Red Bull take points but no podium from Chinese Grand Prix

Red Bull took points but no podium from the Chinese Grand Prix, with Max Verstappen finishing 4th and team-mate Liam Lawson finishing 15th.

Verstappen ultimately finished where he qualified after 56 laps of the Shanghai International Circuit in the second Grand Prix of the 2025 F1 season, with a late move on Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc seeing him get back up there after being overtaken early on.

Team-mate Lawson struggled, meanwhile, ultimately finishing outside the points after starting from the pit lane due to a late suspension change.

The results means that two races and one sprint of the 2025 F1 season, Verstappen sits second in the Driver’s Championship in his quest to win a fifth straight title. The Dutchman has 36 points, with him sat 8 behind early leader Lando Norris and one ahead of third place George Russell.

Meanwhile, Lawson is yet to take his first point of the year, having failed to finish the season opener or finish in the points in the two events in the Chinese Grand Prix.

After these opening exchanges, the Milton Keynes-based Red Bull Racing sit third in the Constructor’s Championship. They have 36 points, all of which scored by Verstappen, with the team one point ahead of fourth place Ferrari, 17 points behind second placed Mercedes and 42 behind early leaders McLaren.

Having qualified for the main Chinese Grand Prix in fourth, Verstappen had an awkward start as he was overtaken by the Ferrari pair of Lewis Hamilton and Leclerc, with these even after contact between the two Ferraris that sliced away part of Leclerc’s front wing.

Verstappen spent most of the race behind the two Ferraris, with the Dutchman able to pass midfield cars after pitting into traffic but initially looking on course to take sixth.

In the latter stages, however, Verstappen was able to show stronger pace than the two Ferraris. Hamilton ultimately elected to make a second pit stop, with Verstappen able to zip away and negate any benefit Hamilton may have had with fresher tyres.

In the final laps, Verstappen also caught up with and passed Leclerc into turn one, and he duly had the pace to open up a gap to the Ferrari, although he ultimately didn’t have the pace or tyre life to close up on third place finisher George Russell in the Mercedes.

Meanwhile, Lawson opted to stop from the pit lane after qualifying in last position. The New Zealander was however unable to show pace to get back into the points despite his one-stop strategy, with the driver passed on track by eventual point scorer Ollie Bearman and unable to close up to Jack Doohan or Isack Hadjar, who finished in the two positions directly ahead.

Lawson crossed the line 16th, though he was classified 15th after Doohan was hit with a ten second time penalty for forcing Hadjar off the track. The Kiwi could yet be further classified 13th as the FIA are investigating Leclerc and Pierre Gasly for underweight cars, but this has as yet not been confirmed.

Red Bull will be chasing a first win of the 2025 season in the next race, which takes place in Japan in two weeks time.