McLaren car “may well” be slower if adapted to Norris’s driving style

Lando Norris seemed to roll a grenade under the door during a press conference ahead of the Chinese Grand Prix when he said he had effectively given up persuading his McLaren team to design a car which suits his preferred attacking style.
Since the MCL39 was the benchmark car at the season opener – Norris and team-mate Oscar Piastri would likely have finished 1-2 had Piastri not spun – this …Keep reading

Autosport Podcast: Reviewing Friday practice and sprint qualifying at the Chinese GP

Alex Kalinauckas and Ronald Vording report from the Shanghai International Circuit to review Friday’s sprint qualifying session for the 2025 Chinese Grand Prix.
In a surprise, it’s a sprint pole for Lewis Hamilton, the oldest pole of any F1 format since Nigel Mansell in 1994. Alex and Ronald explain why the “peaky” nature of the Ferrari may have helped Lewis to pole and the “mega” …Keep reading

Explained: The safety system behind the Australian GP on-track recovery vehicle scenes

A little-known FIA system was behind the decision to send recovery vehicles on-track during Formula 1’s Australian Grand Prix, according to information gathered by Autosport.
The incident in the Melbourne race produced a notable split in opinion, with many observers puzzled as to how the scenes had unfolded while the drivers were unconcerned. The discussion arose after Fernando Alonso crashed …Keep reading

Can F1 rivals hold off McLaren in China’s sprint race?

Having dominated Formula 1 in Australia, the expectation was McLaren would at least be as quick on the resurfaced Shanghai International Circuit for round two. With China being a sprint weekend, Friday’s sole practice pace was particularly difficult to read much into, with almost no meaningful long-run comparisons across teams.
McLaren was still fastest on one-lap pace, mind you, with Lando …Keep reading

Why Williams wing-footage breach exposes a fundamental problem

Aero-elasticity continues to be a hot topic in Formula 1 in the wake of the FIA announcing more stringent tests on rear wings to detect if they are flexing under load. So naturally there has been an immediate presumption of guilt when the governing body circulated a report from technical delegate Jo Bauer that he was referring Williams to the stewards for failing to supply camera footage of its …Keep reading

Sainz admits he’s “still not feeling at home” in Williams

Carlos Sainz admits he still does not feel at home in the cockpit of his Williams Formula 1 car after a disappointing showing in Chinese Grand Prix sprint qualifying.
The Spaniard joined Williams from Ferrari over the winter and set the pace in pre-season testing before crashing behind the safety car during the Australian Grand Prix last weekend.
Sainz, with four grand prix victories to his …Keep reading

Trackside view: Hamilton has China sprint pole, but Ferrari still struggling most of leading teams

The rolling cheers were the first clue. Reverberating as if sprint qualifying for Formula 1’s Chinese Grand Prix was taking place within a leisure centre swimming pool – such is the way the Shanghai track’s giant main grandstand traps noise – was the noise that greeted Lewis Hamilton’s first Ferrari pole.
At this stage, there was still Max Verstappen left to run as Autosport continued …Keep reading

Lawson puts F1 Chinese GP SQ1 elimination down to inability to cool tyres

Liam Lawson put his Chinese Grand Prix sprint qualifying woes down to an inability to cool his tyres enough for his final flying lap, leading to him propping up the rest of the Formula 1 field.
The New Zealander was up to 10th after the opening runs, having opened with a 1m32.729s time, but his second attempt was aborted – and ultimately deleted – after running wide at Turn 9 and surpassing …Keep reading

Norris admits “trying to push too much” after “struggling” with McLaren car in China

Lando Norris admitted his own mistakes left the early Formula 1 championship leader qualifying down in sixth for the sprint race at the Chinese Grand Prix.
After winning in Australia last weekend, Norris had been towing a fine line between admitting McLaren was the team to beat while also attempting to temper expectations of just how quick its car is.
Norris, whose team-mate Oscar Piastri …Keep reading