Chinese GP 2019: History, Stats & Facts

The Chinese Grand Prix is currently held at the Shanghai International Circuit, Jiading, Shanghai, designed by Hermann Tilke.

When completed in 2004, it was the most expensive Formula One circuit facility, costing US$240 million.

Abu Dhabi became the most expensive at US$6 billion when it opened in 2009.

The track is 5.451 km long and features one of the trickiest corners combinations on the Formula One calendar, comparable to that of Istanbul Park’s turn 8, also designed by Tilke.

Turn 1 and 2 are a very demanding 270-degree, right-handed corner combination that requires a lot of speed whilst entering and it tightens up towards the end.

The race is scheduled to remain on the Formula One calendar until at least 2020.

Chinese Grand Prix, Round 3 of the 2019 Formula 1 season

Circuit name: Shanghai International Circuit

Race laps: 56

Circuit length: 5.451 km (3.387 mi)

Race length: 305.066 km (189.559 mi)

Number of corners: 16 (9 right, 7 left)

Circuit direction: Clockwise

Distance from pole to T1 apex: 336.49 m

Pole position 2018: Sebastian Vettel – Ferrari 1:31.095

Pole position side: Left

Pit lane length under speed limit control: 383.2 m

Drive-through time at 80 km/h: 17.24 s

Lap time at full throttle: 59%

Lap distance at full throttle: 72%

Gear changes per lap: 48

Braking events (>2g): 7

Heavy braking events (4g): 1

Fuel consumption: Medium

Maximum lateral G-force: 4.9 @ t7

Maximum speed: 329.6 km/h

Track evolution (P1 – Qualifying): Medium

DRS zones: T13-14 / T16-1

Key overtaking opportunities: T1 / T6 / T14

Race lap record: 1:32.238 Michael Schumacher – Ferrari 2004

Absolute lap record: 1:31.095 Sebastian Vettel – Ferrari Q3 – 2018

Shanghai International Circuit

Pirelli used compounds

Tyres that must be available (one of them to be used) at some point in the race:

One set of C2 Hard

One set of C3 Medium

Tyres assigned for Q3 in qualifying:                     

One set of C4 Soft

Teams/Drivers compounds choice

Nbr	Driver	Hard C1	Medium C2	Soft C3
44	Lewis Hamilton	1	4	8
77	Valtteri Bottas	2	3	8
5	Sebastian Vettel	2	4	7
16	Charles Leclrec	1	5	7
33	Max Verstappen	2	3	8
10	Pierre Gasly	2	4	7
3	Daniel Ricciardo	1	4	8
27	Nico Hulkenberg	2	3	8
20	Kevin Magnussen	2	3	8
8	Romain Grosjean	1	4	8
55	Carlos Sainz	2	2	9
4	Lando Norris	2	2	9
11	Sergio Perez	2	3	8
18	Lance Stroll	2	3	8
7	Kimi Raikkonen	2	3	8
99	Antonio Giovinazzi	3	2	8
26	Daniil Kvyat	2	3	8
23	Alexander Albon	2	3	8
63	George Russell	1	5	7
88	Robert Kubica	2	4	7

THE CIRCUIT FROM A TYRE POINT OF VIEW:

• The wide track is renowned for its long straights and corners: the straights can cool down the front tyres in particularly, causing a risk of front locking.
• Weather is always a big question mark: cool temperatures are common, which increases the possibility of graining – especially in free practice.
• There was a wide variety of different strategies in China last year: Daniel Ricciardo won for Red Bull with two stops, although the race was affected by a safety car.
• The track has a medium abrasive surface and is quite demanding on tyres, with the front-left tyre working hardest.
• Lateral forces (cornering) are quite balanced with longitudinal forces (acceleration and braking) in China. Turns 1 and 13 are the most demanding corners.

MARIO ISOLA – HEAD OF CAR RACING

“Last year, China was the first grand prix where there was a ‘jump’ in the tyre nominations, contributing to an exciting race with an emphasis on strategy. Our C2, C3 and C4 hard, medium and soft nominations this time are roughly equivalent to the medium, soft and ultrasoft compounds we had in China last year. We are hoping that this choice it will result in the same sort of entertaining action and a good mix of strategies. Shanghai is quite a complete track that contains a bit of everything, so it makes a solid all-round test of car and tyre performance. With plenty of overtaking opportunities as well, and the celebrations for the 1000th grand prix, it should be a very memorable weekend”.

