Chinese GP Recap:

Shanghai Silverware & Doriane Delight

Silverware in the Year of the Snake

“That was one of the best weekends of my career,” said George in parc fermé after Sunday’s race.

Not what you would expect to hear from a racing driver after a P3, but that only serves to emphasise how impressive the 17th Grand Prix podium of his career was.

Splitting the McLarens in qualifying and then keeping them honest in the race was not an outcome many expected, but George made himself known to the Papaya cars out front.

One more lap, and P3 could have become P2 with Lando Norris struggling up ahead.

It secured back-to-back F1 podium finishes for the 27-year-old for the first time since Zandvoort and Monza in 2022.

Thirty-five points from two Grands Prix – even considering the added bonus of five points from Saturday’s Sprint – makes this George’s best ever start to a season. In 2022, he amassed 22 points from the first races in Bahrain and Saudi.

Speaking of that Sprint, a fine move up the inside of Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari turned a quiet P5 into a hard-earned P4.

And he did it all, in an epic special-edition Year of the Snake helmet. It might be early days, of course, but George has quietly slithered his way into contention.

Shining in Shanghai

F1 ACADEMY kicked off its 2025 campaign in Shanghai with new drivers and some new rules, but our junior driver Doriane was ready for anything in China.

P2 in Quali was not quite what the French racer was looking for, but from there the 21-year-old did not look back.

A tidy drive from P7 to P4 in the first reverse grid race on Saturday was backed up by a dominating victory in race two on Sunday – a brilliant move around the outside of polesitter Maya Weug off a rolling start at Turn One set up the win.

Doriane leaves Shanghai with the Championship lead, with the series back on track in Saudi Arabia next month. Still smiling from her trip to the top step of the podium, Doriane then spent her afternoon in the F1 garage, enjoying the Grand Prix alongside Toto and Valtteri.

Kimi Keeps on Rolling

Two Grands Prix and a Sprint, three points-finishes for Kimi.

While this weekend may not have had the extravagance of Melbourne, it was another mature three days behind the wheel for the 18-year-old, at a track he had never raced at before.

A P7 in the Sprint followed by a P6 on Sunday means Kimi has collected 22 points from his first two weekends as a full-time F1 driver.

Sunday’s drive was not easy, either, as floor damage collected on the opening lap restricted some of his W16’s performance.

Nevertheless, a 44-lap second stint on the Medium tyre was well-managed, and Kimi was once again the best of F1’s 2025 rookie cohort at the chequered flag.

The reward? A first F1 Driver of the Day award.

Another Mercedes Milestone

From Fangio to Russell, via Moss, Schumacher, and Hamilton – Sunday afternoon’s P3 marked the 300th podium for Mercedes-Benz as a works team in Formula One.

Of those 300, 283 have come since our return to the sport in 2010.

That was not the only notable figure the Three-Pointed Star achieved in Shanghai.

The podium lockout on Sunday for Mercedes-Benz Power was the 18th in F1 history, moving us ahead of Renault. MB also completed its 150,000th Grand Prix lap over the course of the weekend.

In Saturday’s Sprint, Mercedes F1 surpassed 100 points in the format since it was introduced in 2021. George, for the record, has scored 55 of those.

Elsewhere on the grid, Laura Müller became the first female race engineer to score points - a P5 with former Mercedes F1 junior programme member Esteban Ocon.

Team-mates

Board games, sporting competition and paddock commutes, George and Kimi made the most of their time in Shanghai.

An intense game of Mahjong strategy was followed by an action-packed game of Padel at the start of the weekend, and the pair also scooted to the Sprint on Saturday morning.

There was also time for a quick stop at Shanghai’s IWC Schaffhausen boutique before the track action had even started.