From the desert of Bahrain Formula One heads to the industrial sprawl of Shanghai for the third round of the world championship, and another track which first appeared on the calendar in 2004.
But the Shanghai International Circuit is a very different proposition, with longer corners which place the tyres under greater strain. The front-left tyre takes the biggest pounding, especially in turns one/two/three and twelve/thirteen.
Two long straights with the inevitable DRS zones present opportunities for overtaking. The back straight leading to the turn 14 hairpin is one of the longest of the season. Yet despite this drivers are at full throttle for less time than at almost every other circuit. This makes the track less demanding in terms of fuel consumption and brake wear.
Track data: Shanghai International Circuit
| Lap length | 5.451km (3.387 miles) |
| Grand prix distance | 305.066km (189.559 miles) |
| Lap record (race) | 1’32.238 (Michael Schumacher, 2004) |
| Fastest lap (any session) | 1’32.238 (Michael Schumacher, 2004, race) |
| Tyre compounds | See drivers’ choices |
| 2015 Rate the Race | 5.72 out of 10 |
| 2015 Driver of the Weekend | Lewis Hamilton |
The cars pass beneath a vast grandstand as they accelerate towards turn one, which is one of the quickest opening turns of the season.
“Turns one, two and three are like one big corner,” explains Daniel Ricciardo, “really long and uphill, and this makes it really tough on the front-left tyre – it’s one of the toughest circuits for that”
“It’s a tricky corner because it’s easy to go in too hot, especially during qualifying,” says Nico Hulkenberg, “and it’s a corner that eats your tyres.”
“In fact, looking after the tyres is always hard work because turn 13 is another long right-hander that takes even more life out of them. The rest of the lap has a bit of everything from low-speed to high-speed, which makes it challenging to find a balanced set-up.”
Before the cars reach the similar turn which leads onto the back straight they have to negotiate the second hairpin, turn six. This presents another overtaking opportunity, particularly for drivers whose cars lack the straight-line speed to attack in the DRS zones.
“I did a good move there,” remembers Max Verstappen of his bravura performance in last year’s race. “I couldn’t overtake [Sergio] Perez on the straight, so I had to do it somewhere else.”
Turns seven and eight are two more long corners which the drivers can attack in qualifying but have to think of their tyre wear during the race. Coming out of turn eight at high speed makes braking for the sharp turn nine difficult.
The drivers have another tricky exit to negotiate at turn ten before a short straight to eleven, another left-hander. Now the second of the track’s super-long right handers begins, only this time the drivers are gaining speed.
“You go from very low speed to increasing the speed through the corner, and it’s a part of the circuit where it’s easy to hurt the front tyres,” explains Esteban Gutierrez. “It’s an important part of the circuit when it comes to the car’s race set-up. Then one of the longest straights of the season is the back straight, were you’re at maximum speed.”
From the highest speed on the track drivers brake to the lowest in the space of just 159 metres. They experience forces of almost 5G as they reduce their speed by 272kph (169mph) in less than three seconds. After that a straightforward left-hander brings them back onto the start/finish straight.
Unicron (@unicron2002)
13th April 2016, 15:12
Dear Shanghai International Circuit, despite all the thrills and dramas you’ve shown me over the years I just don’t love you. I can’t. It’s not you, it’s me. No in fact it is you. You’re flat, plain, featureless, dull. And overly showy with your oversized grandstand. Just make sure you put a good show on for us this weekend please, we need something to distract us from the look of you.
LosD (@losd)
13th April 2016, 15:34
You’re weird. It’s one of the best circuits of the season.
lockup (@)
13th April 2016, 15:39
Yes I like it too @losd. The non-crowd and smog aren’t great, but some of the corners, and how they combine, are.
markp
13th April 2016, 15:54
The time that man ran across the straight to get in the pit area means I am glad mor people do no turn up incase they are like him. The smog and big grandstand bring variety to the visual as the desert in the last round although many would like a circuit in a hilly European setting lined with trees, if all were like that they would become boring. The circuit is nice and again different to many tracks I really like it, in fact I would say F1 does not have a circuit problem I like all of them. Other series use the F1 tracks as well and other tracks round the world that have the infrastructure and safety requirements for F1 are not many even if we discount the money involved in hosting F1. I would like to go to this race sometime, the lack of people attending would be a plus as I would have space to move and view wherever I wanted unlike say Silverstone and on the TV I could not care less about the people in the stands. Think about it you can turn up park and get into the track and leave quickly without being stuck in horrendous traffic and queues.
lockup (@)
13th April 2016, 16:24
I really don’t like the smog @markp, it makes me think of homo sapiens as a plague species. The track is a change, that’s true. Still the atmosphere would be a lot better if there was a crowd. Even on TV it makes a big difference afaic, like Oz or Canada or even Singapore. Anyway like you I am looking forward to the Shanghai weekend.
markp
13th April 2016, 17:11
Well it’s not to everyone’s taste but others like it so in the interest of keeping everyone happy it’s good this track is on the calendar.
Unicron (@unicron2002)
13th April 2016, 16:04
You are.
montreal95 (@montreal95)
13th April 2016, 16:21
@unicron2002 @losd None of you are weird. Different people like different things. Me, I feel like I’m exactly in between. Half of the things about the Shang I love(like the neverending first turn and the fast corners in the middle) , the other half I hate(like the lack of elevation change and dull surroundings as well as the too long back straight). It surely isn’t one of the best Tilke tracks but it’s not one of the worst either. It’s exactly in the middle IMO
Unicron (@unicron2002)
13th April 2016, 20:14
Very well put @montreal95 it very much is a matter of opinion and personal taste,what would be weird is if everyone had the same opinion about everything
Ashwin (@redbullf1)
13th April 2016, 18:13
I have always enjoyed the shanghai track be it watching the races live or racing on Rfactor.
It has unique combination of curves and straights, so I´m looking forwards for some good action.
Stephen Crowsen (@drycrust)
13th April 2016, 22:23
I will be paying to watch a motor race, not an appreciate the architecture.
Sven (@crammond)
14th April 2016, 2:35
@unicron2002 I don´t even think the circiut even provided that many thrills. But it´s just in a place where it rains sometimes, and that has helped some of the former races. A dry race in China usually isn´t good.