Chinese Grand Prix

Sprinting in ShanghaiSprinting in Shanghai

2025 season

Rounding out a double header to start the season, Shanghai delivered the first Sprint race weekend of the year. With less practice time and a resurfaced track, our team was stepping into Sunday's race with some unknowns.

Cooler temperatures faced us on Sunday afternoon where Fernando and Lance started the Grand Prix in P13 and P14.

After starting on the alternate strategy, Lance embarked on a number of battles as he went long on his first stint on the Hard tyre. He secured P12 at the chequered flag, but was promoted to P9 after post-race disqualifications, scoring two valuable points. Fernando, meanwhile, had brake temperature issues on Lap 4 of the Grand Prix and had to retire the car, bringing his race to an early end.

Elsewhere, F1 Academy driver Tina Hausmann had a difficult weekend, finishing P13 and P15 in her first two races of the 2025 season.

LanceStroll

9th

RACE POSITION

8th

DRIVER STANDING

Lance's profile

FernandoAlonso

DNF

RACE POSITION

20th

DRIVER STANDING

Fernando's profile

Chinese Grand Prix race stats

0.5

Number of pitstops

Longest stint (laps)

Total laps

163.5

Total kilometres

LanceStroll

Final position

P14

Starting position

Points

FernandoAlonso

DNF

Final position

P14

Starting position

Points

Fastest lapM:S.MS

1:36.044

Lance

1:39.256

Fernando

Max speedKM/H

198.7

Lance

174.6

Fernando

Practice laps

Lance

Fernando

Sprint Qualifying laps

Lance

Fernando

Sprint laps

Lance

Fernando

Qualifying laps

Lance

Fernando

Race laps

Lance

Fernando

Total laps

121

Lance

Fernando

Chinese Grand Prix

The Debrief by Aramco

A mixed outcome in China as Lance brings home a points finish in P9 after managing his tyres well whilst Fernando retires from the race.

TRACK INSIGHTS

Shanghai International CircuitShanghai International Circuit

Long straights and sweeping corners. The imposing Shanghai International Circuit hosts the first Sprint weekend of 2025.

Without much time to catch the breath after the season-opener in Melbourne, everyone makes the 8,000km trip to Shanghai for the second leg of this double-header and the first Sprint weekend of the season. We're heading to China buoyed by a strong result for Lance, who kept his cool in a chaotic Australian Grand Prix. The quirky nature of the Albert Park circuit, and the pandemonium of a wet race make it difficult to draw any firm conclusions – but we certainly saw enough in Australia to know that the midfield battle is tighter than ever, and nothing less than perfection will do this time out.

Sprint weekends are intense. Designed to give fans consequential action on every day, teams are in a permanent up-tempo cycle, always readying their cars and drivers for the next qualifying or race session. There's a lot of pressure, a lot that needs to be done right first time, but also more opportunities to score – all set against a background that features one of the world’s most vibrant, 24-hour Alpha Cities.

F2 takes a break this week, so we don’t have our Young Driver Jak Crawford on track, but Shanghai sees a new season of the F1 Academy get underway with races on Saturday and Sunday. Tina Hausmann will again be representing us this season, hoping to build on her rookie experiences last year and be in the thick of the action this time around.

Turn One is a very high-speed corner where you enter in seventh or eighth gear, flat into the apex.

Pedro de la Rosa – Aston Martin Aramco Team Ambassador

Toggle below to highlight parts of the track.

Sectors
Turns
DRS

Circuit length
5.451km
Number of corners
16
Race distance
305.066km

NEED TO KNOW: CHINESE GP

The essential Shanghai travel guide with Regent Seven Seas Cruises

Racing in the suburbs of the city that has it all

Mastering Shanghai International Circuit

Strategy insights from Shanghai

Ultimate Chinese Grand Prix facts

Last time out in Shanghai

The essential Shanghai travel guide with Regent Seven Seas Cruises

The Shanghai International Circuit is indeed in Shanghai – but Shanghai is massive with 30 million people living within the metropolitan area, and thus the circuit is quite a distance from the bright lights of the city's core. Fortunately, the excellent metro system has a station at the track, and after a day at the circuit, there's an awful lot to see within easy reach.

There are parts of the world where you want to avoid the tourist traps. Shanghai isn't one of them. Go to the Ming Dynasty Yu Gardens, take a walk along The Bund at night and take in the sites of the former International Settlement, or the former French Concession.

Do some high-class shopping on Nanjing Road – or one of the fake markets, if you prefer a bargain – and day or night, head up to the world's highest observation platform on the 100th floor of the Shanghai World Financial Centre, providing you don't mind the glass floor.

