Both of Piastri’s attack laps in the final phase of qualifying were fast enough for pole, but the second, faster lap owed itself to a brilliant run into the antepenultimate corner at turn 14, a right-hand hairpin at the end of the long back straight.
Piastri gained half a 10th of a second by nailing his braking into a headwind. “It was the hairpin of my life”, he said afterwards and gained another half a 10th of a second at the last corner to edge George Russell (Mercedes) by 0.082s after he’d been pipped by Norris by a near-identical margin (0.084s) at Albert Park.
Oscar Piastri was back on the top step of the podium following his Melbourne heartbreak.Credit: AP
It was the first pole for an Australian in more than six years (Daniel Ricciardo in Mexico 2018) and was the first time he’d out-qualified Norris for nine grands prix, putting him in prime position for the 275-metre run to the first corner on race day.
On a track comprised of long-radius, right-hand corners – which accentuates tyre wear on the left front that’s made even worse when running behind another car – pole for Piastri had him in the perfect starting spot.
Slow getaway, decisive recovery
Piastri’s reaction when the lights went out to start Sunday’s 56-lap race was a hair slower than Russell, who forced the McLaren driver to move to his right to cover off the Mercedes as the field thundered towards turn one.
Piastri forced Russell to the inside kerb to retain position, which allowed Norris to slip into second place at the third turn for a dream start for McLaren.
Piastri takes the chequered flag.Credit: Getty Images
After 10 laps, and as Norris was initially more occupied with Russell behind, Piastri escaped to a two-second lead as the field nursed their medium-compound Pirelli tyres.
Piastri had track position and priority for McLaren’s first pit stops, which came on lap 14 when he switched to hard tyres as Russell also pitted, Norris staying out and taking the lead.
Norris undercut by Russell
When Norris pitted one lap later on lap 15, Russell’s pace on his new hard tyres was such that he jumped his compatriot when Norris returned to the fray, giving Piastri even more control of the race.
Piastri passed Williams driver Alexander Albon – who had yet to pit from 10th on the grid – on lap 17; by the time Norris overtook Russell again on track a lap later, Piastri’s lead was a comfortable 2.8s, an advantage he steadily built to 3.7s on lap 28, the mid-point of the race.
Norris having to spend three laps behind Russell allowed Piastri to escape and run the race at his pace – crucial as the teams hadn’t used the hard tyre throughout the race weekend and were planning to make another pit stop with tyre wear expected to be high on a circuit completely resurfaced since last year’s Chinese Grand Prix, making the data gleaned from 2024 irrelevant.
‘I think we can go to the end’
Tyre wear was less than expected – Norris was told by his race engineer Will Joseph that he was “on plan C” on lap 33, intimating a one-stop strategy. Piastri was asked about his own tyre life on lap 39, reporting, “I think we can go to the end” as he was able to keep up his race-leading pace without stressing his tyres.
On lap 41, Piastri’s lead increased to more than 4s for the first time as Norris dropped 0.6s in one lap. When Norris started to report brake problems with eight laps left, Piastri was home free.
Piastri jumps from his car after his win.Credit: AP
In all, Piastri managed 42 laps on the hard tyres, and was pleasantly surprised by their longevity and performance.
“On the medium [tyre] it was a bit tricky … but the hard was a much better tyre than everyone expected, certainly than we expected,” he said.
The start of a championship charge?
McLaren’s first win in China since Lewis Hamilton in 2011 – and their second in a week after the pre-season pace they showed in testing in Bahrain carried over to Australia and China – looks to have Norris and Piastri on an intra-team collision course for the title.
Russell – third in Australia and again in China – was 11 seconds behind at the finish, with reigning world champion Max Verstappen again overachieving in a problematic car with fourth, 16s behind Piastri.
Asked if he felt the win was a launchpad for a title tilt, Piastri was confident.
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“I hope so,” he said.
“It’s been an incredible weekend from start to finish. The car’s been pretty mega the whole time. Today was a bit of a surprise with how different the tyres behaved, but … just proud of the whole weekend.
“This is what I feel like I deserved from last week, so extremely happy.”
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