Red Bull saw Max Verstappen take a third place finish in the sprint race in the Chinese Grand Prix weekend.

The Dutchman had started second in the race at the Shanghai International Circuit, but was passed late on by Oscar Piastri and had to settled for third.

Team-mate Liam Lawson, meanwhile, finished 14th after starting from 19th position on the grid.

The sprint podium saw Verstappen pick up six points, giving him 24 points after one full race and one sprint. Red Bull also have 24 points, with only Verstappen scoring points, with the team sat third in these early stages of the 2025 Formula One season.

In the first sprint race of 2025, Verstappen would be starting from second alongside Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton, who’d taken pole and was chasing a first win of any description after his high-profile move over the winter.

Verstappen’s pace initially saw him stay with Hamilton in the first part of the 19-lap mini-race, but the Dutchman’s tyre wear ultimately saw him lose touch with the Ferrari. Instead, he would end up being passed by Piastri in the McLaren in the final laps, although he had enough of a margin to finish ahead of the duelling George Russell and Charles Leclerc behind.

Meanwhile, Lawson had made a number of overtakes in his attempts to get somewhere after his troubles in qualifying, but he ran out of time to try and make an unlikely charge to the points. He finished 14th, in a race where only the top 8 positions deliver points.

The full Chinese Grand Prix starts at 7am tomorrow morning (23/03), with qualifying held after the sprint race. For that one, Verstappen will start from fourth position, nestled in-between Lando Norris and Hamilton. Lawson meanwhile qualified last, with it as yet unknown if Red Bull will choose to start him from the pit lane instead.