We travel straight to Shanghai for the second round of the 2025 Formula One World Championship, where Sprint action takes place for the first time this season. Get the thoughts of Lance, Fernando and our team from across the weekend.
The second race of our season-opening double-header ended in mixed fortunes. Lance managed his tyres well throughout the race and was able to go long in his first stint. He finished in P12 but was promoted to P9 post-race. However, an issue with Fernando's AMR25 meant his race ended prematurely.
Sunday Round-up and Reaction
On a cooler day in Shanghai, Fernando began the Chinese Grand Prix on the Medium compound from P13, while Lance started P14 on the alternate strategy, opting for the Hard compound.
Both drivers made a clean start to the race, with Fernando gaining a place and Lance retaining P14.
On Lap 4, Fernando had to manage an issue with his rear break temperatures, and after a precautionary stop, the team decided to retire the car.
As others ahead started to pit, Lance stayed out on the Hard tyre, and was running well in P5.
On Lap 36 Lance made a pit stop to swap to the Medium compound tyre, and came back out on track in P14.
He kept good pace throughout the remainder of the race, and progressed into P12 where he crossed the finish line. However, Lance was promoted to P9 after three post-race disqualifications.
#18 | Lance Stroll | Race
"It was tough out there and unfortunately we fell outside the points with a P12 finish. I thought the race was coming to us but as it progressed it ended up being a one-stop race for most.
"It was nice to have some good battles out there though, but ultimately, we just aren't quick enough, and we have a lot of work to do until we can finish in the points comfortably."
#14 | Fernando Alonso | Race
"We suffered with extremely high rear brake temperatures very early into our race today, so we were forced to retire the car. It was quite scary losing the brakes suddenly, so I'm grateful we were able to get the car back safely. We will analyse why this happened and look to improve for Japan.
"Hopefully our luck will improve for the upcoming triple header and we can fight for some points over the three weeks."
Mike Krack | Chief Trackside Officer
"It was a challenging day for us here in Shanghai and points were out of reach. Lance was one of a few drivers to start on the Hard tyres and managed them well for 36 laps before switching to the Mediums. In the end, both the Hard and Medium tyres held up well today, allowing the majority of cars to stop only once and it was difficult for us to exploit a tyre advantage in the final stint.
"Fernando's race ended early because we saw some very high temperatures on the rear brakes and retired his car as a precaution. Our attention now turns to Suzuka in a couple of weeks' time. We tried a lot of different experiments on our car set-up here in Shanghai and we will crunch the data back at base to be more competitive next time out."
Next up
The 2025 season continues on 4-6 April in Suzuka for the Japanese Grand Prix.
Saturday
Lance began the Sprint in P10 and Fernando in P11, both on the Medium tyre.
Both made overtakes on the opening lap, with Lance up to P8 and Fernando P10. Lance continued in the final points position for the majority of the Sprint, until he was overtaken by Lando Norris on the penultimate lap.
Our drivers finished the Sprint in P9 and P10, with Lance just missing out on a valuable point.
Later in the day, in Qualifying for the 2025 Chinese Grand Prix, both drivers progressed into Q2.
In what was a tight Q2, Fernando and Lance's final flying laps were unable to get them out of the drop zone, ultimately qualifying in P13 and P14 respectively.
#18 | Lance Stroll | Sprint & Qualifying
"Today was a good effort to reach Q2 and we are more or less where we expected to be. I had some space to get some clean runs in, and I used some learnings from the Sprint earlier today. The tyres definitely made it tricky, but everyone is dealing with the same challenges.
"We'll keep pushing to get everything out of the car tomorrow."
#14 | Fernando Alonso | Sprint & Qualifying
"It wasn't the best Qualifying for us today and we missed out on the top ten by one tenth. We had some difficulty with the out-lap traffic, but it was the same for everyone. We ended up making a few set-up changes to the car between the Sprint and Qualifying to try help us with improving tyre degradation for the race.
"We couldn't see any advantage today, but let's see if these changes have helped. I'm still hopeful for some opportunities tomorrow and we will try to score some points."
Mike Krack | Chief Trackside Officer
"A strong Sprint this morning for both drivers – with Lance just missing out on a point after a great battle with Lando [Norris]. I think our qualification result this afternoon is just a reflection of our car pace right now. We made some set-up changes to both cars after the Sprint and both Lance and Fernando had pretty clean sessions.
"We saw in the Sprint this morning just how tough this track is on tyres so managing tyre degradation will be a major challenge tomorrow too. We will continue doing our homework tonight to see where we can improve for the race with the aim of progressing into the points."
Friday
Lance and Fernando used the sole practice session to collect data predominantly on the Medium tyre, as well as the Soft compound.
A brief red flag paused running towards the end of FP1 ahead of both drivers completing their performance runs on the Soft tyre.
During Sprint Qualifying, the track continued to improve and both Lance and Fernando progressed into SQ2.
The team waited until late in SQ2 to send both drivers out, where their flying laps put them in the top 10.
As others around them continued to improve their lap times, Fernando was knocked out in P11, just shy of making it into SQ3.
Lance progressed into the final stage of Sprint Qualifying and after switching to the Soft compound tyre he finished the session in P10.
#18 | Lance Stroll | Free Practice & Sprint Qualifying
"Sprint Qualifying was a strong session for us today, and I'm happy to have made it to SQ3. We decided to run used softs throughout SQ3 to save tyres for Qualifying tomorrow, so it's still hard to gauge how we compare to those around us, especially with how tight the midfield is.
"We will continue to look at how we can improve for the rest of the weekend."
#14 | Fernando Alonso | Free Practice & Sprint Qualifying
"I am quite happy with Sprint Qualifying today as the car felt quite competitive. SQ1 went very well for me and in our first push lap we managed to finish second. I just missed out on the top 10 in the end, but it's good that we got one car into SQ3.
"It's clearly very close in the midfield and let's see what we can do in the Sprint. Our main focus is still very much on Qualifying and the main race, but tomorrow's Sprint gives us another opportunity to try score some points."
Next up
The first Sprint of the 2025 season begins at 03:00 GMT before we set the grid for the 2025 Chinese Grand Prix at 07:00 GMT.
Sprinting in ShanghaiSprinting in Shanghai
RACE HUB
Related content
Lance and Fernando join BOSS for grand opening of Shanghai store
Read more
F1 Sprint explained
Read more
The Debrief by Aramco: Australian Grand Prix
Read more
Aston Martin Aramco starts using new wind tunnel
Read more
Andy Cowell on early season expectations, an ultra-competitive F1 field and Adrian Newey's first days
Read more
The Debrief by Aramco: 2025 F1 pre-season testing
Read more
Tina Hausmann: Why my 2025 started months ago
Read more
A beginner's guide to F1 ACADEMY
Read moreI / AM membership
The ultimate fan experience.
Get closer to the team with unparalleled access, behind-the-scenes insights and once-in-a-lifetime experiences, and enjoy exclusive competitions, rewards, offers and more.