Also, if you're heading to Shanghai to watch F1, chances are you enjoy things that go fast. If so, don't miss the opportunity to ride on the Pudong Airport Maglev. It's been turned-down a little bit from its former top speed of 433km/h – but it's still the fastest thing on magnets.

Set sail: Unforgettable landmarks and stunning skylines, click here to explore Shanghai and more of China's irresistible charms with Regent Seven Seas Cruises.

Racing in the suburbs of the city that has it all

The Chinese Grand Prix has been a fixture on the F1 calendar since 2004, originally as an end-of-season race, before switching to early season in 2009. It had a longer hiatus due to the global covid pandemic than most circuits, but returned to the fold last year with a Sprint added to the event.

This format limits teams to a single practice session before pitching them into a qualifying session. The comfort zone of having time to analyse data and run sessions in the simulator overnight are taken away, with greater reliance on coming out swinging, getting it right first time. A tweak to the format, introduced last year, does allow setup changes to be made after the Sprint and before Qualifying – but it's not really a substitute for grinding out the laps in practice. Especially at this time of year, it makes the result highly uncertain.

The circuit is a designated tourist zone, with exhibitions and theme-park attractions on site, though it is tucked out of the way in the suburb of Jiading. Given Shanghai is one of the world's premium Alpha Cities, that's quite a distance from the bright lights of the centre but the track has its own metro station, whisking fans back and forth with rapidity – which makes it very easy to visit the circuit during the day and explore everything Shanghai has to offer at night.

We say 'everything' Shanghai has to offer. The reality is we could have all 24 races at the Shanghai International Circuit and never get close to running out of things to do in Shanghai. From ancient, tranquil gardens, through its mercantile history as a trading centre in the age of sail, up to the gleaming spires of the modern-day skyscrapers, there's always another market, museum or observation deck to visit. And the city never sleeps, so you can pick your own timetable.

Mastering Shanghai International Circuit

Shanghai International Circuit is noted for two things: two long straights, and two long, multi-apex corners. The latter are sometimes referred to as 'snails' – though nautilus would be closer to the mark, given their tightening radii that wind around and back on themselves. The first is a complex at the end of the start-finish straight, the second leads onto the back straight.

The length of the straights would usually suggest a low-drag, low-downforce car but because of the snails, and the hairpins at Turns Six and 14, the time spend at full-throttle in Shanghai is quite low. This means the teams tend to add more downforce – but how much more is a tricky proposition.

This is one of the easier circuits on which to overtake – so take off too much, and the cars are sitting ducks at the end of the straight. On the other hand, take off too little, and the cars are slow coming out of the second snail onto the backstraight, and likewise struggle to defend or attack.

It's also a circuit at which wear has to be managed very carefully. The track is front-limited, with the first corner complex being difficult to manage, as the cars are turning-in before the drivers touch the brakes, scrubbing-off speed, and potentially sliding as they head through the tightening turn. Too aggressive here and the front-left will struggle.

The first and third sectors have the long straights and slow corners, but the middle sector is more flowing, with medium- and high-speed corners. It is, however, the two corners at the very end of the lap that tend to attract the most attention: The T14/T15 Hairpin at the end of the long back-straight is the prime overtaking spot in Shanghai. It's tough to defend, given an attacking driver can use either the inside or outside lines.

Squabbles that aren't settled at the hairpin can carry on to the final corner – though this can be dramatic even for a single car: it can be bumpy, and cars running wide are at risk of spinning-out. It's also a corner that Race Control pay careful attention to for track limits. Drivers can lose Qualifying laps for straying off here – either the lap they're on or the lap they're about to start.

Regarding those bumps: the nature of the circuit plays a part. You'll have noticed the novel paddock, with the team hospitality buildings perched on stilts above a lagoon. The track is built on boggy ground, and develops new lumps and bumps every year as a result. The authorities will grind and patch – but each race tends to be a new experience.

Strategy insights from Shanghai

The 2024 Sprint in China saw 19 of the 20 cars run a Medium compound tyre – though George Russell's race on a Soft compound saw him advance from P11 on the grid to P8 at the flag – which will be something to be considered this time around. Of the Medium starters, 13 opted to race with a lightly used tyre, including both Lance and Fernando.

The race was a little more complicated. Last year's Chinese Grand Prix was our first time in Shanghai with this generation of car – and therefore should point to the right strategy for the race. 2024 was, however, an inconclusive race, with consecutive mid-race Safety Cars blowing it wide open. Cars made anything between one and four stops, with all three compounds in play, and a range of different strategies scored points.

The Sprint Weekend tyre allocation muddies the waters – but most drivers took either two new Hard or two new Medium tyres into the race, and the majority of cars started on the Medium compound – though both Soft and Hard tyres featured on the start grid. The Medium-shod cars began to pit after eight laps – though some went all the way to the Safety Car on lap 22, while the Soft starters all pitted between laps eight and 12.

