Shaneus said:

Do they use the same fuel pumps? It doesn't seem like the sort of thing that they would have individual ones for (unless they're used when the car is actually in the garage itself, in which case, they definitely would).

Click to expand...

I imagine they do, yes. That aside, I imagine it would look a little suspect if Vettel's engineers started messing around with Webber's car.

Dilly said:

I'd say Webber would make an excellent endurance driver (yes, I know he already did) but does he want to return to prototypes after his CLK GTR crash?

Click to expand...

He had a similar accident in F1 and he still drives.

Really hope someone outside the top 3 wins the race but that seems unlikely. Out of those 3 though I would take Hamilton winning the race for sure.

Hoping Massa or Grojean can get a a podium!

brotkasten said:

He had a similar accident in F1 and he still drives.

Click to expand...

Very true, however I thought he said something in the line of that he wouldn't do endurance anymore.

Then again, I could be wrong since I was like 8 when he had that accident or he could've changed his mind.

Shaneus said:

Ping me when you're thinking of going, I'd love to make a pilgrimage up there. We can watch Webber beast that LMP-1 Porsche together

Click to expand...

Hells yeah.

Just let drivers put new tyres before race. Simple as that. Current rules make no freaking sense.

Have to make sure I set my alarm tonight. It was probably a good thing I forgot to do it last night though haha.

I think Kimi is gonna win because of the tire situation but I hope Fernando and/or Felipe make the podium.

He's an Aussie, not some soft cunt from somewhere else that isn't Australia. He's the Chuck Norris of motorsport. Of course he'd give it a crack.

So we are in for a treat tomorrow, this one will be awesome, when all the frontrunners will venture into the pits after several laps, just to be stuck in the traffic and Vettel going into the sunset.

Also, run to the first corner is quite short, so i think that some wings will fly

I like that there will be differing strategies tomorrow but I still hate these tyres. Qualifying today was such a farce.

DrM said:

So we are in for a treat tomorrow, this one will be awesome, when all the frontrunners will venture into the pits after several laps, just to be stuck in the traffic and Vettel going into the sunset.

Also, run to the first corner is quite short, so i think that some wings will fly

Click to expand...

Even on a different strategy, Vettel doesn't seem fast enough to win this easily this time. First corner could be interesting but as always shit will only happen to the guys who don't deserve it.

I just want to get this out of my chest

Hamilton is a fucking amazing driver, and I bet the McLarens are not as bad as they look. Last year we had Button doing miserable while Hamilton fighting for top three in qualies

My respect to Hamilton's talent has shot up considerably

EDIT: and..

I genuinely don't think the Mercedes are going to lose much time passing the midfield when they come out of the pits. They have massive straight line speed and China is easy to overtake at.

Omiee said:

Thank you pirelli for these tires

Click to expand...

PLEASE tell me you are joking.

They have are ruining the sport I love.

Myoclonic Jerk said:

I just want to get this out of my chest

Hamilton is a fucking amazing driver, and I bet the McLarens are not as bad as they look. Last year we had Button doing miserable while Hamilton fighting for top three in qualies

My respect to Hamilton's talent has shot up considerably

Click to expand...

I expect you're not the only one to think that after yesterday morning. Which is disappointing, really.

Another thing - softer tyres wears off quickly when driver is aggressive - overtaking left and right, late braking & stuff. So, this could be very important tomorrow, how will drivers in front drive in first 4-6 laps - being too aggressive would mean early pitstop, but if you are not aggressive, you will lost places for sure.

Has there been a time where the difference between the tyres are so great? Almost 4x the distance medium vs soft. :/ They said they can do close to 20laps on medium.

Myoclonic Jerk said:

I just want to get this out of my chest

Hamilton is a fucking amazing driver, and I bet the McLarens are not as bad as they look. Last year we had Button doing miserable while Hamilton fighting for top three in qualies

My respect to Hamilton's talent has shot up considerably

Click to expand...

I don't get how you didn't see that before.

DBT85 said:

I don't get how you didn't see that before.

Click to expand...

