Preview: Chinese Grand Prix, Shanghai

 

Returning to China is an important moment for the sport. As the world’s largest automotive market and second biggest economy, China is crucial to the sport’s global footprint. The growth of F1 in recent years has been positive and China is a key market in which to continue this progress. We are looking forward to racing in Shanghai for the first time in five years and bringing F1 back to the Chinese fans. With a sell-out crowd expected, I am sure it will be a fantastic event.

It will be an interesting weekend on track. With new cars, new tyres, and changes to the track surface since we last raced in China, there will be plenty of unknowns. We have the first Sprint weekend of the year too and that brings its own challenges. The changes to the format, including a second parc fermé, will be an improvement to the rhythm of the weekend – and the single hour of practice still puts pressure on to make correct decisions with imperfect information. We are looking forward to that test, though.

The headline results didn’t necessarily show it, but we made solid progress with our car in Japan. We are looking forward to building on that this weekend.

Fact File: Chinese Grand Prix

• The Chinese Grand Prix returns to the calendar for the first time since 2019 this year, having first appeared on the F1 calendar in 2004.
• That 2019 race was also F1000, the 1000^th race since the inception of the sport in 1950.
• The 5.451km layout features 16 turns (nine right, seven left). The racing lap record from the first race in 2004 still stands today, set by Michael Schumacher.
• Shanghai International Circuit holds special memories for our team too, having been the site of our first win since returning to the sport in 2010 when Nico Rosberg triumphed in 2012.
• In 2005, the circuit hosted the season finale for the one and only time.
• Having originally taken place towards the end of the F1 calendar, the race moved to a more permanent slot in the early stages of the season from 2009.
• The first seven events were all won by different drivers.
• Lewis Hamilton is the most successful driver at the track, triumphing six times to date between 2008 and 2019.
• Shanghai will also host the first F1 Sprint weekend of 2024.
• In a change from 2023, Friday will now consist of FP1 and Sprint qualifying. The F1 Sprint race will follow on Saturday morning, before Grand Prix qualifying on Saturday afternoon.
• This is the first year that ground effect cars (introduced in 2022) will have raced at the Shanghai International Circuit.
• As the circuit is built on swampland, the risk of earth movement below ground is increased, so steps have been taken to grind down and reseal areas of concern on the track to make it less bumpy.