With three of the top five finishers one-stopping, that would suggest teams will look favourably at that approach this year – but it should be noted 10 laps of Safety Car mid-race may have extended the life of that tyre – though equally the restart on a cooling Hard tyre will have made it more prone to sliding, and thus suffering higher degradation. Essentially, this year's Grand Prix is full of uncertainty.

Ultimate Chinese Grand Prix facts

1 | The Chinese Grand Prix was first held in 2004 and ran uninterrupted until 2019, after which it went on hiatus because of the global pandemic, returning in 2024. Every Chinese Grand Prix has been held at this circuit.

2 | Everything at the Shanghai International circuit exists on a grand scale. It has the biggest paddock in F1 and the grandstands can hold 200,000 spectators. The main grandstand alone has room for 30,000 people.

3 | The Shanghai International Circuit is notionally laid out in a pattern similar to the Chinese character 'Shang' (上), meaning 'above' or 'ascend' and the first character in the name of the city.

4 | The design of the paddock, with its hospitality buildings build on stilts over the lagoon, reached by winding pathways, is inspired by Shanghai's historic Yu Gardens. There are maps around the periphery – but everyone gets lost at some point over the weekend.

5 | Fernando set fastest lap last year. The 25th of his F1 career.

6 | Two of Fernando's 32 victories have come on this circuit, winning in 2005 and 2013.

7 | Lance was the quickest car of all in a straight line in Shanghai last year, hitting 347.4 km/h (215.9 mph) in the speed trap.

8 | Pirelli brings the C2, C3 and C4 compounds for this weekend's race. Fernando ran 20 laps on the soft compound C4 tyre during the 2024 Chinese Grand Prix, the longest stint by any driver on that tyre.

Last time out in Shanghai

Last year was our first visit to the Chinese Grand Prix. It was a tough weekend, with both cars acquiring damage, and both drivers picking-up penalties.

Fernando qualified a magnificent P3 for both the Sprint and the Grand Prix. He suffered a DNF in the Sprint following a puncture but came home P7 in an eventful race and grabbed the extra point for fastest lap.

Lance qualified P15 for the Sprint and finished P14. He was P11 on the grid for the race, but a tough afternoon on track left him coming home P15.

Free Practice 1

Fri 21 MAR03:30-04:30 GMT

03:30-04:30 GMT

Sprint Qualifying

Fri 21 MAR07:30-08:14 GMT

07:30-08:14 GMT

Sprint

Sat 22 MAR03:00-04:00 GMT

03:00-04:00 GMT

Qualifying

Sat 22 MAR07:00-08:00 GMT

07:00-08:00 GMT

Race

Sun 23 MAR07:00 GMT

07:00 GMT

Tina Hausmann

Why my 2025 started months ago

As F1 Academy kicks off in Shanghai, Tina Hausmann checks in after her winter break to talk driving tests, school exams, gearing up for her sophomore season in the series, and what it's like being recognised in the street.

DISCOVER MORE

What to expect in 2025

F1 Sprint explained

Ahead of the season's first Sprint weekend, here's everything you need to know to get you up to speed.

LEARN MORE

F1 Academy

A beginner's guide

Aston Martin Aramco F1 Academy driver Tina Hausmann continues in the ultra-competitive, all-female, single-seater series this season. Here's your essential guide to F1 Academy in 2025.

AMR25

Explore our 2025 F1 carExplore our 2025 F1 car

Discover more

I / 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.

JOIN NOW

Sprinting in ShanghaiSprinting in Shanghai

The Debrief by Aramco

Shanghai International CircuitShanghai International Circuit

The essential Shanghai travel guide with Regent Seven Seas Cruises

Racing in the suburbs of the city that has it all

Mastering Shanghai International Circuit

Strategy insights from Shanghai

Ultimate Chinese Grand Prix facts

Last time out in Shanghai

Why my 2025 started months ago

F1 Sprint explained

A beginner's guide

Explore our 2025 F1 carExplore our 2025 F1 car

Related content

The Debrief by Aramco: Chinese Grand Prix

Lance and Fernando join BOSS for grand opening of Shanghai store

Inside Glenfiddich's Aston Martin Aramco-themed Shanghai takeover

Aston Martin Aramco starts using new wind tunnel

International Women's Day: Key takeaways from our fireside chat with Arm

Unveiling our 2025 replica teamwear collection

Harder, better, faster, stronger: How F1 drivers prepare for a new season

Setting sail: The sea freight operation supporting our 2025 season

Places to go, people to see, things to do – looking ahead to the 2025 F1 season

Explore our official merchandise

I / AM membership

Title Partner

Principal Partner