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26 Mar 2025 1:25
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  •   Home > News > International

    Lando Norris not thinking about Formula 1 championship despite entering Chinese Grand Prix weekend as leader

    McLaren's drivers had mixed fortunes in Australia, but both have high ambitions ahead of this weekend's racing in China.


    Oscar Piastri has said the way he drove in during his home grand prix weekend, despite a late spin that cost him a podium finish, is how he wants to "attack the rest of the season".

    The Melbourne-born McLaren driver was in a battle with his teammate Lando Norris for much of last Sunday's Australian Grand Prix, before a spin on lap 44 of 57 sent him tumbling down the order.

    Piastri was able to salvage ninth place, but could only wonder what could have been as Norris took the race win.

    With no time to dwell, F1 returns this weekend for the Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai.

    Speaking to media ahead of the weekend, Piastri said he has taken the many positives from Australia and plans to focus on that this weekend.

    "The competitiveness of firstly the car, but also myself, from the weekend was a massive positive to take forward for the rest of the year," Piastri said.

    "I think I started the weekend off, and the season off, on the note that I want to continue.

    "I think the way I went about the weekend and the competitiveness I showed — that's how I want to attack the rest of the season."

    For Norris, his victory in last Sunday's season-opener means he enters this F1 weekend as the championship leader for the first time.

    Norris solidified himself as a championship contender in 2025 with a terrific drive in the wet, and McLaren as the team to beat in the early stages of this season. 

    This weekend is also the first time since the Monaco Grand Prix 2022 that Max Verstappen has not entered the weekend as the drivers' championship leader. 

    Despite the excitement surrounding Norris, the 25-year-old British driver was quick to hose down any talk of the championships after just one of 24 grands prix this season.

    "I'm not thinking about it. I don't really care about it. It shouldn't change anything I do. It shouldn't change what the team does," he said during Thursday's drivers' press conference in China.

    "I had one good weekend — people need to calm down a little bit. I'm focused on trying to do the same here.

    "I probably won't even think about the championship until at least halfway through the year."

    This weekend's Chinese Grand Prix will be the first with a sprint race this season. 

    Six weekends this season will feature a sprint race, including the Miami, Belgium, United States (Austin), Sau Paulo, and Qatar grand prix weekends. 

    This weekend, drivers will have just one free practice session before sprint qualifying and the sprint race are completed. In Melbourne, drivers and teams had three one-hour practice sessions to prepare the cars for the grand prix.

    Following a four-year absence due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Max Verstappen won last year's Chinese Grand Prix. 

    It was the first time the Dutchman won at the Shanghai circuit and the third for Red Bull (Sebastian Vettel 2009, Daniel Ricciardo 2018).

    Lewis Hamilton has been the master of the Shanghai International Circuit, which hosted its first F1 grand prix in 2004.

    Hamilton won the race six times. Fernando Alonso is the only other active driver who has won the Chinese Grand Prix, claiming wins in 2005 and 2013.

    McLaren has not stood on the top step in Shanghai since Hamilton triumphed in 2011.

    © 2025 ABC Australian Broadcasting Corporation. All rights reserved

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