, forcing him to pit with eight laps to go. Meanwhile, Hadjar was forced off track by Doohan, who received a 10-second time penalty for the incident. Hadjar still attempted to overtake him, but it only led to Doohan being noted for moving under braking.
Norris was repeatedly warned to be gentle on the brake pedal, as a technical issue appeared on the data and looked critical. Sensing an opportunity, Russell picked up the pace and closed in behind him. However, he ultimately ran out of laps, while Verstappen managed to pass a struggling Leclerc.
Piastri secured victory in a McLaren 1-2, with Russell claiming another podium after a relatively quiet race. Verstappen maximized his result in P4, while Ferrari finished where they started – though with their drivers in swapped positions.
Haas ended the race with a double points finish, thanks to Bearman’s daring overtakes, leaving Alpine as the only team yet to score this season.
Edit: Leclerc’s and Gasly’s cars were found to be under the minimum weight limit, and Hamilton’s car had excessive plank wear during the post race checks, resulting in all three of them getting disqualified from the race. All drivers behind them move up in the race classification standings.