Oh I saw it, and kept saying that Button is shit. But to be honest I never thought that he'll show up at Mercedes and starts kicking Rosberg's ass immediately. That is talent

For me it depends how it fares vs Rosberg this season really. I rate Rosberg highly so if he edges him my respect grows a lot. I've always thought of Hamilton to be a good and very capable driver but now out of McLaren is really his time to show his moves.

Did everyone forget he spent a year in the same machinery as Alonso?

Unrelated:

That year was plagued with shite though

Off to bed, see you all in a few hours for what looks like a fascinating race.

Kimi/Vettel are my bets for the win.

navanman said:

Off to bed, see you all in a few hours for what looks like a fascinating race.

Kimi/Vettel are my bets for the win.

Click to expand...

My bet is Kimi.

Nice lap by HAM, will be interesting to see it VET's strategy pays off, should be a good race!

navanman said:

Off to bed, see you all in a few hours for what looks like a fascinating race.

Kimi/Vettel are my bets for the win.

Click to expand...

Probably a kimi or alonso win tomorrow.

Ark said:

Did everyone forget he spent a year in the same machinery as Alonso?

Unrelated:

Click to expand...

... are you being serious?

You're knocking a guy for not matching a double-world champion in his debut year?

Look, I think Hamilton's a bit of a bellend as much as the next guy, but the man is fucking rapid. There were a few races even in 2007 where he destroyed Fernando, and I believe Fernando - whilst not THE outright quickest on the grid - is the best driver in F1 right now.

And this is all coming from a Kimi fan.

Edit: I've since realised you may actually be meaning for that to be read positively - if so, my bad!

I think he meant the opposite.

Yeah he meant the opposite. Hamilton's debut was incredible.

Well tonight is gonna be a good one! Have some friends coming by to watch the race and have a couple of bottles of Vodka. Every time Vettel makes up a position it's a shot, anytime the casters speak about team orders during the race, it's a shot. If Webber cracks the top 10, it's a triple.

Depending on how this goes, I may not make it to the end of the race.

DrM said:

First race after the break, which means a lot of new parts on all cars. The questions are:
a) Who will gain the most?
b) Who will save tires the best?
c) Weather factor?

Mercedes won last year and I think that they will be very strong on this race. RBR could gap their problems with tires and be even faster.Maybe we will see Mclaren in better shape. Ferrari is also bullish about this race and Lotus remains a mystery.

It will be interesting race. If nukes do not start flying around by then.

Click to expand...

jey_16 said:

Not a great track in my opinion and it looks like its constantly covered in smog but after 3 weeks, I will take anything! Hoping for some Red Bull fireworks and hopefully the rest of the field are closer compared to Malaysia, it's been so long since Ferrari won, I'm getting a bit desperate.

Click to expand...

navanman said:

The one thing everyone will be talking about at the Chinese GP will be team orders. Will RBR or Mercedes be forced to make their drivers tow the line if racing nose to tail like they were 3 weeks ago?
Will Ferrari be forced to do the same as Massa seems to have his speed back and is pushing Alonso close so far?
Will Marussia continue to beat Caterham after Bianchi embarrassed them in Malaysia?
Can McLaren figure out their car and show what should be their true pace?

Click to expand...

2012 Race Summary

In contrast to the previous Malaysian Grand Prix, the race began under mild cloudy conditions with an ambient temperature of 22 °C (72 °F) and a track temperature of 24 °C (75 °F). Massa, Senna, and the two Toro Rossos started on the medium tyre while everybody else had the soft yellow banded tyre fitted for the start. The Rosberg-led Mercedes cars led as they lined up on the grid into turn 1 with relative ease, while behind them Kobayshi starting in P3 was down to 6th by the fourth corner. Button started well and took sixth ahead of Räikkönen in an almost incident-free first lap. Only minor contact was made at the first turn as Bruno Senna ran into the back of Massa's Ferrari slightly damaging his front wing in the process. Mark Webber and Fernando Alonso yet again raced side-by-side and passed each other three times throughout the first lap - Webber, making a poor start, was scrapping for 9th behind Alonso by lap 5. By the time the DRS was enabled (lap 3) the two leading Mercedes were more than one second ahead of their rivals and therefore out of range from DRS attack from cars behind. By lap 6, Vettel was struggling with straight line speed in 14th position and was 19th fastest through the speed trap, complaining to his engineer via radio. On lap 7, Webber made a strategical early pit stop to change to medium tyres and immediately set a fastest lap time. This prompted a flurry of pit stops by the other drivers. Hamilton and Räikkönen pitted and came out side-by-side. However, Hamilton had his nose in front, allowing him to rejoin ahead of Räikkönen. Mark Webber slotted in between in Hamilton and Räikkönen, leaving Räikkönen the loser during the pit stop phase.

