A Ferrari bounce-back in China. Plus, don't count on F1's return to V10 engines
Prime Tire Newsletter | This is The Athletic's twice-weekly F1 newsletter. Sign up here to receive Prime Tire directly in your inbox on Tuesday and Friday.
Welcome back to Prime Tire. I went to bed at 4 a.m. CT. This is the inside of my brain:
HELP 😭😭😭 pic.twitter.com/F3QjXciQPk
— clara (@leclercsletters) March 21, 2025
But it's all good because it's Chinese Grand Prix weekend. We've got our first sprint race of the year at 11 p.m. ET and a surprising (?) pole-sitter. I'm Patrick, and my writers are asleep. Let's dive in.
Remember when I reviewed week one F1 overreactions this week? And I said judging Hamilton on his Australian GP would be a huge overreaction?
Hamilton just nabbed his first pole as a Ferrari driver. See, sometimes I'm right!
This is exactly the kind of bounce-back Hamilton needed. But that's the thing about F1, isn't it? Just when you think you've got a narrative locked in ('Hamilton struggling at Ferrari!' or 'McLaren will dominate!'), the sport throws you a curveball.
Hamilton's laugh over team radio said everything. 'I can't believe we got a pole for the sprint,' Hamilton said afterward, clearly shocked himself. That's also the thing about growing pains, as we called them this week. One weekend, you're sore. The next weekend, you're tall enough to try out for the basketball team. (Or at least I hear that's what it was like for some people. ☹️)
Some takeaways from FP1 and sprint qualifying:
The sprint will tell us a lot about the grand prix, but for now, I think it's fair to say that McLaren are the favorites again to win, regardless of whether they take pole for Sunday's race.
You can find the weekend schedule here!
Formula One's latest debate isn't about aero packages or tire compounds — it's about sound.
Until 2005, F1 cars featured V10 engines, with 10 cylinders arranged in a V-formation. The sound they made produced a signature scream. (Imagine if a swarm of caffeinated banshees decided to throw a rave inside a blender.)
Nowadays, F1 runs quieter V6 hybrid power units to improve fuel efficiency and align with automotive industry trends. But many fans and drivers lament the loss of F1's distinctive soundtrack. (For instance, many of you still resent me for calling V10 sounds overrated. I saw the unsubscribe numbers on that post!)
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So, if V10s are old news, why am I talking about them? Because people in the sport are, including FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem. Even hybrid-era star Verstappen admitted this week that, 'for pure emotion of the sport, V10 is definitely much better than what we have now.'
The dream faces practical obstacles, however. It's a choice between environmental progress and recapturing some visceral appeal. Plus, it's pretty late to change course before the new 2026 engine regulations. Here's a gem of a quote from Christian Horner: 'It's 10 past midnight and Cinderella has left the building.'
F1 Academy is about to drop the clutch on its third season with a completely revamped grid and calendar. The all-women racing series is expanding to six teams with 17 full-time drivers plus a wild card entry at each round. Only six drivers return from 2024! (And you thought the F1 grid was fresh.) Oh, and Las Vegas hosts the season finale.
But hey, here's the headline: The return of reverse grids! Race 1 will flip the top eight qualifiers, creating the chaos we love. This format change aims to prevent another Abbi Pulling-style dominance while creating more wheel-to-wheel action.
Look, if watching talented racers like Doriane Pin and Maya Weug battle from P8 to the front doesn't convince you to tune in, nothing will.
Hey, this has me thinking!
Maybe it's time to start calling your representatives to demand that F1 adopt reverse grids for sprint races, too.
Let's be honest — sprint races are already a bit of a gimmick that F1 invented to add more action to race weekends. Why not just go all in? (Yes, yes, because top teams wouldn't like it much. I know.) Reverse grids would deliver what sprint races promised but haven't consistently delivered: actual passing, unpredictable results, and mid-field teams getting rare podium chances.
Until then, at least we'll have F1 Academy, which seems to be doing a lot of things right. Check out our season preview here.
The Athletic's motorsports team is doing a fantasy league this year. I'll share the standings every four races, but here's where we stand after the first week:
George Russell says that McLaren's advantage could be better than Red Bull's was at its best. 👀
Don't forget to bookmark our Chinese GP track breakdown this weekend!
And, finally, former F1 team principal Eddie Jordan passed away this week. Luke wrote a lovely tribute to Jordan, one of F1's more colorful characters.
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