Chinese Grand Prix Driver Ratings: Perfect Performance From Piastri But Which Driver Is Already At Risk Of Being Replaced?

Oscar Piastri made up for the disappointment of Australia by winning the second race of the F1 2025 season, and here SportsCasting gives our driver ratings for the Chinese GP.

2025 Chinese GP Driver Ratings

Oscar Piastri – 10

Sprint Qualifying – 3rd, Finished 2nd

Qualifying – 1st, Finished 1st

Near-perfect weekend for Oscar Piastri who showed his title credentials with an impressive win at the Chinese GP – getting the perfect score in our driver ratings.

ed Lando Norris.

First win of the year pic.twitter.com/6ky2er8MVj

— Oscar Piastri (@OscarPiastri) March 23, 2025

Lando Norris – 7

Sprint Qualifying 6th, Finished 8th

Qualified 3rd, Finished 2nd

Struggled to match the pace of his McLaren teammate all weekend and should have done much better in Saturday’s sprint race.

Performed better on Sunday and holding onto second was a solid result given that he had brake issues late in the race.

George Russell – 9

Sprint Qualifying 5th, Finished 4th

Qualifying 2nd, Finished 3rd 

McLaren clearly have the best car but George Russell has been the ‘best of the rest’ across the opening two races.

His lap in qualifying was brilliant to split the two McLaren drivers. May have eased off the pace too soon at the end of the race, which prevented him a run at Norris.

Max Verstappen – 9

Sprint Qualifying 2nd, Finished 3rd

Qualifying 4th, Finished 4th

Another weekend where Max Verstappen outdrove his underwhelming car and dragged it into a respectable position.

Didn’t put a foot wrong all weekend but must fear for his title chances given Red Bull’s lack of pace compared to their rivals.

Esteban Ocon – 9.5

Sprint Qualifying 18th, Finished 16th

Qualifying 11, Finished 5th

Spectacular recovery for Haas and Esteban Ocon after a miserable opening weekend in Australia and an underwhelming performance in the sprint race in China.

Drove brilliantly from 11th to 7th at the chequered flag – which was promoted to 5th after the two Ferrari drivers were disqualified.

His aggressive early pit-stop strategy paid off and he performed a great on Andrea Kimi Antonelli.

about to board my flight but…. P5!! 🖐🏼 pic.twitter.com/F0DKaroLrC

— Esteban Ocon (@OconEsteban) March 23, 2025

Andrea Kimi Antonelli – 6

Sprint Qualifying 7th, Finished 7th

Qualifying 8th, Finished 6th

Somehow came away with the ‘Driver of the Day’ award voted by the fans despite a very average weekend.

Was considerably off the pace of his Mercedes teammate George Russell across the three days. Finished 8th in the Grand Prix but was promoted two places after the Ferrari drivers were disqualified.

Suffered floor damage early on in the race so gets a more lenient score than he might otherwise have received.

Also important to take into consideration that this was his first time driving at the Shanghai International Circuit.

Alex Albon – 8

Sprint Qualifying 9th, Finished 11th

Qualifying 10th, Finished 7th

Alex Albon again outperformed Carlos Sainz as he continues his excellent start to the year.

Ran a very long first-stint and briefly led the race. Crossed the line in 9th though was promoted to 7th.

Didn’t finish far behind Antonelli but never looked like he could the Mercedes youngster.

Oliver Bearman – 7.5

Sprint Qualifying 12th, Finished 15th

Qualifying 17th, Finished 8th

Disappointing performance to only qualify 17th for the Chinese GP, but made up for it with a very entertaining drive on Sunday.

Took up a lot of TV time with some impressive overtakes. This initially led to a 10th-place finish, but he was handed a couple more points thanks to the chaos at Ferrari.

Much better weekend than in Australia but a little off the compared to his teammate Esteban Ocon.

Lance Stroll – 6.5

Sprint Qualifying 10th, Finished 9th

Qualifying 14th, Finished 9th

Solid performance from the Canadian who has been a closer match for Fernando Alonso over the opening two races.

Fortunate to take two points after he crossed the line in 12th. He was promoted three places after the two Ferrari drivers and Pierre Gasly were disqualified.

Aston Martin looked to have more pace than what shown on raceday.

Carlos Sainz – 4

Sprint Qualifying 13th, Finished 17th

Qualifying 15th, Finished 10th

Fortunate to take his first point for Williams after three other drivers were disqualified.

Has struggled for pace in comparison to his Williams teammate Alex Albon across the opening two races.

He finished 30 seconds behind his teammate on Sunday. Carlos Sainz will hope to find his feet in the team quickly.

