After Vettel’s last win in Malaysia Red Bull seem to be suffering some problems. Their KERS is practically not working, Hamilton is very near, despite his errors in Malaysia, Button is collecting points and picking up his pace, and the race pace of the Ferraris is very close.
Hamilton has said that he is going to china to win, Ferrari are working on their single lap speed and everyone is there to dethrown Red Bull.
China circuit has given Hamilton the goods and the bads. He arguably lost his first championship in China 2007, he won his only championship in 2008 after an amazing display in China in the race before the last. 2009 was bad for Hamilton especially on a bad car. last year he finished 2nd after an amazing race with many breath taking overtakes. We have to say though that Hamilton is extra fast in China, Alonso is too. Vettel is not.
Lets see what happens,
Take a deep breath and have you Chinese GP preview …
The best bit about China? No jet lag…
Shanghai is a Tilke-designed circuit with all types of corners, and long straights. You need to find a lot of compromise with the
downforce level here as you can’t run the maximum downforce for the first two thirds of the circuit because you need straightline speed on the last sector.
China differs from Malaysia in that it usually runs in quite cool conditions. Sometimes it can be quite difficult to get the tyres warmed up and working properly in the right temperature zone. This is always a challenge here, plus you’ve usually got a pretty good chance of rain. I’ve raced in the wet in China on a few occasions, so I know I need to be prepared for it to happen.
“lt can be hard getting the tyres warmed up, plus there’s usually a good chance of rain”
It’s good fun racing in the Asian countries. I enjoy Asian food and I like the people, plus the fans are really hardcore – they’re really warm in their support. Generally, I have always had a good time here. And jet lag is not a problem because by the time I get to
China, I’ve already been in Asia for a couple of weeks — so I don’t suffer too much. I’ll prepare for it before I start travelling by altering my timings a little bit while I’m still at home.
Circuit Stats
Round 3/19
Track length: 5.451 km
Race length: 305.066 km
Laps: 56
Direction: Clockwise
F1 debut: 2004
Lap record: 1 min 32.238secs Michael Schumacher (2004)
Last five winners:
2010 Jenson Button
2009 Sebastian Vettel
2008 Lewis Hamilton
2007 Kimi Raikkonen
2006 Michael Schumacher
Tyre allocation
Prime: Hard
Option: Soft
Top Overtaking Spot
The best place is on the long back straight. Even if you are a long way behind another driver you can get a good slipstream and out brake him into the hairpin on the second to last comer. KERS will help this year, and this is probably where they’ll put the rear-wing zone.
Expert’s Tip
It’s always possible to out brake yourself at the hairpin but once you get to the inside line you have a pretty strong hand. It’s really yours to lose. You just park it there at the apex and make sure the other car doesn’t get better traction — then there is nothing they can do.
Circuit Highlights
I think I find in Shanghai, as I do in Malaysia, that it’s the high speed corners that I enjoy the most. Turn 7 and Turn 8 are the best bits – Turn 7 is the first fast left. And for me, that’s definitely my favourite part.