F1 Racing Australia - May 2018

: CHARLES COATES; LAT ARCHIVE. ILLUSTRATION: ALAN ELDRIDGE

FINISHING STRAIGHT

3

Turns

DRS detection

DRS start

DRS end

HONG KONG

BEIJING

SHANGHAI

Sector 2

Sector 3

1

4

3

10

9

8

6

7

11

14

13

15

16

12

2

5

Sector 1

F1 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND

13-15 April 2018

Shanghai International

Circuit, Shanghai

THE CHINESE GP

CLASSIC RACE: 2007

Lewis Hamilton arrived in Shanghai with a shot at the

championship in his rookie year, but China proved to be his

downfall thanks to the wet weather of Typhoon Krosa.

He had made the perfect start to the weekend,

storming to pole position and controlling the early stages

of the race. But as the damp track dried, he stayed out

too long on ageing intermediate tyres and overshot his

entry to the pits, ending his race in a gravel trap.

Ferrari’s Kimi Räikkönen took a crucial win, with

Hamilton’s McLaren

team-mate Fernando

Alonso second, and in

doing so closed the

points gap to the

Brit as they headed

to Brazil for the

season fi nale.

RACE DATA

Circuit name Shanghai

International Circuit

First GP 2004

Number of laps 56

Circuit length 3.387 miles

Race distance 189.559 miles

Lap record 1m 32.238s

(Michael Schumacher, 2004)

F1 races held 14

Winners from pole 9

Tyres Ultrasoft, soft, medium

TIMETABLE

(UK TIME)

Friday 13 April

Practice 1 02:00-03:30

Practice 2 06:00-07:30

Saturday 14 April

Practice 3 03:00-04:00

Qualifying 06:00-07:00

Sunday 15 April

Race 06:10

Live coverage Sky Sports F1

Highlights Channel 4

China fi rst appeared on the Formula 1 calendar 14 years

ago, but the Shanghai International Circuit still looks like

a new arrival thanks to its ultra-modern architecture and

top-of-the-range facilities.

Built on reclaimed marshland and supported by 40,000

stone pillars, the circuit is roughly shaped as the Chinese

character ‘shang’ (meaning ‘high’) while team paddock

buildings are set on stilts within a lake, resembling

Shanghai’s famous classical Yuyuan Garden.

A huge main grandstand, which can hold up to 29,000

spectators, offers views of almost 80 per cent of the

front-limited circuit, which largely comprises long-radius,

late-apex corners. A lot of the engineering focus is to

preserve the life of the front-left tyre, particularly through

the high-loads at Turns 1 and 2 and Turns 11-13.

Low cloud, smog and rain often affect this region and it

was particularly troublesome last year when Friday practice

was cancelled as the medical helicopter was unable to fl y.

THE MAIN EVENT

THE WINNERS HERE...

2017

Lewis

Hamilton

Mercedes

2016

Nico

Rosberg

Mercedes

2015

Lewis

Hamilton

Mercedes

2014

Lewis

Hamilton

Mercedes

2013

Fernando

Alonso

Ferrari