McLaren dethroned? Five bold predictions for the Chinese Grand Prix

The dust has only just fallen on Formula 1’s 2025 season opener in Australia, but still the series motors on to its next event, the Chinese Grand Prix — and our first sprint race of the year.

After the chaos of Australia, we here at PlanetF1.com are expecting another hectic weekend, and we have a handful of bold predictions to get us started.

Jack Doohan will quieten the critics down

By Elizabeth Blackstock

I know, I know: The 2025 season has not been kind to Jack Doohan so far. The full-season rookie hoping to preserve a seat at Alpine saw his Australian Grand Prix end before he even completed a lap — but I still have high hopes that the Aussie racer has far more fight in him.

Doohan wasn’t perfect in practice for Australia, but a decent qualifying session saw him start from 14th, five places behind Alpine teammate Pierre Gasly. Or, in other words, Doohan qualified above all the other full-season rookies, bar Isack Hadjar at Racing Bulls.

With Gasly able to bring his car home in 11th despite tricky conditions, there’s reason to believe the Alpine outfit will turn up in China in style, and with a sprint race and a Grand Prix to go, Doohan will have plenty of time to turn some laps in anger.

Am I expecting some kind of shock podium? Absolutely not. But I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Aussie put his head down and race to point or two and in the process buy himself some more time.

Liam Lawson to fall in Q2 again

By Oliver Harden

Liam Lawson was prepared for a tricky start to life at Red Bull, telling media including PlanetF1.com back in testing that he had never raced at Australia and China before.

So, even with his interrupted practice running, a Q1 exit on his debut for the team in Melbourne was not a total surprise.

He joined Daniil Kvyat, Pierre Gasly, Alexander Albon and Sergio Perez on the roll of dishonour by failing to reach Q3 in his first race for Red Bull.

The only one of those who failed to reach Q3 in his second race for the team? Gasly at Bahrain 2019.

Things should get a helluva lot easier for Lawson after this race, but the misery will continue in China with a second straight Q1 exit.

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Ferrari to bounce back with a podium

By Michelle Foster

A Ferrari podium. Please. Pretty, pretty, sparklingly red, please.

Ferrari did not do well in qualifying for the Australian GP but Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton were similarly off the pace. Here comes the crossed fingers and rabbit feet that they both went for a wet set-up in the dry in preparation for the Sunday Grand Prix.

Alas Ferrari’s strategists, the team with the big shoes and funny noses, then bit. Despite running in podium positions at one point, a strategy bungle/flop/f***-up meant Leclerc and Hamilton scored minor points.

It was not the result the team or the drivers expected, “shocked” is the word rivals used.

So shocked that was Ferrari’s anomaly for the season? Yes!

People with more insight than I have, insist that was not Ferrari’s pace, that was not the Ferrari SF-25 at its best.

So with a dry track in Shanghai, my prediction is Ferrari will make the podium. Will it be Charles Leclerc or Lewis Hamilton, there I cannot say. But probably Leclerc.

Liam Lawson to bounce back strongly

By Thomas Maher

Melbourne is always a little bit of an unusual race weekend, where it’s easy for mistakes and incidents to happen – a situation that was exacerbated this year by the tricky weather.

With his practice issues exacerbating his existing lack of experience in Melbourne, I reckon the situation will improve immensely for Lawson this weekend – I’ll go the opposite way to what Oliver has suggested above.

Shanghai is a wider track, a little bit more straightforward in general as a venue and, thanks to the resurfacing, means he isn’t starting completely out of kilter with the rest of the field.

Wherever Max finishes this weekend, I’ll predict that Lawson finishes less than 25 seconds behind – a performance which will be more than enough to kick off his season properly and temper some of the negativity at this early stage of the championship.

Max Verstappen to win the Chinese Grand Prix

By Henry Valantine

This wouldn’t have seemed so bold a week ago, but let’s go for Max Verstappen to topple McLaren and take to the top step.

He showed the pace in the RB21 was in a good enough place to be able to pounce on any errors the McLaren duo made, and Red Bull looked imperious around Shanghai last season.

Yes, this year is a completely different kettle of fish and the paddock seems unanimous on McLaren having the fastest package at the moment, but he’s not the sort of driver to count out.

By Jamie Woodhouse

I’ll also back Max Verstappen to get his victory tally up and running for the season. In Red Bull’s dominant days, the Sprint format at times acted as a leveller, with teams enjoying far less time to nail the setup.

McLaren could find themselves in that scenario this weekend, especially with these 2025 cars so green, and I sense Verstappen will pounce and take the chequered flag.

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