Michael Schumacher was forced to retire after a miscommunication resulted in him leaving the pit lane before his right front wheel was properly fitted. The wheel-gun man knew he made an error and immediately tried to call Schumacher back, but it was too late. He was subsequently the only retirement of the race, leaving Mercedes to ponder what could have been at least a podium finish. On lap 14, pole sitter and leader Rosberg pitted for mediums tyres leaving an unpitted Pérez in the lead.

Following the pit stops, Nico Rosberg once again emerged as the leader, followed by Jenson Button, Lewis Hamilton, Mark Webber, and Kimi Räikkönen. Lap 21 saw everyone in their adjusted positions after everyone had completed one pit stop. On lap 22, Webber stopped for fresh medium tyres, and set a new fastest lap upon emerging. Button and Hamilton followed suit soon after. Räikkönen pitted from 2nd on lap 29, dropping him down to 13th. At this stage of the race, Jenson Button had great pace and was quickly catching the cars ahead who had only stopped once (Perez, Vettel, Grosjean, and the leading Rosberg). On lap 30, Rob Smedley was heard telling Felipe Massa, "Fernando on a different strategy", essentially telling him to let his teammate through for 10th place at the time. Soon after Alonso moved ahead of di Resta, justifying Ferrari's radio call to Massa. At this stage it was clear that Rosberg, Vettel, and Räikkönen were on two-stop strategies while Button, Hamilton and Webber were on track for three stops. Pérez was third on lap 35, but under huge pressure from Lewis Hamilton and was locking up his front tyres heavily while defending into the hairpin, turn 14.

Rosberg, having continued running on his hard tyres for 21 laps, finally decided to pit on lap 34 for his second and final stop - meaning he would need 22 laps from this set of medium tyres. This allowed Button to take the lead, followed by Rosberg and Hamilton, who was closely pressed by Alonso for third. At this stage of the race, a 'train' of cars started to form (seen clearly down the back straight). From Massa in 5th, who had only stopped once, the next three cars all had their DRS open, meaning they were all within one second of each other and it appeared Massa was fast enough not to be overtaken, but slow enough to keep everyone bunched up behind him. Replays were shown of Mark Webber, prior to the long DRS back straight, going wide and hitting a bump to ascend both his front tyres off the ground by half a metre. Luckily, he handed the car without damaging the suspension of front wing allowing him to only lose a second of lap time.

The train continued to grow by lap 38 as Grosjean in 10th joined Massa, Räikkönen, Kobayshi, and Vettel in the battle for 5th. Jenson Button asked his engineer "what time is Rosberg doing?", to which his engineer replied "Rosberg is seven tenths slower than us". However, this was before Rosberg pitted for new tyres, and now Rosberg was six tenths a lap up on Button.

Lap 38 saw Hamilton pit from 3rd, closely followed in by Alonso, dropping them to 10th and 11th respectively. Button's final pit stop while 7 seconds ahead, on lap 39, was delayed due to an error on the left rear wheel and allowed Rosberg back into the lead. Following Button's pit stop, Rosberg now led Massa by 19.1 seconds in clear command and within sight of victory as highlighted by his engineer saying "most important thing is your looking after the tyres". Finally Massa pitted from second place, but he now released a Räikkönen-led train of cars. On lap 43, eleven cars could be seen from one end to the other of the long back DRS straight. Alonso went wide on turn 7 onto the discarded tyre marbles while trying to overtake Maldonado and nearly collected the Sauber of Sergio Pérez on the way back onto track. Grosjean who was a part of the train went wide in turn 7 (like Alonso) and lost grip on tyre marbles while trying to overtake Vettel, consequently losing some positions. By lap 49 Räikkönen's tyres appeared to hit the 'cliff' and lose effective tyre performance. In the space of 2 laps Räikkönen went from 2nd to 12th.

