FIA issues statement as delays hit Chinese Grand Prix

The FIA have issued an official statement, after a delay for Formula 1 teams such as McLaren, Red Bull and Mercedes was revealed ahead of this weekend's Chinese Grand Prix.

Following the season-opening Australian GP that was dominated by McLaren as Lando Norris claimed a fifth career victory, F1 heads to China this weekend for round two of the 2025 season.

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Four-time world champion Max Verstappen surprisingly came within a second of Norris at the end of the race in Melbourne, but before the chaos of rain and multiple safety cars, Norris and team-mate Oscar Piastri had opened up a 16-second gap on the Red Bull driver, highlighting their pace advantage.

Now, it's been revealed that both McLaren and Red Bull are two of four teams that have been affected by delays at the Chinese GP.

F1 faced with logistical challenges at Chinese Grand Prix

F1 photographer Kym Illman revealed to his social media followers that freight delays have plagued Red Bull, McLaren, Mercedes and Aston Martin ahead of practice on Friday.

Aircraft technical issues following the quick turnaround in getting equipment from Australia to China has led to some teams running a day and a half behind schedule, the Australian photographer revealed.

Now, the FIA have confirmed this, issuing an official statement on what the freight delays will mean for the weekend, extending a key deadline to help official tyre supplier Pirelli.

"Due to the logistical challenges for the official tyre supplier resulting from delays in freight arrival, specially the requirement to revise the fitting schedule for Wednesday, the following concessions will be made," the FIA said in an official document.

"On the Wednesday, and for this event only, the curfew period will be reduced by a period of five and a half hours for a maximum of six operational personnel for the sole purpose of tyre preparations post tyre fitting from the tyre supplier."

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