F1 2025 Chinese Grand Prix: 5 things you might have missed including Fernando Alonso disaster

Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin, Abu Dhabi, 2024 — Photo: © IMAGO

Chinese Grand Prix

F1 2025 Chinese Grand Prix: 5 things you might have missed including Fernando Alonso disaster

We're two races into the 2025 season!

Chris Deeley

Monday 24 March 2025 04:00

Just like that, in a quick flash, two rounds of the 2025 Formula 1 season are over.

The Chinese Grand Prix and its action-packed schedule offered an intriguing follow-up to an exciting season opener in Australia, with the sport now preparing to head to Japan for round three in early April.

With that said, there is plenty to unpack from the race, beyond just the results and that's exactly what we are here for. Huddled around a flickering old CRT TV at GPFans Towers, we've noted down everything that happened, not just the headline-makers.

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You know it was a McLaren 1-2. You probably know that Ferrari played silly devils with a pit-stop call again. You might even know that Liam Lawson is still without a point. But did you know...

Alex Albon is definitely good

When his race engineer came over the radio to give him an update on his tires, he wasn't even allowed to deliver the caveat in 'We're happy with the tires for now, but--' before being cut off.

"Yeah, I'm good. I am good. I am better than everyone. Let's relax, I am very comfortable."

He finished ninth, two places behind a Haas.

Rookies not great, old man worse

Last weekend was an unmitigated disaster for all but one 'rookie' driver, but China saw them all finish (good) and two of them get points (also good). Jack Doohan might've picked up his second penalty in as many days and Gabriel Bortoleto might've ruined his race with a spin on the first lap, but hey! We're grading on a curve here!

Meanwhile, the man who was racing in Formula 1 before all six of this year's nominal newbies were even born had a shocker. Fernando Alonso crashed out last weekend in Melbourne, but it was a brake issue that forced him out after just a few laps in Shanghai.

That makes it just the second time in his career that the Spaniard has retired from both of the opening two races of a season (he missed one each in 2015 and 2016 thanks to injuries sustained in testing and at the Australian Grand Prix respectively), and the fewest laps he's completed in any two-race span to open the season (just 37).

Contrast that with two years ago, when he started the season with three straight podium finishes. The first Adrian Newey car can't come soon enough.

Racing Bulls maturing fast

It's been an interesting start to the season in the Red Bull junior team. They've somehow come away from the first two races with just three points in total, putting them ahead only of Alpine, but their pace has been far better than that.

Yuki Tsunoda qualified fifth in Australia, while both he and Isack Hadjar made it into Q3 this weekend. Some things may have gone awry – the pit stop decision in Australia, Hadjar's formation lap crash, and...well, something we'll get onto shortly – but it bodes well for the rest of the season.

A real, hidden sign of a whole team coming together though? Operating like a well-oiled machine in the pits. Tsunoda's first stop on Sunday flashed up on the screens as a 2.1 second effort, around 0.2 seconds faster than Ferrari's race-leading effort in Australia and provisionally the best of the season so far. Chapeau.

However...

Red Bull breaks your wings!

In a morning of slightly weird mechanical moments – Charles Leclerc's car being faster than his teammates despite missing a left front-wing endplate for 56.9 laps, for example – Racing Bulls suffered the most.

How so? Well, coming down the home straight with a handful of laps to go and in position for a nice finish, Tsunoda's front wing just...broke. The big ol' whole flap on one side let go and was just hanging around underneath the rest of the structure, necessitating a race-ruining stop to change it out.

Lando Norris nearly went one better with the mechanical issues when he lost the ability to brake fully in the dying laps, but he didn't lose a single place! Grow up! Stop whining!

Ciao, World Bear Day!

Ollie Bearman was in the points for the third time in his first four grands prix, bouncing back from his first point-free outing to claim an impressive tenth place on World Bear Day, of all days.

The young Haas driver was working his way up through the field on fresh tires when he overtook the struggling Liam Lawson, switching back on him at the final hairpin and giving a cheery 'ciao!' on team radio as he flew past. Lawson immediately pitted.

In his post-race interview, Bearman admitted: "I feel really bad now. I overtook someone, and I said 'ciao'."

Here's the thing, Ollie. You were in an F1 car, with your helmet on and the engine roaring, and so was the bloke you said 'ciao' to. He probably didn't hear you.

Unless he was apologizing for leaning even further into his weird little English-Italian accent. In which case, apology not accepted.

Ferrari Formula 1 McLaren Chinese Grand Prix Japan