2019 Chinese GP Preview – By Bob Constanduros
So it’s race number 1000 in the World Championship, not the Formula One World Championship nor Grand Prix number 1000 but race number 1000 in the World Championship.
This all has to be said very carefully but we are celebrating this milestone here in China. It isn’t the 1000th Grand Prix because there were lots of Grands Prix before and anyway, eleven Indianapolis 500 counted for the World Championship in its early days.
And it isn’t the Formula One World Championship because there weren’t enough F1 cars in the early fifties so it was run to F2 regulations. Oh and it’s not the FIA’s World Championship because in its early days (for nearly 30 years, actually) the championship was run by the CSI as it was called then.
Got that? But we are happy to celebrate the 1000th round of the World Championship, it is a mega-milestone although I’ve got a funny feeling that we may be celebrating Grand Prix number 1000 at Monza, which is much more suitable than the relative newcomer that is Shanghai.
I believe that the FIA and Shanghai were keen to celebrate this 1000th round here in China but various parties wouldn’t play ball and logistically it was hard to get the participants. Not many World Champions were keen to make the trip, and transporting significant cars was also costly. So this might just be a preliminary celebration, and we’ll have another one later.
Incidentally, there’s a certain amount of division about who has attended the most Grands Prix. At 650-odd, I’m almost a newcomer. The Swiss journalist Roger Benoit is being feted as he who has attended the most but as he missed a couple of years due to ill-health, Italian technical artist Giorgio Piola feels that he’s probably done more at over 800. However, he didn’t reply to the e-mail which asked how many races he’s attended, so he’s not getting the plaudits.
But most of us are in agreement that Herbie Blash, who started his career as ‘the boy’ at RRC Walker Racing, Rob Walker’s team, has probably done more than anyone, although he only attends one or two these days.
Apart from that, of course, this is round three of the 2019 World Championship with no clear pattern having emerged from the races so far. It may be a newcomer on the calendar but there have still been 15 Chinese Grands Prix; Kimi Raikkonen has competed in the most at 13 and finished 12 of them. Lewis Hamilton has finished 11 of his 12 (remember the other when he went off in the pit lane?), while Sebastian Vettel has finished every one of his 12.
There are some pretty major records among those drivers too. Lewis Hamilton has six pole positions here including winning from four of them, plus another win making five wins and six poles; eight podiums in total too.
Sebastian Vettel has four poles but only one of them resulted in a win in 2009. One other winner is Daniel Ricciardo who won from sixth on the grid last year which was the equal lowest winning grid position with Michael Schumacher’s 2006 win. Kimi Raikkonen, massively popular here in China – they wait for him at the airport and outside his hotel (I’ve always thought that maybe they think Kimi is a Chinese name) – has qualified second on the grid five times, has six podiums, one of which was victory from second on the grid in 2007. Another stand-out is Daniil Kvyat’s third place in 2016 from sixth on the grid.
The Shanghai circuit features what is probably the second longest straight in F1 at 1.4 kilometers. The start/finish straight is pretty significant too, but those are the only two straights; there are some quick corners in the middle sector and of course the two ‘snail’ corners comprising turns 1-3 and 11-13 which so hurt the front left tyre.
Like most circuits, it is one that tests the cars quite considerably. The weather can be pretty miserable; we have had rain on three occasions during the last five years but it’s remarkably clear and bright as I write this. It’s also a bit cool at the moment, but warming up throughout the weekend. The wind can be quite crucial, particularly on this long straight, so the wind direction has to be watched as well. Track temperature remains fairly low, under 40 degrees but tyre stress, lateral grip are quite high, asphalt grip and abrasion slightly less so.
It is, however, very quick on that long long straight and braking at the end is massive. Brembo initially noted a maximum of 338 kph, down to 69kph for the hairpin with 5.5G thrusting the driver forwards in his seat. To do this, the driver has to stamp on the brakes with 203 kilos for nearly three seconds; originally they said 254 kilos which really is massive. I reckon that some drivers just wouldn’t have that strength.
It’s also seen a fair number of safety cars: one virtual last year, a virtual safety car and a safety car the year before, and two safety cars the year before those, including finishing under the safety car. Tyre strategy suggests a one stop although Ricciardo won it with a two stop last year. And in spite of all these difficulties, it’s a race which has seen 20 finishers or over three times in the past five years.
So like all races, it has specific characteristics and ones that have to be noted. But when it comes to it, expect the major players to be at the front as usual. It surely is Ferrari’s turn to assert themselves. But Mercedes will never be far away, Max Verstappen will be close too but whether Haas has the chassis to be best of the rest remains to be seen. Hopefully it will be a race to remember, that will earn the title of 1000th Grand Prix. Otherwise we could always have another shot at it in Monza!
Ends