The 'train', which was started by Massa and continued by Räikkönen, led to 2nd to 14th positions being separated by just 15 seconds (rare to see so late in a race without a safety car). With 5 laps remaining, Rosberg had a 20+ second lead while Vettel, in 2nd, finally succumbed to the 3-stopped Button. Vettel, who had gone with a two-stop strategy, was now struggling like Räikkönen a few laps earlier. Hamilton and Webber were right on his rear wing now and it was only a matter of time before he dropped back. On lap 54, Hamilton took 3rd position from Vettel at the hairpin and a lap later, Mark Webber did the same for 4th.

On crossing the chequered flag, Nico Rosberg won his first ever Formula One grand prix from 111 races. He was the 103rd different winner of a Formula One grand prix since 1950, and the 12th different Mercedes powered winner in Formula One. Button finished 20 seconds adrift in 2nd after a pit stop error robbed what little chance he may have had at taking victory (although unlikely given Rosberg's pace and the difficulty seen when overtaking on this track). Locking out an all Mercedes-powered podium was Hamilton, followed by Red Bull's Mark Webber in 4th. Both Hamilton and Webber have now finished 3rd and 4th respectively for all of the three grands prix this season. Webber's Red Bull teammate, Sebastian Vettel, finished 5th on worn tyres and Romain Grojean finished 6th in his best ever result in a Formula One race. The Williams cars showed good race pace and earned solid points with Senna in 7th and Maldonado in 8th. Ferrari continued their struggle in dry conditions, with Alonso finishing 9th and teammate Massa in 13th. Kamui Kobayshi took the final point in 10th ahead of teammate Pérez in a disappointing grand prix for the Sauber team after having such a great qualifying performance. Of note was 2007 world champion Kimi Räikkönen who finished a disappointing 14th after his tyres were too worn. Also, of note was the fact that 17 drivers completed the race on the lead lap, with Daniel Ricciardo in 17th just over one minute behind the leader in a highly uncompetitive Toro Rosso (teammate Vergne was 16th).



[Click map for onboard lap]




Laps
Circuit length
Race length
Lap Record
Most Wins (Drivers)
Most Wins (Constructors)

Previous Winners & Pole Positions

2012 - Winner: Nico Rosberg - Mercedes
2011 - Winner: Lewis Hamilton - McLaren Mercedes
2010 - Winner: Jenson Button - McLaren Mercedes
2009 - Winner: Sebastian Vettel - Red Bull Renault
2008 - Winner: Lewis Hamilton - McLaren Mercedes
2007 - Winner: Kimi Räikkönen - Ferrari
2006 - Winner: Michael Schumacher - Ferrari
2005 - Winner: Fernando Alonso - Renault

Videos highlighting the Chinese Grand Prix

Highlights from the 2011 Chinese Grand Prix

Highlights from the 2012 Chinese Grand Prix

Changes from 2012

-The final kerb section at the exit to turn 13 (a beveled section, after a serrated negative part) has a 400mm chamfer added to the rear.

-The top and back edge of all exit kerbs have been rounded and chamfered with the intention of preventing tyre damage.

-Grass around the outside of turns one, two, three, six and eight has been replaced with Grass-Crete (similar to that around the outside of turn 11) and then painted green (with non-slip paint).

GP Facts

-The nine Chinese Grands Prix held to date at the Shanghai International Circuit have produced eight different winners. Only Lewis Hamilton (2008 and 2011) has triumphed more than once.

-Only three times has the winning constructor in China gone on to lift the Constructors’ Championship trophy at the end of the season (Ferrari 2004, 2007, Renault 2005), and only three times has the winning driver gone on to win the Drivers’ Championship (Fernando Alonso 2005, Kimi Räikkönen 2007, Hamilton, 2008).

-Defending champions have faired even worse: McLaren’s Jenson Button is the only driver to win in China with the number one on his car; Ferrari (2004) are the only defending constructors’ champion to win the race.

-Nico Rosberg’s maiden pole and first victory were the standout performances of the 2012 race. Rosberg became the third Mercedes works driver to win in the F1 World Championship, following in the footsteps of Juan Manuel Fangio and Stirling Moss. It was Mercedes’ first (and to date only) victory since returning as a manufacturer in 2010, and therefore their solitary F1 win since 1955.

