Oscar Piastri bounces back in style as he conquers Shanghai after home race heartbreak! 

Lights out 

As the lights went out Piastri stayed strong to protect the race leader position. The two Ferrari drivers, Charles Leclerc and recent addition, Lewis Hamilton, started off with disappointment as the two had a small clip. Hamilton was able to drive on with no issues, but Leclerc was faced with a broken front wing, however powered on with no further issues. 

George Russell was desperate to gain places as he pulled towards the inside of Piastri but quickly backed out as he started to get cornered.  

The drama continued as Gabriel Bortoleto lost control of the car and spun into the gravel before he continued on.  

Lap 4 

Pierre Gasly was quick to report on radio that Fernando Alonso’s rear brakes were on fire. Sadly, Alonso had his race ended early as he was forced to retire.  

Lap 16 

Lando Norris, Piastri and Leclerc all pit for new Hards which resulted in Alex Albon taking the lead. Norris exited the Pit Lane with Russell with swiftness as he breezed past him to claim P4 then moments later, Russell continued his hunt for positions, and he squeezed past Stroll for P3 before Norris joined in as he overtook Stroll for P4.  

Lap 18 

Norris wasted no time to climb up the leaderboard as he squeezed down the inside line of Russell as he claimed P3.  

Lap 33, 36 and 40 

Oliver Bearman found himself in an overtaking frenzy as he zoomed past the Red Bull of Liam Lawson for P16. Seconds later, Bearman dove down the outside of Jack Doohan to take hold of P15. Bearman wasted no time as he chased down Carlos Sainz for P13 before he ended his overtaking fun as he used the slipstream to overtake Pierre Gasly for P10, moving himself into the points. 

Lap 46 

Doohan in desperation to get positions had attempted an overtake on Isack Hadjar which ended with his brakes locking up leading to Hadjar being forced off track. Doohan was then quickly met by a ten second time penalty. 

The drama continued as Yuki Tsunoda went down into Turn 1 before being faced with a broken front wing. Tsunoda’s front wing broke by itself leading to confusion going around the Racing Bulls garage and the confusion showing on Tsunoda’s radio: 

“Front wing damage from what?!”  

Lap 53 

Verstappen saw an opportunity during the final laps as he made a swift dive around Leclerc as he claimed P4. Leclerc made a couple of attempts but in the end was no match for the Red Bull. 

Lap 56 

The chequered flag was waved, and Oscar Piastri claimed the win at Shanghai after his disappointing home race weekend! Piastri was followed closely behind by teammate, Lando Norris, to make it a McLaren 1-2 with George Russell in P3.  

Post-race 

Ferrari and Alpine didn’t see any sort of happy endings to the day as Lewis Hamilton, Charles Leclerc and Pierre Gasly were all disqualified. 

Both Leclerc and Gasly were disqualified due to the two being below the minimum weight regulations after the race, while Hamilton was disqualified for the thickness of plank assembly being below the permitted minimum thickness.  

UP NEXT: April 4^th to the 6^th will see the highly anticipated Japan race weekend in Suzuka!  

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