Starting from pole, McLaren’s Oscar Piastri drove a near-flawless race to take the chequered flag for his first victory of 2025. Teammate Lando Norris completed the one-two, while Mercedes’ George Russell rounded out the podium.
The result gives McLaren their second successive victory, after Norris claimed the Australian Grand Prix last week in Melbourne, to go with first place in the constructors championship as well.
Lawson’s teammate Max Verstappen was unable to gain any positions from his qualifying display on Saturday, and took fourth.
Norris leads the drivers championship with 44 points, while Verstappen is eight back in second place. McLaren are also top of the constructors championship as a result of their two wins.
All weekend, teams complained of struggling with their tyres. Lawson was no different, as the Kiwi was forced to rely on other cars pitting ahead of him for any opportunity to overtake, rather than speed on track.
Considering this weekend was Lawson’s first at Shanghai, in a car he’s made no secret of struggling to fully come to terms with - yet - the Kiwi managed 19 sprint laps, and 56 in the Grand Prix to gain understanding of his new vehicle.
However, Lawson’s RB21 is expected to fight for podium finishes and wins, and the Kiwi’s displays will have his Red Bull bosses wanting improvement when the season resumes in Japan next month.
“We tried to do something quite aggressive today with the set-up, that’s why we started from the pit lane,” Lawson told Sky Sports post-race. “We definitely learned something, it just didn’t work today.
“Looking at the sprint yesterday, we were a lot more competitive, able to overtake cars. Today was just a lot more difficult. Obviously, there’s a bit I’ve got to work on, as well.
“We’re in the season, we’re two races in, and we’re racing. You’d love to have 60 test days, and I know a lot of the other guys tested out of season. It’s not something we did.
“It’s not an excuse, it’s something I’ve got to get on top of, as quickly as I can. I want to be at the front, and I’ll keep working to try and achieve that.”
Unlike Melbourne and Shanghai, Lawson does boast experience at Suzuka, after racing there several times in 2023; once in Formula One with then-AlphaTauri, and three times with Team Mugen in Japan’s Super Formula Championship.
Despite starting from pit lane for the second race in succession, Lawson managed to gain two places on the opening lap, getting past both Nico Hulkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto’s Saubers.
Bortoleto’s woes were compounded when he spun into the gravel at turn four, and was forced to pit early due to the damage done to his tyres.
Four laps later, as the brakes of Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin caught fire, Lawson gained another place and moved into 17th courtesy of the race’s first retirement.
As drivers started to pit, Lawson climbed as high as 11th, but was left vulnerable on older tyres as he looked to go long on his first stint.
When Hamilton and Verstappen pitted on lap 14, Lawson climbed into ninth and a share of the points for the first time, even as he was sandwiched between both Ferrari cars.
The slower tyres eventually took their toll, as Leclerc got past the Kiwi, at the same time as Verstappen set the fastest lap of the race behind Lawson, and overtook his teammate on lap 17.
With Red Bull stablemate Yuki Tsunoda’s Racing Bulls on his tail, Lawson pitted on the 19th lap, and emerged in 18th, just shy of six seconds behind the Williams of Carlos Sainz, as Hulkenberg’s second stop pushed the Kiwi up a place.
However, once Lawson was on the medium tyres, the same issues that had plagued the 20 drivers across the weekend returned. The risk of pushing too hard and causing unnecessary wear saw caution from the Kiwi, whose only real chances to overtake came as other drivers pitted.
After losing a place to Haas’ Ollie Bearman on lap 31, Lawson pitted again for his second stop, and emerged in 18th for one final stint on hard tyres, and immediately passed Hulkenberg - again - as he targeted a strong finish.
A collision forced Yuki Tsunoda’s Racing Bulls back into the pits with damage and needing a new front wing, which saw Lawson climb another place into 16th, as he hunted down Isack Hadjar in front. Meanwhile, after forcing Hadjar wide, Alpine’s Jack Doohan was handed a 10-second time penalty, which upgraded Lawson to 15th as he crossed the finish line.
But after two difficult grands prix in succession, the Kiwi will look to regain his confidence before returning for the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka.
Alex Powell is a sports journalist for the NZ Herald. He has been a sports journalist since 2016, and previously worked for both Newshub and 1News.
