The Chinese Grand Prix has seen Kimi Antonelli take the lead, with Mercedes demonstrating impressive pace early in the race. George Russell is in second place, hunting down Antonelli. The start of the race has been described as “absolute madness”.
Mercedes Cars Show Unreal Pace
The Mercedes cars appear to have a significant advantage. According to Sam, “the reality is the pace of the Mercedes is just unreal.” Nathan agreed, stating, “These Mercedes cars are rocket ships.” George Russell used the overtake mode to pass Lewis Hamilton, highlighting the car’s capabilities.
Alpine Showing Strong Performance
Pierre Gasly is currently in fifth place, with his Alpine teammate Franco Colapinto right behind him in sixth. Colapinto climbed from 12th to sixth. Sam Bird noted, “The two Alpines are doing a cracking job, Pierre Gasly in fifth and Franco Colapinto in sixth.” He added, “Let’s see what Colapinto can do and if he can hold onto P6 because that would be his best finish in Formula 1 by a long way.”
McLaren’s Disastrous Start
McLaren, defending champions of both championships, have experienced a difficult start to the season. Oscar Piastri won’t drive a single Grand Prix lap until at least Sunday 29th March. Andrew commented that this is “not the response to last season’s near Championship miss that he was hoping for, and expecting.”
Early Retirements and Incidents
Four cars are already out of the race: Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri, Alex Albon and Gabriel Bortoleto. Max Verstappen made another slow start in the Red Bull and is now in 10th place. Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas made contact on the opening lap and have been noted by race control.
Calls for Testing and Regulation Tweaks
Kirsty hopes “the teams are allowed some testing between Japan & Miami” to address the numerous issues teams are facing. Kayne believes that “New regs will always lead to reliability issues.” He suggests to “stick to it and make tweaks based on what is learnt throughout the season.”
With multiple teams experiencing issues, the grid is “completely topsy-turvy”.