Oscar Piastri led a one-two for McLaren in the Chinese Grand Prix, but the team suffered a scare on his team mate’s car in the final laps.
Lando Norris nursed his MCL39 around the final laps, losing several seconds to his team mate, as he managed a problem with his brakes. Despite increasingly urgent warnings from his race engineer Will Joseph, Norris hung on to complete a one-two for the team.
George Russell completed the podium, closing to little more than a second behind Norris at the flag. He lost second place to Norris at the start, briefly reclaimed it following their sole pit stops, but the McLaren driver repassed him in the DRS zone shortly afterwards.
The Ferrari drivers ran ahead of Max Verstappen early in the race but the Red Bull driver got past both of them before the end. He passed Charles Leclerc on-track, and gained a place from Lewis Hamilton, who fell to sixth place after making a second pit stop.
Following pre-race concerns about how well the tyres would perform, the hard rubber proved resilient enough for most drivers to make a single pit stop. Hamilton was the only driver among the first 13 finishers to pit twice.
Racing Bulls put both their drivers on two-stop strategies, which meant neither driver scored, having started inside the top 10. Yuki Tsunoda had to pit a third time after a front wing end plate failed and Isack Hadjar was frustrated by Jack Doohan, who was given a 10-second time penalty for forcing his rival off the track.
Haas enjoyed a welcome turnaround in pace following their poor start to the weekend in Australia. Esteban Ocon took seventh while Oliver Bearman, one of few drivers to start the race on the hard tyres, passed a string of rivals on his way to the final point.
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They were separated by Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who lost time when Tsunoda jumped ahead of him when they pitted, and Alexander Albon, who briefly led the race on his birthday by running a long first stint on the medium compound.
Fernando Alonso was the only driver to retire from the race as he suffered a brake fire in the early stages. His team mate Lance Stroll ran the longest first stint of all but eventually slipped back to 12th behind Pierre Gasly.
Liam Lawson started from the pit lane after qualifying last, but struggled to make progress and finished 15th, 20 seconds away from the points places.
Second place for Norris means he has increased his lead in the drivers’ championship to eight points over Verstappen. McLaren lead Mercedes by 29 points in the constructors’ standings.
This article will be updated.
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