SHANGHAI MINIMUM STARTING PRESSURES AND EOS CAMBER LIMIT (SLICKS)

 

Chinese Grand Prix Winners 2004 – 2018

Year	Driver	Constructor
2018	Daniel ricciardo	Reb Bull-TAG Heuer
2017	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes
2016	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes
2015	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes
2014	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes
2013	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari
2012	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes
2011	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren-Mercedes
2010	Jenson Button	McLaren-Mercedes
2009	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull-Renault
2008	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren-Mercedes
2007	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari
2006	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari
2005	Fernando Alonso	Renault
2004	Rubens Barrichello	Ferrari

Multiple Winners (Drivers)

# Wins	Driver	Years Won
5	Lewis Hamilton	2008, 2011, 2014, 2015, 2017
2	Fernando Alonso	2005, 2013
	Nico Rosberg	2012, 2016

 Multiple Winners (Constructors)

# Wins	Constructor	Years Won
5	Mercedes	2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017
4	Ferrari	2004, 2006, 2007, 2013
3	McLaren	2008, 2010, 2011

 Numbers and Facts

Most wins (driver) 5 / Lewis Hamilton 2008 – 2011 – 2014 – 2015 – 2017

Most wins (constructor) 5 / Mercedes 2012 – 2014 – 2015 – 2016 – 2017

Wins from pole position 9 / 2004 – 2005 – 2008 – 2009 – 2012 – 2014 – 2015 – 2016 – 2017

Lowest grid for past winner 6 / Michael Schumacher – 2006 and Daniel Ricciardo – 2018

Most recent 1-2 finish 2015 / Mercedes – Lewis Hamilton-Nico Rosberg

Most emphatic win (here) 37.776s / 2016 – Nico Rosberg-Sebastian Vettel

Closest winning margin 0.714s / 2015 – Lewis Hamilton-Nico Rosberg

Rain-affected races 5 / 2006 – 2007 – 2009 – 2010 – 2017 (damp track at start)

Safety Car-affected races 7 / 2005 – 2009 – 2010 – 2015 – 2016 – 2017 – 2018

Most podiums (driver) 8 Lewis Hamilton

Most podiums (constructor) 12 Ferrari

Most pole positions (driver) 6 Lewis Hamilton 2007 – 2008 – 2013 – 2014 – 2015 – 2017

Most pole positions (constructor) 6 Mercedes 2012 – 2013 – 2014 – 2015 – 2016 – 2017

What Happened last race here?

Polesitter Sebastian Vettel got away well at the start, however his team mate Kimi Räikkönen lost positions, being overtaken by Bottas in Turn 1, and then Verstappen a few corners later.

On Lap 30, the Toro Rosso cars of Brendon Hartley and Pierre Gasly collided at the hairpin. Gasly was awarded a 10 second penalty and the debris left on the track resulted in the safety car being brought out.

This was a critical turning point for the race, as during the safety car period, both Red Bull cars pitted for fresh tyres on the same lap immediately.

Mercedes had an opportunity to bring Hamilton in, but instead left him out to preserve track position. Bottas maintained the lead of the race at the safety car restart.

Max Verstappen ran wide on Lap 39 whilst battling with Lewis Hamilton for third place, losing a position to Ricciardo, who had previously overtaken Räikkönen.

Both Red Bulls then overtook Hamilton, two laps apart, and then Ricciardo overtook Vettel for P2. On Lap 43, Max Verstappen shunted Sebastian Vettel off the track at the hairpin, resulting in both drivers spinning off the track and Vettel losing positions, due to a damaged floor.

Verstappen was awarded a 10 second penalty for the incident. On Lap 45 Ricciardo overtook Bottas for the lead of the race, which he would retain until the chequered flag. On the penultimate lap, Vettel was overtaken by Fernando Alonso meaning he would finish in P8.

2018 Race Classification

Pos.	Driver	Constructor	Time/Retired	Grid
1	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer	1:35:36.380	6
2	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes	+8.894	3
3	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	+9.637	2
4	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	+16.985	4
5	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer	+20.4361	5
6	Nico Hülkenberg	Renault	+21.052	7
7	Fernando Alonso	McLaren-Renault	+30.639	13
8	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	+35.286	1
9	Carlos Sainz Jr.	Renault	+35.763	9
10	Kevin Magnussen	Haas-Ferrari	+39.594	11
11	Esteban Ocon	Force India-Mercedes	+44.05	12
12	Sergio Pérez	Force India-Mercedes	+44.725	8
13	Stoffel Vandoorne	McLaren-Renault	+49.373	14
14	Lance Stroll	Williams-Mercedes	+55.490	18
15	Sergey Sirotkin	Williams-Mercedes	+58.241	16
16	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber-Ferrari	+1:02.604	20
17	Romain Grosjean	Haas-Ferrari	+1:05.296	10
18	Pierre Gasly	Scuderia Toro Rosso-Honda	+1:06.3302	17
19	Charles Leclerc	Sauber-Ferrari	+1:22.575	19
20	Brendon Hartley	Scuderia Toro Rosso-Honda	Gearbox	15

 Did you know?

