Track name: Shanghai International Circuit
Times the race has been held here: 12
First GP: 2004, won by Rubens Barrichello (Ferrari)
Total number of race laps: 56
Complete race distance: 066 kilometers (189.559 miles)
Pit lane speed limit: 80 kph (50 mph)
Pitlane length: 351m/0.218 miles, estimated time loss 21s
2016 winner: Nico Rosberg, 56 laps, 1:38:53.891
2016 pole position: Nico Rosberg, 1:35.402
2016 fastest lap: Nico Hulkenberg, 1:39.824 on lap 48.
Most wins (driver): Lewis Hamilton - 4
Most wins(team): Mercedes - 5
Lap record: Michael Schumacher – Ferrari – 2004 – 1:32.238
Smallest winning margin:Â 714s, in 2015, Hamilton ahead of Rosberg
Circuit Length: 5.451-kilometer (3.387-mile),
Direction: Clockwise
Turns: 16
Distance to Turn 1 : 380m/0.236 miles
Longest straight: 1.17km/0.727 miles
Fastest corner: 220km/h (137mph), Turn 13
Slowest corner: 65km/h (40mph), Turn 14
Top Speed: 340km/h/211mph, on the approach to Turn 14
Full throttle: 55%
DRS Zones: Two, on the approaches to Turns 1 and 14
Key Corner: Turn 1, a 270-degree right-hander through which the cars slow from 300km/h at the end of the pit straight down to 50km/h at the apex. Huge amounts of energy are put through the front-left tyre as a result
Fuel consumption: 1.7kg per lap
ERS Demands: Low
Brake wear: Medium. There are eight big stops from high speed, but the long straights help to cool the brakes
Gear changes: 51 per lap /2856 per race
Safety car likelihood: 45 percent. The substantial run-off areas make it relatively easy to remove stranded cars.
Tyre choices: Medium, Soft, Supersoft
Weather: Normally hot and humid (20 -30 degrees)
Chance of rain: 54%
Grip levels: Medium
Run off: Substantial
A lap around Shanghai
Shanghai is a very front-limited track, which puts a lot of front load into the tires. Turn one is very fast and a very long corner – one which is very different to other corners of the season. It’s quite iconic to Shanghai. You arrive full speed, and when you enter into the corner, you have to wait very long into turn two.
You have turn three, which has a very long exit, and it’s quite tricky on traction as you put a lot of lateral on the exit. You go through turns four and five, which is a very high-speed section, and then into turn six and seven, one of my favourite parts of the track. You really come into turn six with full speed and then change direction into turn seven.
You have to prepare for turns eight and nine because this sequence is very important not to lose the rhythm. Then getting into turn 10, it’s a small 90 degree corner which exits to a very, very long straight into turn 11, which is the beginning of a very long corner. 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 tires.
It’s an important part of the circuit when it comes to the car’s race setup. Then one of the longest straights of the season is the backstraight, were you’re at maximum speed. You arrive into a very high-braking corner – the hairpin turn 14.
Then the last corner is 90 degrees – a medium-speed corner –which is quite tricky on the exit because you have the curb which you can use quite a lot but, obviously, it has its limits. You’re always trying to maximize the track. It’s quite challenging.
