Lando Norris held his nerve superbly amid all the drama to triumph over reigning world champion Max Verstappen in an action-packed, incident-filled and rainy Melbourne opener last weekend to make it a winning start to the new F1 campaign for McLaren at Albert Park.
“I’m just pumped to be on pole,” Piastri admitted. “In Q3 I just found a lot of pace. In Q1 and Q2 I was genuinely struggling and the car just came alive in Q3 – and I think I came alive in Q3.
“So I’m happy with what I did at the end, even if the laps were still a little bit scruffy.”
Piastri’s McLaren teammate, Norris finished third and claimed he is “paying the price for not doing a good enough job”.
“I am not as comfortable as I was in Australia. It is just too many mistakes and I have not done the best job. And Oscar has,” he said.
“Our car is the quickest one but it is still tricky to drive and putting a lap together is hard to do on a consistent basis. I have a long night ahead of me to look at the data and see where I can improve tomorrow.
“I have not done a perfect job, the field is tight, and I am paying the price for not doing a good enough job.”
Lando Norris laid down a title marker with a statement win in Melbourne a week ago
AFP via Getty Images
When is the Chinese Grand Prix?
The 2025 Chinese Grand Prix takes place on Sunday, March 23.
Where is the Chinese Grand Prix?
The race takes place at the Shanghai International Circuit in Shanghai, China.
Chinese Grand Prix 2025 grid positions
The grid positions are listed below.
What time is the Chinese Grand Prix?
The Chinese Grand Prix begins at 7am GMT on Sunday.
How to watch the Chinese Grand Prix
TV channel: In the UK, you can watch live coverage of the entire race weekend on Sky Sports F1, with much of the event also being shown on Sky Sports Main Event.
Free-to-air highlights of the race are available on Channel 4 from 1pm GMT on Sunday afternoon.
Live stream: Sky Sports subscribers can also watch every session from Shanghai live online via the Sky Go app.
Chinese Grand Prix weather forecast
Unlike in Melbourne for race one, the forecast for Shanghai over the coming days is clear and bright.
There is plenty of sun predicted over the course of Friday and Saturday, with top temperatures of around 24 or 25 degrees celcius.
Things look a little cloudier for Sunday, but with increased highs of around 27 degrees. There appears to be no chance of rain, save for maybe some light showers after the chequered flag has already been waved.