-Despite SIC providing good overtaking opportunities, only once has a podium finisher started from outside the top ten (2011, Webber 18th to third).

-The braking zone for the hairpin at turn 14 sees drivers experience the highest g-forces of the year. With around three seconds on the brakes, the cars decelerate from maximum speed down to around 60kph for the slow corner.

-SIC is built on reclaimed marshland. It is supported by a buoyant polystyrene sandwich, which sits atop more than 40,000 concrete pilings, some of which go 80m deep into the soft earth. The circuit has been vulnerable to subsidence, requiring extensive resurfacing work over the years to even out bumps in the track.



Drivers Championship Standings



Constructors Championship Standings



Fantasy Championship Standings

Fantastic write up as always.

Awesome write up. I'm hoping for an Alonso Kimi 1,2. If someone damages Vettel or Maldonado at the beginning ill be super happy

Looove your work as always. Even though a win is unlikely for Webber, I'm hoping they manage to do what happened with Vettel last year in that they change his setup for race pace and he has the chance to beast through the field for a podium.

30 minutes on Sky then switch to BBC1. Woo BBC. I want Lee McKenzie to be the host ;_;

I love Leunam.

What time does the coverage/race start on the BBC?

Am in a hotel room in London with my daughter snoozing in her cot in the same room. If it's 7:30 start, i'll get away with watching it without too much grief from my fiancée hehehe!

prettyvacant77 said:

What time does the coverage/race start on the BBC?

Am in a hotel room in London with my daughter snoozing in her cot in the same room. If it's 7:30 start, i'll get away with watching it without too much grief from my fiancée hehehe!

Click to expand...

Coverage starts at 7am. Race at 8am.

Addnan said:

Coverage starts at 7am. Race at 8am.

Click to expand...

Ha! Perfect, cheers! Room service breakfast and GP on the TV, that'll do nicely

prettyvacant77 said:

What time does the coverage/race start on the BBC?

Am in a hotel room in London with my daughter snoozing in her cot in the same room. If it's 7:30 start, i'll get away with watching it without too much grief from my fiancée hehehe!

Click to expand...

coverage here in Us starts in 30 minutes

edit: beaten badly

I thought the race started at 2am EST for some reason. Still awake but zzzzzzzzzzz

Haha. Vettel was saying multi map 1-2 in Spa last year. Did not know that. And he doesn't understand lol.

Addnan said:

Haha. Vettel was saying multi map 1-2 in Spa last year. Did not know that. And he doesn't understand lol.

Click to expand...

He's got that "selective memory". I suffer from it when I'm supposed to help with dishes.

ugh.. good morning. the things we do for F1... hangover and sleepy. But here we go. Go Mercs + Kimi for podium!
edit: yeah, Eddie talking the truth on german TV.. too good. i hate this one sided RTL newsreporting. But thankfully we still have all races on free tv. And Lauda mostly brings the laughs for me

This new lady broadcaster on BBC is really fidgety and tweaky... She seems so out of place.

Fantomex said:

He's got that "selective memory". I suffer from it when I'm supposed to help with dishes.

Click to expand...

Guess he also forgot the meaning of messages like "this is silly, Seb" then.

Tenacious-V said:

This new lady broadcaster on BBC is really fidgety and tweaky... She seems so out of place.

Click to expand...

She will fall into place... I hope.

Welcome all on a lovely Sunday afternoon. The weather is a balmy 24 degrees celsius, I am on my couch, windows open, beer in hand.

Hoping for a Vettel mechanical failure, not expecting it though. Also hoping Merc can get a win, which is weird since I don't really like Ham or Merc :/

Cheeky question on Aussie pre show. Webber is asked if there were any changes this weekend, said it was business as usual, interviewer said 'Seb's still in charge then?'

Seb's poor grid girl looks bored out of her mind.

Made it! First race seen live rather than in highlights this season. Just in time to see Brundle cheerfully photobombing the BBC broadcast, too.

Dang it, I forgot about stupid pre-shows. Webber, drama, Vettel, blah blah blah. Man up webber, if he's about to win, block his ass and break his fin.