China GP: Chaotic Practice 1 in Shanghai Exposes Rear-End Instability Issues Across the Grid

Shanghai International Circuit played host to a drama-filled opening practice session at the 2025 Chinese Grand Prix, with rear axle lockups, a mechanical retirement, snap oversteer moments, and a handful of close calls keeping fans and engineers on edge throughout the 60-minute session.

Free Practice 1 in Shanghai will be remembered less for lap times and more for what it revealed about this year’s cars and the drivers still learning to live with them.

Norris Nudges Hamilton in Opening Lap Contact at Turn 16

The session barely had time to breathe before the first incident. On the very first lap, Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton ran side by side heading into Turn 16, where a light but notable contact occurred. Hamilton appeared to carry less speed than expected into the corner, catching Norris off-guard mid-overtake. The McLaren driver locked his rear tyres in the moment and slid gently into the side of Hamilton’s Ferrari. Neither car suffered serious damage and both drivers continued, but it set the tone for what was to come.

Hamilton Spin at Turn 6 Puts Spotlight on Ferrari’s “Macarena” Wing

Lewis Hamilton’s session took another unwanted turn, literally, when his rear axle locked approaching Turn 6, sending the Ferrari into a spin off the circuit. To his credit, Hamilton showed impressive composure to gather the car and keep his session alive. What caught the attention of engineers in the paddock, though, was the cause. Multiple sources within the Ferrari camp have pointed to Hamilton still adapting to the team’s new active aerodynamic system, nicknamed the “Macarena” wing, which deploys significantly slower than the DRS system Hamilton used throughout his Mercedes career. That slower aerodynamic transition appears to be affecting rear-end stability under braking, something that could become a defining storyline across the 2025 season.

Bortoleto Locks Up at Turn 6 as the Corner Claims Another Victim

Gabriel Bortoleto became the next driver to fall foul of Turn 6, locking up and running wide off the circuit. The Sauber rookie managed to avoid a spin, but a full lockup at that speed almost certainly means flat-spotted tyres. His engineers would have been watching the data closely to determine whether a tyre change was necessary before his next run. Three lockups at the same corner across the opening phase of the session sent a clear message: Turn 6 was going to be the braking reference point of the weekend.

Lindblad Retires With Engine Trouble and Hybrid System Concerns

The most serious incident of the session came when Arvid Lindblad pulled off on the straight before Turn 14, reporting smoke entering the cockpit. Lindblad immediately retired the car at Turn 14 and made his way to the pit garage to debrief with his team. The cause remains unclear at the time of writing, but suspicion has quickly shifted toward Red Bull’s new in-house power unit, the first season the Milton Keynes outfit has run their own engine, as a potential source of the problem.

What raised eyebrows further was what happened after the retirement. Lindblad did not replace his steering wheel before the car was pushed back to the pits, a protocol teams take very seriously. Perhaps more telling, marshals who attended to the stationary car were seen wearing the specialist insulated gloves typically reserved for incidents involving a car’s hybrid energy system. Red Bull will have some questions to answer heading into the rest of the weekend.

Piastri Rear Lock at Turn 4, Then a Snap at Turn 1

Oscar Piastri had a busy session of his own. A slight moment of oversteer into Turn 4 triggered a rear axle lockup that briefly took the Australian off the circuit. No damage done, but it added another name to the growing rear-instability tally for the day.

Later, at Turn 1, Piastri’s McLaren snapped sideways for a fraction of a second, sending him briefly off track before he recovered. The team radio chatter was telling: similar feedback was reportedly coming in from Norris on the same corner. It appears to be a characteristic of the 2025 McLaren under specific aerodynamic loading conditions rather than a driver error issue, something the Woking engineers will be poring over.

Hadjar Front-Left Lockup at Turn 6, the Corner Refuses to Let Up

Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar added to the Turn 6 story with a front-left locking moment through the braking zone. Unlike the rear lockups seen elsewhere, Hadjar’s was a more conventional front axle issue, but it underlined how demanding that particular braking point is proving on tyre compounds this weekend. The front-left tyre was taking a beating across multiple cars and multiple teams throughout the session.

Bortoleto Snaps at Turn 1, Joins the McLaren Club Without the McLaren

Gabriel Bortoleto experienced the same unsettling snap moment through Turn 1 that had caught both Piastri and Norris earlier in the session. The Sauber driver handled it well, losing only a moment’s track position before bringing the car back under control. The fact that an identical snap is appearing across different car concepts at the same circuit location suggests the issue may have as much to do with the circuit surface and wind conditions as it does with any single team’s setup.

Colapinto Hot Brake Scare in the Pit Lane

In one of the more unusual moments of the session, Franco Colapinto brought his Alpine to a stop in the pit lane after his brakes overheated to potentially dangerous levels, raising the risk of a brake fire. His crew scrambled out of the garage and rushed toward the car, at which point Colapinto fired the engine back up and rolled safely into his box. No fire, no damage, and enough comedic timing that the paddock couldn’t help but smile. The mechanics may have seen the funny side less immediately.

LeClerc Understeer at Turn 16 Sends Ferrari Into the Gravel

Charles LeClerc suffered his own difficult moment late in the session, running wide with understeer at Turn 16, the very same corner where the Norris-Hamilton contact had occurred in Lap 1. Leclerc’s Ferrari understeered into the gravel trap, though he was able to continue. After Hamilton’s spin and now Leclerc’s gravel excursion, Ferrari will have a detailed debrief ahead of Practice 2 as they try to dial in a car that is clearly still not quite where they want it at this circuit.

Bearman Spins in Front of Stroll, Haas Driver Escapes Unscathed

The final drama of FP1 belonged to Oliver Bearman, who spun his Haas on track directly in the path of Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin coming through after Turn 4. It was a heart-in-mouth moment for anyone watching the timing screens, but Stroll reacted well and steered around the stricken Haas without contact. Bearman gathered himself and rejoined without penalty, but it was the kind of incident that serves as a reminder of how little margin there is when a car loses composure in the middle of an active circuit.

What FP1 in Shanghai Told Us

If Practice 1 at the 2025 Chinese Grand Prix taught us anything, it is that rear stability under braking is the central performance and reliability question of this early season. Turn 6 alone claimed Bortoleto twice, Hamilton, Hadjar, and Piastri in the space of a single hour. The McLaren snap behaviour at Turn 1 is a setup conversation that will run into qualifying. Red Bull’s power unit situation with Lindblad may prove to be the most significant technical story of the entire weekend depending on what the data shows.

China GP FP1 – Practice 1 Results