The driver of Formula 1 Australian Oscar Piastri turned his position of the Pole of the Victory Grand Prix in La Victoria, while three of his rivals were incredibly disqualified after the race.
The McLaren pilot was perfect in Shanghai to win the Chinese Grand Prix, ahead of the teammate Lando Norris and Mercedes George Russell pilot.
The victory means that McLaren, the champions of builders last year, has triumphed in the first two great prize of the season, after Lando Norris claimed the victory last Sunday in Melbourne.
Meanwhile, it was a disastrous afternoon for the rivals of McLaren Ferrari, with Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton disqualified from the race, after finishing fifth and six.
At the front of the grid, Piastri smiled, since he was embraced by the CEO of McLaren, Zak Brown, after his excellent performance.
After making a mistake that cost him a podium in his hometown a week earlier, Piastri was outstanding all weekend in Shanghai.
“Mega work, boys. Mega, Mega Job,” Piastri said on his team’s radio after the checkered flag.
“Thank you so much. The car was very charming; Great team effort. That is a satisfactory weekend.“
The Australian did not have the fastest beginning of the line, but was able to squeeze Russell and maintain leadership in the first corner and Norris jumped to second when Russell was committed to the apex.
The world champion Max Verstappen fell from the room to the sixth start, being skipped by both Ferraris.
Piastri took full advantage of clean air in opening laps, maintaining leadership over Norris since all drivers handled the wear of the tires on a track that produces high degradation.
Piastri faced the leadership at the end of 14 laps, along with Russell from the third, while Norris had to wait until the end of the next round for new tires.
The victory of the Chinese GP adds to the victories in Hungary and Azerbaijan last year. (AP)
Piastri maintained the net leadership of the race, while Norris was surpassed by Russell, who took full advantage of an additional turn with fresh rubber.
Norris was able to take Russell’s position again a couple of turns later.
But when he had achieved that and surpassed Alex Albon’s Williams, who had not faced, Piastri had established an advantage of more than four seconds in Tour 20 of 56.
It was made clear that simply stopping once was the right strategy, when many believed that two stops would be needed on Sunday.
Hamilton, before his disqualification, faced for the second time with the expectation that he could chase his rivals who were in major tires.
That did not event and the world champion Vertesappen proved to be one of the fastest on the way at the end of the race, surpassing Charles Leclerc to claim room.
Meanwhile, on the front, Piastri was fresh and measured. The advantage of the Australian never fell below two seconds to Norris.
The British began to fight on Tour 43, with his return times decreasing and removing Piastri’s pressure.
Norris was complaining about a brake problem, allowing Piastri to control his rhythm and guide his path to victory.
Both Ferrari and Gasly drivers disqualified
It was discovered that Leclerc and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly cars were a kilogram under the minimum weight requirement of 800 kg.
Meanwhile, Hamilton was removed from classified finalists after it was determined that the rear pattern block in his car was below the minimum thickness required by the technical regulations of the sport.
Lewis Hamilton is one of the three disqualified pilots after the Chinese Grand Prix, after winning the Sprint F1 race the day before. (Getty Images: Kym Illman)
The report of the FIA F1 Bauer technical delegate for Leclerc and Gasly discovered that both cars were legal when they were weighed for the first time, but after two liters of fuel were eliminated, according to the regulations, the cars fell below the reference point of 800 kg.
For Hamilton, his rear skate block was thinner than nine millimeters of inspection.
The rear skate block, also known as the board, is a mandatory part in the lower part of the car that regulates the conduction height of a F1 car.
The rear skating block will often come into contact with the ground during a grand prize, wearing its thickness.
But it cannot wear up to less than nine millimeters thick, which was what the Hamilton board had done.
“The car 44 table was measured and it was found that it was 8.6 mm (LHS), 8.6 mm (central cars line) and 8.5 mm (RHS). This is below the minimum thickness of 9 mm specified in article 3.5.9 of the technical regulations,” said the Steward report.
“During the hearing, the team representative confirmed that the measurement is correct and that all the required procedures were carried out correctly.”
The team also recognized that there were no mitigating circumstances and that it was a genuine error of the team.
“The butlers determine that article 3.5.9 of the technical regulations of Formula 1 of the FIA has violated and, therefore, the standard penalty of a disqualification must be applied for said infraction.”
Leclerc crossed the fifth line, ahead of his Hamilton teammate in sixth place, while Gasly was out of points positions in the 11th.
The change in the classification now means that Esteban Ocon ended fifth for Haas, a remarkable result for the team.
Mercedes’ rookie, Kimi Antonelli, was sixth, then Alex Albon (Williams), Ollie Bearman (Haas), Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) and Carlos Sainz (Williams).