Isack Hadjar – 7

Sprint Qualifying 15th, Finished 13th

Qualifying 7th, Finished 11th

Was the star of the show on Saturday when he qualified his Racing Bull 7th for just his second Grand Prix.

Both he and his teammate Yuki Tsunoda were let down on Sunday by their team’s decision to opt for a two-stop strategy.

It meant that Hadjar lost out on an easy points finish.

Liam Lawson – 2

Sprint Qualifying 20th, Finished 14th

Qualifying 20th, Finished 12th

Qualified last in 20th for both the sprint race and the Chinese Grand Prix.

Max Verstappen’s previous teammates all struggled against the Dutchman but Liam Lawson looks even further off the pace than what Alex Albon, Pierre Gasly and Sergio Perez were.

There is even talk that he could be replaced by Yuki Tsunoda after just two races in the senior Red Bull team. The only plus to the weekend is that he didn’t crash.

Jack Doohan – 2

Sprint Qualifying 16th, Finished 20th

Qualifying 18th, Finished 13th

Very scrappy weekend from the Australian who is facing pressure from Franco Colapinto for that second seat at Alpine.

Finished last in the sprint after a failed lunge on Gabriel Bortoleto, suffered a spin in qualifying on Saturday and received a 10-second penalty for a needless incident with Isack Hadjar during the Grand Prix.

Received four penalty points and needs to avoid picking up a further eight by this time next year or he will face a race ban.

Gabriel Bortoleto – 5

Sprint Qualifying 14th, Finished 18th

Qualifying 19th, Finished 14th

Tough weekend for the 2024 F2 champion in his Sauber which lacked pace all weekend.

Was hit by Jack Doohan at the end of the sprint race but made a mistake of his own doing by spinning on the opening lap of Sunday’s Grand Prix.

However, his core pace looks very strong and is giving the very quick Nico Hulkenberg a run for his money.

Nico Hulkenberg – 5

Sprint Qualifying 19th, Finished 19th

Qualifying 12, Finished 15th

Brilliant performance to line up 12th in his Sauber for the Chinese GP.

However, his race was compromised on the opening lap when a snap of oversteer put him in the gravel.

Sustained damage and dropped behind his rookie teammate.

Yuki Tsunoda – 7

Sprint Qualifying 8th, Finished 6th

Qualifying 9th, Finished 16th

Last of the classified finishers though with more luck he would have easily scored points in the Chinese GP.

The decision to pit him for a second-time was a poor one and put him outside of the points.

A front wing failure – seemingly not caused by by the driver – added insult to injury.

However, he did pick up three points from the sprint race – where he appeared to have better pace than he did on Sunday.

Fernando Alonso – 6

Sprint Qualifying 11th, Finished 10th

Qualifying 13th, DNF – Brake Failure On Lap 4

Struggled in the sprint element of the weekend but looked like he could be in the mix for points in the Chinese Grand Prix.

However, he retired on Lap 4 with a brakes issue – his second DNF in as many races this season.

Looking at where his teammate finished, he might have fancied his chances of challenging Alex Albon for what would have been 7th.

Charles Leclerc – 6.5

Sprint Qualifying 4th, Finished 5th,

Qualifying 6th, Finished 5th but was later disqualified

Struggled to match Lewis Hamilton over the sprint element of the weekend and qualifying on Saturday.

However, he had the better of the seven-time world champion on Sunday, despite damaging his front wing when making with his teammate.

Pace dropped off considerably at the end and was overtaken by Max Verstappen for 4th. His efforts were in vain though when he was disqualified for his car being overweight.

Team Statement pic.twitter.com/BdV24Y3cFV

— Scuderia Ferrari HP (@ScuderiaFerrari) March 23, 2025

Lewis Hamilton – 6.5

Sprint Qualifying 1st, Finished 1st

Qualifying 5th, Finished 6th but was later disqualified 

Showed he still has the pace after taking sprint qualifying pole and victory while outperforming his Ferrari teammate.

On Sunday though it appeared that Lewis Hamilton lost his pace.

Hamilton volunteered to move out of the way of his teammate and finished in 6th after making a second stop. Was disqualified due to excessive plank wear.

Pierre Gasly – 6

Sprint Qualifying 17th, Finished 12th

Qualifying 16th, Finished 11th but was later disqualified

Was expected to be best of the rest this season in his Alpine behind the drivers of McLaren, Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull.

However, Alpine are struggling for outright pace as shown by Pierre Gasly being knocked out in the first part of qualifying on two times this past weekend.

Pulled off some good es and drove a solid race to 11th but was disqualified after like Charles Leclerc, his car was found to be overweight.