I…. uh… what do I even say? (Mercedes AMG F1 Twitter)
No, seriously, what is there to say about the first sprint of the season that hasn’t already been said? The front row was almost a repeat of what happened last week in Australia. Mercedes’ George Russell was in the lead with the Ferrari drivers trailing behind him, hoping for a shot to overtake him. Incumbent Drivers’ Champion Lando Norris was just behind them in P4, followed by Russell’s teammate (and now the youngest pole sitter in history, apparently), Kimi Antonelli.
I’m simplifying here, of course. Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton muscled past Russell early on, kicking off a short but lively exchange between the two former teammates until Russell secured the lead for good. Once that happened, the race began to stabilize into a familiar pattern, with Charles Leclerc sitting in P2 and Hamilton slotting in behind him.
And to be fair, the status quo was almost shaken up when a safety car was called 13 laps in. But once racing resumed, Russell handled the restart cleanly, and that order held to the checkered flag.
It’s… pretty much what happened last time (F1 Twitter)
So instead, let’s take a moment to focus on the big upset. For the second time in under a year, Racing Bulls driver Liam Lawson outscored both of the Red Bull cars, finishing in P7 while Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar trailed behind in P9 and P15, respectively*. Verstappen, who has a longstanding history of winning the sprints despite his stated distaste for them, was understandably upset at the quality of his car. He took to the media pits to vent his frustration, describing his Red Bull as “completely undrivable” and the team as “never ha[ving] anything this bad with everything together.”
And from looking at his drive, it’s hard to argue with him. The Dutchman started eighth on the grid today, but a poor launch slipped him to P14 before he slowly crawled his way back into ninth, just outside the points. At least it was better than Hadjar’s race, which never really got off the ground after an opening lap collision with Antonelli.
Question: Is the second-seat curse technically broken now that both the cars seem to suck? (Oracle RBR Twitter)
I know I sound quite dry and detached in my sprint race recaps, and I apologize for that. But there’s usually so little to say about them, especially since it’s still too early in the season for sprint points to mean anything. We’re only one proper race in. The hierarchies haven’t settled, and 19 laps around Shanghai is very unlikely to change the status quo. We’re back where we began last week, with Mercedes and Ferrari fighting it out in the front row while leaving the remaining nine teams to pick up the pieces.
No Miscellaneous Notes
I don’t even have a miscellaneous notes section for this one, because what can I say now that hasn’t been said last week? Aston Martin is still in the gutter with their nonperforming car. Cadillac still hasn’t found its groove on the grid. Alpine and Williams are… well, existing but not doing anything of note. People are still arguing about the regulation changes and Formula One Management is not handling the criticism very well.
Hopefully, the Grand Prix gives us more to talk about tomorrow. I’ll see you then.
-F
*For those less familiar with the rules of F1 that still read my race recaps (hi, Mom!): Only the top 8 drivers score points in sprint races, compared to the top 10 in a standard Grand Prix.