DRIVERS

✪ Valtteri Bottas set fastest lap 7 times last season. It is the same number of set in 2018 by Hamilton, Vettel and Verstappen combined

✪ Lewis Hamilton has won 32.0% of all GP he’s started (74 wins from 231 starts) and is in the top 10 drivers races to win ratio of all-time. Here’s how he compares:-1 Fangio 47.0%, 2. Ascari 40.6%, 3. Clark 34.7%, 4.L.Hamilton 32.0%, 5. M. Schumacher 29.7%, 6. Ja. Stewart 27.2%, 7. Prost 25.6%, 8. A. Senna 25.5%, Moss 24.2%, 10. Vettel 23.5% (52/221)

✪ Hamilton is now the 10th most experienced (WC) Grand Prix driver of all-time in terms of number of races started (231). Next on the list is 9th-best DC (246). The most experienced driver of all-time is Rubens Barrichello (325).

✪ Hamilton needs a podium result in all 21 races this season if he is to equal Michael Schumacher’s all-time record of 155 F1 podiums

✪ Max Verstappen has already beaten Ayrton Senna’s career F1 World Championship points total (Senna 614, Verstappen currently 697)

✪ Sebastian Vettel could on Sunday lead a Grand Prix for the 100th time in his career. He has to date led 99 (Grand Prix)

✪ Nico Hulkenberg needs just 2 more championship points to equal Nigel Mansell’s F1 career total of 482 (F1 World Championship points)

✪ Daniel Ricciardo winner here last year has not featured on the podium since Monaco, 17 races ago

CONSTRUCTORS

✪ Mercedes scored their 102nd F1 World Championship pole position in Australia. The total is the 5th highest in the history of the championship. Mercedes’s next target is

4th-best Lotus with 107 pole positions. Top all-time is Ferrari with 220

✪ The win in Bahrain was for Mercedes their 75th on Pirelli tyres

✪ The next front row lock-out for Ferrari will be their 62nd in world Championship F1 and equal the all-time record jointly held by McLaren and Williams

✪ Ferrari was the only team to score championship points in all 21 races last season. Fastest lap on Sunday will be their 250th

✪ Bahrain marked the 200th race since Scuderia Toro Rosso scored their one and only, pole, win and podium to date (Monza 2008). Sunday will be their 250th start

✪ Bahrain marked the 700th race for Williams (taken from 1978 when WGPE first became a constructor)

✪ China is the 1,000th F1 World championship-qualifying event (Italy will be the 1,000th Grand Prix). The event 1,000 includes 11 Indy 500’s, which between 1950 and 1960 was part of the F1 Championship. Only Ferrari, with Alberto Ascari in 1953 took part in the ‘500 while it was an F1 championship-qualifying event (Q 19, Retired Lap 40

Driver’s Championship standing

Pos	Driver	Pts
1	Valtteri Bottas	44
2	Lewis Hamilton	43
3	Max Verstappen	27
4	Charles Leclerc	26
5	Sebastian Vettel	22
6	Kimi Räikkönen	10
7	Lando Norris	8
8	Kevin Magnussen	8
9	Nico Hülkenberg	6
10	Pierre Gasly	4
11	Lance Stroll	2
12	Alexander Albon	2
13	Daniil Kvyat	1
14	Sergio Pérez	1
15	Antonio Giovinazzi	0
16	George Russell	0
17	Robert Kubica	0
18	Daniel Ricciardo	0
19	Carlos Sainz Jr.	0
20	Romain Grosjean	0

 Constructor’s Championship standing

Pos.	Team	Pts
1	Mercedes	87
2	Ferrari	48
3	Red Bull Racing Honda	31
4	Alfa Romeo Racing  Ferrari	10
5	Mclaren Renault	8
7	Renault	8
8	Scuderia Toro Rosso Honda	6
9	Racing Point Mercedes	3
10	Williams Mercedes	3
	Haas Ferrari	0

 Driver’s penalty points

Driver	Penalty points
Romain Grosjean	8
Max Verstappen	7
Lance Stroll	7
Sergio Perez	5
Sebastian Vettel	5
Pierre Gasly	4
Valtteri Bottas	4
Nico Hulkenberg	3
Carlos Sainz	3
Kevin Magnussen	2
Kimi Raikkonen	2