That was Oscar Piastri’s tale in Shanghai. At the Chinese Grand Prix, it wasn’t so much a race as it was a well-composed symphony of pace, precision, and poise. And at the heart of it all, Piastri – calm, methodical, utterly in control.

From pole position to chequered flag, Piastri didn’t so much fight for the win as he crafted it. There were no dramatic lunges or near-misses, no dicey overtakes or nail-biting duels. Just a driver in a rhythm, keeping the rest of the field at arm’s length. 

It was a race that demanded brains over bravado. With tyre wear and strategy playing lead violin, the question was simple: one stop or two? The answer? For most of the grid, including the top five, once was enough. Piastri built the gap early and never looked back.

Trailing in second, team-mate Lando Norris gave chase as best he could. He hovered around the three-second mark late into the race before brake issues crept in like a nagging doubt. McLaren, ever the pragmatists, told him to hold position. No risks. No heroics. Just bring it home. And he did.

A one-two for McLaren in China? It’s the kind of thing that, just a few years ago, would’ve been considered fanciful. Now, it’s very real. And very deserved.

George Russell had hoped to stir the pot a little more after snatching second place during the pit stop cycle, but the McLaren of Norris, brake gremlins and all, eventually slipped past and kept him at bay. Still, a strong result for Mercedes and a quietly effective drive from the Brit.

Behind them, Max Verstappen brought his Red Bull home in fourth, exactly where he started. For a driver who’s made winning look inevitable in recent years, that’s a tough pill to swallow. But this weekend? The magic just wasn’t there. The car looked reluctant, like it didn’t get the Sprint Weekend memo, and Verstappen was more firefighter than frontrunner.

Then there was drama at Turn 1. Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton, two world-class drivers with a combined seven titles between them, had a clumsy coming-together. The Ferrari tapped the Mercedes, dislodging its own front wing. Leclerc chose to soldier on with the damage. Hamilton, meanwhile, rolled the dice with a two-stop strategy and laid down some blistering laps; fastest of the race, in fact. But not fast enough.

Further back, there were stories worth telling too. Esteban Ocon quietly delivered Haas their first real haul of 2025, finishing seventh after a well-executed one-stopper. Young Kimi Antonelli continued to impress in the other Mercedes, while Alex Albon wrung every last drop of performance out of his Williams to finish ahead of team-mate Ollie Bearman.

Pierre Gasly and Lance Stroll were on the cusp of points… until they weren’t. Alpine’s Jack Doohan tangled with Hadjar in the late stages, resulting in a penalty and more bruised pride than broken parts.

Elsewhere, Carlos Sainz is still trying to find his groove in the Williams, while Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar and Liam Lawson found themselves stranded in the no man’s land between strategy misfires and midfield mediocrity.

And Fernando Alonso? The Spaniard retired early on with brake issues, his Aston Martin quite literally unable to stop when it mattered most.

Disqualification Drama

Post-race scrutineering brought the hammer down on Leclerc, Gasly, and Hamilton. Leclerc and Gasly were disqualified for car weight breaches. Hamilton, meanwhile, was found with illegal plank wear; there was too much ground contact, and there was too little wood left.

As a result, Ocon was promoted to sixth, Antonelli to seventh, and the Williams boys marched up the leaderboard. Stroll and Sainz both found themselves back in the points.

Photo Credits: All images used in this article belong to the official Formula One Content Pool

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BMW made a strong showing at Auto Shanghai 2023 with a total of three world premieres, with the focus placed firmly on electrification and digitalisation.

This is also the first time that only electrified new models from the brand were being exhibited at a show, with the star attractions being the all-electric BMW i7 M70 xDrive, the BMW XM Label Red, and a variant of the BMW iX1 that has been developed exclusively for Chinese customers.

Also on display was the BMW i Vision Dee, which was debuting in Asia for the first time.

“BMW stands for innovation, for cutting-edge products and a broad technology approach,” says Oliver Zipse, Chairman of the Board of Management of BMW AG. “This enables us to address the individual wishes of our customers, especially here in China.”

i7 M70 xDrive

The all-electric BMW i7 M70 xDrive is now the de facto top dog of the BMW 7 Series range. Its two electric motors generate a combined system output of up to 485 kW (660 bhp) and maximum torque of 1,100 Nm, giving it plenty of power to power through despite its huge proportions.

XM Label Red

Hot on the heels of the controversially-stirring XM, the BMW XM Label Red is its new top-of-the-range variant, and the first-ever electrified high-performance model from BMW M GmbH. 

It is powered by an all-new M HYBRID drive system, whose combination of a V8 petrol engine and an electric motor delivers a maximum output of 550 kW (748 bhp) and 1,000 Nm. Just shy of the i7, but you still get a thumping V8 at the front, so who’s complaining?

iX1

Sadly, this is limited to the Chinese market, as the BMW iX1 provides a fresh impetus for all-electric premium compact mobility.

Made in China for China, the SAV is fitted with a dual electric motor setup – one at the front axle and another at the rear. The iX1 is also one of the brand’s first models to include the new BMW Operating System 9.

I Vision Dee

Visitors to the Auto Shanghai 2023 show also had the opportunity to meet the BMW i Vision Dee, with “Dee” standing for Digital Emotional Experience. The Vision Vehicle facilitates a remarkably intense bond between human and car using digital features that extend far beyond the functionality of voice control and driver assistance systems as we know them today.

