The Chinese Grand Prix has already seen a shake-up of the grid for the Sprint race on Saturday. Lewis Hamilton has beaten the McLarens for his first Ferrari pole position.
In fact, none of the MCL39s are on the front row of the grid. Oscar Piastri lines up third for the Sprint with Lando Norris in sixth. The championship leader aborted his final run after making a mistake in the second sector.
Ferrari have looked strong in Shanghai thus far, which Hamilton used to his advantage to take his first pole for the Maranello outfit. Max Verstappen will share the front row after missing out by 18 thousandths of a second.
| INSIDE | OUTSIDE |
| Lewis Hamilton | |
| Max Verstappen | |
| Oscar Piastri | |
| Charles Leclerc | |
| George Russell | |
| Lando Norris | |
| Kimi Antonelli | |
| Yuki Tsunoda | |
| Alex Albon | |
| Lance Stroll |
Hamilton beat Sebastian Vettel’s lap record set in 2018 with Ferrari. The seven-time world champion will be looking to add his name to the team’s history books and win his first race in red on Saturday.
The ‘top-four’ teams locked out the first seven positions on the grid for the Sprint for the Chinese Grand Prix. However, there was one notable absentee and they suffered another disaster in 2025.
James Hinchcliffe tells Liam Lawson he would be lucky to last six months in ‘career-ending’ Red Bull seat
Liam Lawson is the next driver to go up against Max Verstappen at Red Bull in 2025. So far, it has been a horrible start to the year for the Kiwi driver.
Lawson was eliminated in Q1 in Melbourne and crashed out of the race in the tricky conditions. The 23-year-old had never driven the Albert Park circuit or in the rain in the RB21 before, but he was nowhere near the pace of his teammate.
His woes have continued in Shanghai as the Kiwi driver will start last for the Sprint race on Saturday. Martin Brundle had just two words for Lawson, simply saying ‘ouch’ after his SQ1 exit.
The 23-year-old will be under pressure to deliver results at Red Bull. Given the team’s history of dropping drivers mid-season, Lawson could suffer the same fate in 2025.
Speaking on the Drive to Wynn podcast, James Hinchcliffe has warned Lawson could be lucky to last until the summer break with Yuki Tsunoda in the background. The second Red Bull car is a ‘career-ending seat’ and Kiwi driver will be the next to fall if he cannot find some performance.
“It is. It’s a career-ending seat and yet it’s the one everybody wants. It’s such an interesting juxtaposition between: ‘Hey, is this really good for my career or not?’
“Every driver’s going to take it if you get the opportunity. But I look at the weekend that Yuki had and if I’m Christian Horner and Helmut Marko, am I thinking: ‘Hey, maybe before we get to the August break there’s going to be another swap within the Red Bull camp.”
READ MORE: Who is Red Bull Racing F1 driver Liam Lawson? Everything you need to know
What are the chances Liam Lawson will be replaced by Red Bull midway through 2025?
Christian Horner has stressed Lawson will be given the time to showcase his talent at Red Bull. But the team are notorious for making cutthroat decisions with their drivers.
All of Lawson’s predecessors from 2018 onwards have struggled against Verstappen and were ultimately dropped. Lawson is only contracted for 2025, so a mid-season swap cannot be ruled out.
| Driver | Year | Status |
| Daniel Ricciardo | 2016-2018 | Joined Renault in 2019 |
| Pierre Gasly | 2019 | Demoted to Toro Rosso mid-season |
| Alex Albon | 2019-2020 | Dropped at the end of 2020 |
| Sergio Perez | 2021-2024 | Dropped at the end of 2024 |
Red Bull will keep tabs on Tsunoda during the season after the Japanese driver was snubbed of the second seat next to Verstappen. So far in 2025, the Racing Bulls driver has beaten Lawson in every session.
Karun Chandhok fears it is ‘too soon’ for Lawson to be at Red Bull having only made 11 Grand Prix starts prior to his move. His concerns are being proven right so far – the Kiwi driver must find some performance soon and get the pressure off his back.
