Rounding out a double header to start the season, Shanghai delivered the first Sprint race weekend of the year. With less practice time and a resurfaced track, our team was stepping into Sunday's race with some unknowns.

Cooler temperatures faced us on Sunday afternoon where Fernando and Lance started the Grand Prix in P13 and P14.

After starting on the alternate strategy, Lance embarked on a number of battles as he went long on his first stint on the Hard tyre. He secured P12 at the chequered flag, but was promoted to P9 after post-race disqualifications, scoring two valuable points. Fernando, meanwhile, had brake temperature issues on Lap 4 of the Grand Prix and had to retire the car, bringing his race to an early end.

Elsewhere, F1 Academy driver Tina Hausmann had a difficult weekend, finishing P13 and P15 in her first two races of the 2025 season.

Long straights and sweeping corners. The imposing Shanghai International Circuit hosts the first Sprint weekend of 2025.

Without much time to catch the breath after the season-opener in Melbourne, everyone makes the 8,000km trip to Shanghai for the second leg of this double-header and the first Sprint weekend of the season. We're heading to China buoyed by a strong result for Lance, who kept his cool in a chaotic Australian Grand Prix. The quirky nature of the Albert Park circuit, and the pandemonium of a wet race make it difficult to draw any firm conclusions – but we certainly saw enough in Australia to know that the midfield battle is tighter than ever, and nothing less than perfection will do this time out.

Sprint weekends are intense. Designed to give fans consequential action on every day, teams are in a permanent up-tempo cycle, always readying their cars and drivers for the next qualifying or race session. There's a lot of pressure, a lot that needs to be done right first time, but also more opportunities to score – all set against a background that features one of the world’s most vibrant, 24-hour Alpha Cities.

F2 takes a break this week, so we don’t have our Young Driver Jak Crawford on track, but Shanghai sees a new season of the F1 Academy get underway with races on Saturday and Sunday. Tina Hausmann will again be representing us this season, hoping to build on her rookie experiences last year and be in the thick of the action this time around.