A Saturday of firsts

It was a Saturday of firsts today in Shanghai. This morning, at his 19^th attempt, Lewis Hamilton took his first win in a Sprint race, as did his new team, Ferrari. In the afternoon, at his 48^th attempt, Oscar Piastri tasted the delights of claiming his very first pole position.

This is McLaren’s 166^th pole, the third in row after those at the final race of 2024 in Abu Dhabi and in Melbourne last Saturday. The last time the English squad was on pole in Shanghai dates back to 2008, courtesy of Hamilton. Piastri is the fifth Australian to take an F1 pole, after Jack Brabham, Alan Jones, Mark Webber and Daniel Ricciardo.

The Pirelli Pole Position Award was presented to Piastri by Aarif Lee (Li Zhiting), a singer, songwriter and actor originally from Hong Kong. Li Zhiting made his film debut in “Echoes of the Rainbow,” which earned him two best upcoming actor awards. He next played Bruce Lee in the biopic, “Bruce Lee, My Brother” and starred alongside Jackie Chan in the comedy, “Kung Fu Yoga” as well as appearing in several successful Chinese TV series.

THE DAY ON TRACK 

All drivers started the Sprint race on used Mediums. Managing graining in the only real opportunity to evaluate the tyres over a long run was the dominant theme of the 19 laps, with quite noticeable differences, not just between teams but also between drivers in the same cars. There was slightly more graining today than yesterday, which accelerated wear, but in fact the data gathered from the Sprint meant all the teams were able to change their set-up. How that affects tyre behaviour will be seen tomorrow in the race. 15 of the 20 drivers did their first Q1 run on a set of used Softs. The track continued to evolve throughout the day but less rapidly than yesterday. However, it still delivered lap times a further three tenths quicker than anything ever seen at this track in Formula 1. 

MARIO ISOLA - PIRELLI DIRECTOR OF MOTORSPORT

“A day of records. In qualifying we saw yesterday’s lap times beaten and in the Sprint, taking into account the stint from today’s winner compared to the same event last year, we saw lap times over four seconds faster, even though temperatures were significantly higher. From one year to the next, we therefore see a huge increase in performance, much greater than that based on simulations going into this race, which it should be noted, are based on data received from all the teams. It was therefore absolutely logical to raise the minimum pressures for the start, by one psi on each axle.

As for strategy, the level of degradation leads us to suggest that a two-stop is obligatory, featuring the Medium and the Hard. Although the new Soft is fairly close to the Medium in terms of performance, we don’t think it’s a valid choice, even if it could offer more grip off the start line. In fact, those starting near the back might go for the Hard to extend the first stint as long as possible, before making up places in the run of pit stops.

What we can be sure of is that everything would seem to be in place to deliver an uncertain and exciting race. In yesterday’s Sprint Qualifying, we saw the top three covered by just 80 thousandths, while today it was 82: a further indication of just how close it all is in Formula 1 in the early part of the 2025 season.”

Alisha Palmowski is the first winner in this season’s F1 Academy series. The British Red Bull Racing-Campos driver took the chequered flag just 206 thousandths ahead of the American Chloe Chambers, her team-mate who races under Red Bull Ford colours. Palmowski profited from the penultimate lap retirement of the Dutch driver Nina Gademan (Alpine-Prema) who, having started from pole, led the race to within ten kilometres of the finish. On the third step of the podium was her fellow countrywoman, Ferrari’s Maya Weug, who took pole yesterday and so started eighth today with the reversed grid. The race had three neutralisations. The second race of this all-female championship for which Pirelli is the sole tyre supplier, takes place tomorrow morning.