The user experience in the BMW i Vision Dee is largely defined by a projection of driving-related data and other information extending across the entire width of the windscreen. The new system is already set to go into production in 2025 in the first Neue Klasse models under the name of BMW Panoramic Vision.

The i Vision Dee also has another trick up its sleeve, with an ePaper film from project partner E Ink allowing up to 32 different colours and an endless variety of patterns to be created on the car.

BMW and China

The BMW Group’s sustained success in China is closely linked to its continuing ramp-up of electric mobility. Since 1994, the BMW Group has already delivered more than seven million vehicles to customers in China, and now has a network of over 630 dealerships extending throughout the country, virtually all of which are also qualified to sell and service electrified vehicles.

These cars were produced at the Dadong plant of the BMW Brilliance Automotive Ltd. (BBA) joint venture. Following the most recent expansion of production capacity there, the facility will be capable of building around 830,000 cars a year in future.

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The all-new Mercedes-Maybach EQS 680 SUV will debut next month in China. Slated to launch at Auto Shanghai on April 17, Maybach released a lone teaser image that has fewer details than recent spy shots. The design has already been leaked online, but the details of the car are still hazy. 

The teaser depicts the car underneath a sheet. While Mercedes attempts to hide the SUV’s design ahead of its big reveal, we know it’ll look similar to the current EQS SUV. Albeit, with some Maybach touches.

Styling touches on luxed-up Mercedes models are pretty unique, and spy shots have captured vertical slats on the lower bumper opening, similar to the grilles on the current generation Maybach S-Class and GLS. Apparently, the SUV with debut with a hood ornament, but it is not visible under the sheet in the teaser image.

Being a Maybach, the interior will definitely be a place of opulence and wealth. Expect lush materials in every nook and cranny, and every bit of technology that’s possible to cram into a car.

Powertrain statistics have not been revealed, but expect it to be similar if not faster than the EQS 580 SUV. The EQS 580 SUV has a dual-motor, all-wheel-drive setup producing 536 bhp and 858Nm of torque, and is currently rated at approximately 460km of range with its 107.8 kWh battery. The Maybach should be within those ballpark figures.

The new Maybach EQS 680 SUV will break cover at this year’s Auto Shanghai in China on Monday, April 17, at 2 pm CEST (8 am EST).

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Accompanying it will be a wide range of new and future products that promise to exceed expectations. These include two other concepts designed to meet the diverse mobility needs of consumers in China.

A new EV concept model designed and made for China will take centre stage alongside the Nissan Max-Out. Both offer exciting and confident driving experiences that are tailored to a broad range of lifestyles and needs while supporting Nissan’s future global plans and ambitions.

Maxed out for the future

The Nissan Max-Out was first revealed in 2021 as a digital concept, and it illustrates the future of Nissan Ambition 2030, the company’s long-term vision to meet consumer, environmental and societal needs in a truly sustainable manner.

Now a physical reality, the convertible concept promises to deliver a new driving experience with superlative stability and comfort.

Nissan will also showcase electrified vehicles featuring all-electric and e-POWER powertrains. These vehicles embody the company’s approach to changing how cars are powered, driven and integrated into society, and show how Nissan is committed to making vehicles that will be at the forefront of innovation.

The 20th Shanghai International Automobile Exhibition will be held from April 18-27 at the National Exhibition and Convention Center. We can’t wait to see what Nissan has in store for us all.

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In its quest for electrification, Toyota has recently announced the new bZ3, the second model in its new Beyond Zero (bZ) EV lineup, following the Toyota bZ4X. The bZ3 will be an EV sedan that is jointly developed for the Chinese market by Toyota, BYD, and FAW Toyota.

BYD and FAW are two of China’s biggest EV manufacturers, and China is currently the world’s largest EV market. 

A good number of new EVs on the market are made to look futuristic, in a bid to make them stand out from their petrol counterparts, and the bZ3 is no different. Sharp contours and chiselled edges alongside the split headlamps and the unified LED bonnet strip are borrowed design elements from the Toyota bZ4X.

In terms of dimensions, the bZ3 is the same size as Toyota’s famed Corolla. Crucially, it is marginally larger than its chief rival, the Tesla Model 3.

The interior of the bZ3 has also been designed with Toyota’s ‘family lounge’ concept, whose design language illustrates cars more as communal family spaces rather than just a mode of transportation.

A ‘digital island’ sits smack in the centre of the car, which includes a large portrait-oriented central touchscreen and what Toyota calls a “tray-type console” that provides wireless charging and smartphone connectivity. All main functions of the cabin will be controlled via the touchscreen, with no physical buttons in sight.

The bZ3 is based on a bespoke Toyota EV platform, eTNGA. BYD’s main contribution is their Blade lithium-iron-phosphate famed battery technology that has been designed to retain 90 % of its charging capacity after 10 years.

Toyota has yet to reveal specific powertrain details like performance and charging times, but the carmaker did reveal that the bZ3 will have an estimated range of around 599km, putting it in direct competition with Tesla’s long-range models.

At this current juncture, we do not have news of whether the bZ3 will be coming to Singapore, seeming as it is only destined for the China market.

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