Resembling the Chinese symbol for "high", Shanghai's track layout is a demanding mix of straights, turns and hairpins. The trickiest of the turns, though, is right at the beginning of the lap which is entered into flat out but exited in just second as the corner squeezes tighter and tighter before a left-hander. However, whilst the circuit is dominated by many slow and medium speed corners, Shanghai also has two long straights (the longest being between turns 13 and 14 which stretches to over a kilometre).
Turns 1 to 3 blend together and are fantastic on the first lap but it's Turn 13 at the end of the back straight where most of the action happens. Braking from around 320 km/h (200 mph) to just 85 km/h (50 mph) and doubling back on yourself is always going to provide the chance to overtake, or a collision or a trip straight up the escape road.
Sinopec Chinese Grand Prix
Top speed:
312 km/h (193 mph)
Average speed:
203 km/h (126 mph)
Time at full-throttle:
55%
Time under braking:
14%
Gear changes per lap:
50
Tyre compounds:
soft/hard
Tyre wear:
medium
Brake demand:
low/medium
Downforce level:
medium/high
Sinopec Chinese Grand Prix
Shanghai's two long straights mean that car set-up is a balance between slow-speed grip and straightline speed. Ideally, the five second-gear corners around the lap require high downforce but the cars need to maintain a high top speed along the back straight, and that forces the teams to take off wing to reduce drag. However, the key to the long straight is the sequence of corners just prior to it and therefore downforce tends towards the higher end.
The circuit is not particularly severe on the brakes, but it can be quite hard on the tyres, especially the first corner with its constantly tightening radius.
Shanghai is not one of the most demanding circuits on the engine, but its two straights mean that outright engine power is valued. Only a relatively low percentage of the lap is spent at full throttle with just over half of the lap demanding maximum power output from the engine.
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Sinopec Chinese Grand Prix
Key Points:
Turns 1, 2 and 3 - The fast entry into this tightening turns makes it difficult to get the right line, with drivers changing down the gears as they go.
Turn 11 - A tight left-hander, a good exit is necessary in order to maximise top speed on the long back-straight two turns later, both for a good lap time and in order to set up a possible overtaking move into the hairpin at its end.
Turn 16 - The final corner, opening out on the the start-finish straight and one corner which is easy to overdo and run wide.
