F1 Chinese GP 2025 Preview: Lewis Hamilton’s rebound race; McLaren favourites & more

Lando Norris won the opening race of the 2025 season

After one of the wildest season openers of F1 in the Australian Grand Prix, the paddock is all ready to set foot in Shanghai for the weekend’s Chinese Grand Prix 2025.

Taking a glimpse at the recent race at Albert Park, rain was always in the forecast for the Australian Grand Prix. Now with Albert Park being a track that can eat the drivers up even in dry conditions, we somewhere knew that we were in for some chaos down under.

Round number ✌️ coming right up!And it's our first #F1Sprint weekend of the year!#F1 #ChineseGP pic.twitter.com/TNKNojKfyj

— Formula 1 (@F1) March 20, 2025

Hadjar, Doohan and Sainz all crashed out in the first lap of the race. But the chaos did not end there. Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso also crashed, which brought the safety car out on the track. Finally, in the end, Lando Norris crossed the chequered flag at the Australian Grand Prix 2025 after a 57-lap race of constantly changing weather conditions.

With the Chinese Grand Prix 2025, just a stone’s throw away, let us have a preview of the weekend race.

Chinese Grand Prix 2025: Preview

Clampdown on flexi-wings ahead of the weekend race

It’s a sprint race weekend! Just after the Australian GP 2025, the President of the FIA had a surprise for all of us. There are some stricter tests being enforced before the race, especially a stricter rear wing deflection test.

Following the ‘mini DRS’ suspicions after the race at Melbourne, FIA’s new restrictions instruct all 10 teams to design rear wings that flex no more than 2mm under a 75kg vertical load bearing test on the mainplane, with a China specific tolerance of 0.25mm.

The margins between the top 4 teams is not that wide, but given that the Shanghai track has that infamously long straight before the final section, it’ll be too soon to judge anything. 

Lewis Hamilton’s Rebound Race?

When it comes to the circuit itself, there are many things that give us signs of hope that Lewis Hamilton might have his rebound at the Shanghai race. With his staggering six wins at that circuit, it is an intriguing possibility. 

Even though this may not be a significant contributing factor to Hamilton’s performance at the upcoming race, but the Chinese GP is not expected to have a single trace of rain, with maximum chances of 5% on Sunday.

After the Ferrari debut at the Australian GP, it definitely wasn’t the dream start he must have been hoping for. Because of the lack of adaptability to the constant change of weather conditions, Ferrari’s overall performance was compromised. 

China calls for a new look pic.twitter.com/7zTrc9e8qZ

— Scuderia Ferrari HP (@ScuderiaFerrari) March 18, 2025

However, before the Chinese GP, Lewis Hamilton expressed his optimism, “I do think the actual car has a lot more performance. We just didn’t unlock it this weekend”.

McLaren to be the frontrunner again!

Heading into the Chinese Grand Prix 2025, McLaren seems to be the team to beat. Their innovative rear brake system has enhanced tyre management, giving them a crucial edge. 

Last season, McLaren had shown strong pace in Australia and China, even before their major Miami upgrade. In the recent Melbourne race, they were three-tenths quicker per lap than their closest rival, Red Bull.  However, Shanghai’s front-limited layout may slightly narrow the gap, but for now, it is safe to say that McLaren remains the benchmark heading into China.

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