chinesegp – The Fastest Sector

Getting ready for China

Being the home race of Stake Kick Sauber’s Zhou Guanyu, expect to see more of him in media channels. As the home favourite, he will be doing increased media appearances than he typically would for a grand prix weekend. This is the first time Formula One sees an active Chinese driver racing at the Chinese Grand Prix, so the buzz surrounding Zhou is great. As well as this, with it being Zhou’s first race on home soil, and in his hometown, it would not be surprising if he had something special in store for fans this week in celebration.

Image Credit: thesportsrush.com

The track itself – Shanghai International Circuit – is just under five and a half kilometres long. This is the 16th time the circuit has hosted a race since it first began hosting a grand prix for the 2004 season. It contains 16 corners, including two hairpins. A new track surface will also be being used at this track. Due to this, previous data collected by teams at this track will not be relevant, especially data concerning tyre degradation and the tyre life cycle. This means sessions before the main race will be key for teams to work out how their car performs on this track. In addition, the teams will only have one practice session due to it being a sprint weekend.

Image Credit: maxf1.net

As mentioned, the Chinese Grand Prix race weekend will include a sprint race, marking the first of the 2024 season. The sprint race will take place on the Saturday mere hours before the standard race qualifying session. This has appeared a rather controversial decision, with many fearing incidents in the sprint will negatively affect the later session that day. Some also fear that the threat of losing out in qualifying for the main race will force drivers to play it safe in the sprint race, risking a more dull race.

Despite a five year gap since F1’s last visit, there is hope that this year’s Chinese Grand Prix will provide the same entertaining racecraft it has in the past, especially with the addition of the sprint race this time around. The most memorable moment provided for fans at this track was probably the ‘torpedo’ incident between Sebastian Vettel and Daniil Kvyat in 2016. Vettel accused Kvyat – in the Red Bull – of causing his collision with Ferrari teammate, Kimi Raikkonen early into the race. None of these drivers are on the grid any longer, truly showcasing how long it has been since we were last racing in China.

For the last five years, there has been a hiatus for F1 in China, with COVID concerns meaning any planned races here could not go ahead. It will be interesting to see how these newer generation of cars fare at this track. Who do you expect to see on top this week?

When to watch: (times in BST)

Friday 19th April

04:30 – Free Practice 1
08:30 – Sprint Shootout Qualifying

Saturday 20th April

04:00 – Sprint Race
08:00 – Grand Prix Race Qualifying

Sunday 21st April

08:00 – Grand Prix Race

Written by Alexandra.

Featured Image Credit: Darren Heath/Getty Images

Flashback Friday – China 2012

A decade ago, round three of the 2012 F1 season saw the teams and drivers arrive at the Shanghai International Circuit. Tensions were high because of the long discussions about Mercedes front wing F duct’s legality, said legality being argued by Mercedes competitor’s.

Source: Maxf1.net

Notably, Hamilton, who at the time was looking to add another championship to his name, was to serve a five place grid penalty for changing the gearbox of his McLaren.

Over the three practice sessions, Mercedes and McLaren showed their speed on track by hosting their cars in the top 3 of all of the sessions. Hamilton topped FP1 and FP3, while seven time world champion Schumacher split the young Brit’s dominance and topped FP2.

Qualifying

When it came to qualifying, it was a different ball game. Red Bull and Mercedes were confident in their car; both leaving it late to do runs in Q1, but both teams were safe with that bold move. The usual suspects were out in Q1 such as Vergne, Kovalainen, Petrov, Glock, De la Rosa and Karthikeyan.

In Q2, probably the most unexpected event at the point during the weekend, was the exit of two time world champion Sebastian Vettel for Red Bull. Both Mercedes, Hamilton and Raikkonen stayed in the pits while others did their final runs in attempt to escape elimination. This eventually dumped Vettel out of Q2, he was joined by Massa, Maldonado, Senna, di Resta and Ricciardo.

The top 10 shootout was full of excitement as it could have been anyone’s pole position for the taking. First to set a lapped time was Rosberg, punching a 1:35.1 on the clock, half a second faster than his team mate Schumacher, Hamilton and Webber. With confidence in his time, he stepped out of the car with two minutes left on the clock; but there was no one who could stop Rosberg from claiming his first pole position in Formula 1. Hamilton ended up P2 but would later drop back to P7 for his gearbox penalty.

Starting grid: Rosberg, Schumacher, Kobayashi, Raikkonen, Button, Webber, Hamilton, Perez, Alonso, Grosjean

Source: autoexpress.co.uk

Race

Finally, the much anticipated race day came along and Vergne was to start in the pitlane after changes to his car before the race.

Most of the grid started on soft tyres, but starting medium tyres were Massa, Senna and both Toro Rossos. Good starts from the Mercedes pair saw them avoid trouble but Kobayashi and Webber fell backwards in order and found themselves in a tight pickle, with Webber behind Alonso. An early stop by Webber led the others to follow his actions shortly after.

The only retirement of the race came from a mistake in the pitlane by Mercedes when Schumacher went to make his first pitstop. A possible podium finish turned into a nightmare for the German team. With the round of pitstops completed the lead was Rosberg, Button, Hamilton, Webber and Raikkonen.

Webber was the first to pit again for new tyres on Lap 22; Button and Hamilton followed his lead. Raikkonen stopped later and ended up losing many places after the pitstop. By Lap 30, the different strategies were more clear cut: Rosberg, Vettel and Raikkonen were all on two stop strategies while Button, Hamilton and Webber were doing three stops.

After Rosberg’s final stop Button took the lead but would still have to make another stop himself. But when Hamilton, Alonso and Button pitted, it was not smooth sailing for Button as there was an issue with his rear left tyre which delayed his stop giving the lead back to Rosberg. When Massa pitted, it left Raikkonen behind the leading Rosberg but there was a train of cars behind him.

With five laps to go Button, Hamilton and Webber overtook Vettel with their much fresher tyres for 2nd, 3rd and 4th. Nico Rosberg held his own and took good care of his tyres to see himself victorious in F1 for the first time in his career. He was joined by a double McLaren podium in Button and Hamilton.

Top 10 points scorers: Rosberg, Button, Hamilton, Webber, Vettel, Grosjean, Senna, Maldonado, Alonso, Kobayashi

Rosberg’s win moved him to P6 in the championship standings but it was McLaren’s Hamilton and Button who were first and second.

Source: makformula1.blogspot.com

Hope you enjoyed that Flashback Friday, we will be back in the new year with lots more to share!