Norris Chinese GP FP1 – Australian Grand Prix winner Lando Norris topped the time-sheets in the sole practice session at the Chinese GP ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri. Reigning world champion Max Verstappen was a low-16th for Red Bull.
Norris set the benchmark of a 1:31.504 on the C4 red side-walled Soft tyre and was 0.454 seconds quicker than Leclerc whilst Piastri was a further 0.649 adrift in third.
Warm sunny conditions and a resurfaced track greeted the drivers at the Shanghai International Circuit as MoneyGram Haas F1 Team’s Oliver Bearman was the first to lead the cars out on track.
There were early excursions off-track for Red Bull’s Liam Lawson and Williams’ Alexander Albon with the latter reporting “something loose” around the pedals on his FW47 entry.
The new surface saw lap-times begin to tumble as Ferrari’s Sir Lewis Hamilton set the benchmark in the opening 15 minutes of proceedings – despite a slide through the hairpin on his previous flyer – before being ousted by former Mercedes team-mate in George Russell.
The picture continued to change as the track continued to evolve, with Russell lowering the benchmark to a 1:32.377 by the mid-way point – half-a-second clear of Ferrari’s Leclerc and over a second clear from last year’s pole position effort.
There were some issues for some drivers during the second half of the hour-long session; Leclerc suffered a spin at turn three, whilst Ferrari team-mate Hamilton done as he did in 2007 with his pit-lane excursion running wide on his way to the pits.
Red flags were waving when BWT Alpine’s Jack Doohan pulled off the track after reporting a power-steering problem in his A525 entry, prompting a heap of action as the green light arrived with seven minutes left on the clock. A line of cars formed in the pit-lane, as the majority put on the C4 red-marked softs to begin their qualifying simulation runs.
As those times lit up the timing boards, it was Leclerc who looked to have set the pace before Norris jumped the Ferrari driver at the top with a 1:31.504 and 0.454 seconds clear. Piastri, slotted into third after running wide at the final effort aboard his MCL39.
Hamilton ended up fourth ahead of Russell, whilst Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg was an impressive sixth as Atlassian Williams Racing’s Albon placed seventh.
Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso took eighth as Mercedes’ Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Racing Bulls’ Yuki Tsunoda who completed the top ten.
MoneyGram Haas F1 Team’s Oliver Bearman finished outside the top ten in 11th place and ahead of the other Aston Martin AMR25 entry of Lance Stroll who was 12th in the classification.
MoneyGram Haas F1 Team’s Esteban Ocon took 13th and in-front of Alpine’s Pierre Gasly who ended the session 14th and Williams’ Carlos Sainz who placed 15th.
Red Bull’s Verstappen aborted his flyer and ended up 16th with team-mate Liam Lawson down in 18th whilst RB’s Isack Hadjar split the pairing in 17th.
Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto and the aforementioned Alpine of Doohan brought up the rear.
You can read the full Formula 1 Heineken Chinese Grand Prix 2025 Free Practice 1 Results Classification at the link: https://www.formula1.com/en/results/2025/races/1255/china/practice/1