A trip inside F1's coolest fan zone. Plus: The climb ahead for Lewis Hamilton

New York Times

25-03-2025

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Welcome back to Prime Tire, where I'm wondering if this newsletter will also be disqualified if it's underweight. Guess I'll just have to write the Longest Newsletter In History™️. My editors have asked me to stick to the usual word count.
Shanghai gave us plenty to digest. I'm Patrick, your host for today. Let's dive in.
Just when Lewis Hamilton thought his Ferrari journey might be turning a corner after winning the Chinese Grand Prix sprint race, the Formula One gods chortled. (They don't laugh, they chortle.)
The seven-time world champion, along with teammate Charles Leclerc and Alpine's Pierre Gasly, were all disqualified from the Chinese GP after failing post-race technical checks. Hamilton's car had a skid plank that was below the requirement (yep, the same issue that got him DQ'd from the 2023 United States Grand Prix). Leclerc's car was underweight.
Ferrari took full responsibility for what the stewards called a 'genuine error.' Losing the 18-point haul dropped the team to fifth in the championship, tied on points with … Williams. Ouch.
Hamilton's disqualification caps off what has been the metaphorical definition of roller coaster in his first two races with Ferrari:
As Hamilton said after his sprint race win, 'Rome wasn't built in a day.' Sure. But it looks like Ferrari is working on more of a fixer-upper than a championship palace.
Hamilton trails leader Lando Norris by 35 points after two races. I did some number crunching yesterday, and found only two similarly sized gaps overcome by an eventual champion (under the current points system):
If I'm a Hamilton fan hoping for his record-breaking eighth world championship this season, I'm worried that there are really only two analogs.
But I'd also be encouraged that A) it's only two races, B) the gap to Norris is lower than either Vettel or Verstappen faced and C) we're at the end of the current regulations, and the margins between teams are razor-thin.
Two races into the 2025 season, McLaren has swept both victories. Oscar Piastri delivered a commanding performance in China, leading teammate Norris to a 1-2 finish on Sunday.
McLaren now has an enviable problem: two drivers capable of winning races and possibly fighting for the championship. After Australia and China, the MCL39 appears to be in a class of its own, though both drivers insist it's far from easy to handle.
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'It's still extremely difficult to drive,' Norris admitted. 'It doesn't suit me in wanting to push the entries and push the braking. It's very weak from that point of view.'
That's the fascinating thing about this McLaren success story. They've built a blindingly fast car that's apparently a handful to drive. But when your drivers can tame the beast, the results speak for themselves, as Madeline Coleman wrote today.
Wondering when a Red Bull or Racing Bulls driver will get replaced is just an annual tradition at this point. It comes earlier and earlier every year:
Lawson has been nowhere near Verstappen, qualifying last for both the sprint and the race in China. The gap in qualifying sessions has averaged a brutal 0.880 seconds. While he managed to fight back to 12th in the race (later promoted after the disqualifications), the RB21 is proving as difficult for Lawson as it was for Gasly, Albon, and eventually Pérez. He's the latest in a long line of Verstappen teammates fighting for their F1 career.
'I'm also not stupid,' Lawson told reporters. 'I know I'm here to perform and if I'm not doing that, I'm not going to be around.'
The obvious replacement? Yuki Tsunoda, who was overlooked for the seat despite his greater experience. When asked if he'd like to drive the Red Bull at his home race in Japan next week, Tsunoda's answer was emphatic: '100 percent. I mean, the car is faster.'
Horner stayed coy on potential changes, but with McLaren pulling away in the constructors' championship, Red Bull needs both cars scoring big points. The ticking clock on Lawson's Red Bull career might already be running dangerously low.
The Chinese GP memorabilia swap
While the on-track action was thrilling, I most enjoyed hearing from our writer, Luke Smith, about the fan zone at Shanghai International Circuit. He said it reminded him more of a Taylor Swift concert than a traditional motorsport gathering.
In the middle of the fan zone, around 100 fans participated in a memorabilia swap. The creativity was off the charts: Verstappen as an emperor, Piastri as a koala, Peppa Pig in a Mercedes and even a cardboard cutout F1 car made entirely from Fernando Alonso's face.
Luke wrote: 'At a time when the internet can fuel the bad parts of fan culture, making it easy for people hide behind faceless accounts or insist on gatekeeping, this was the good of fandom.'
The next race is in Japan, where Tsunoda will face extra attention, given the Lawson situation. Check out the schedule.
Zhou Guanyu, now a Ferrari reserve driver, remains immensely popular in China, with his fans (and even his cat, Sweetcorn) making appearances in cardboard form throughout the weekend. (We wrote about him in December.)
And, finally, Carlos Sainz is just as perplexed by his slow start to the season as you are.
See you Friday. Until then, keep your skid planks legal and your cars above the minimum weight, please.
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