2014 Chinese Grand Prix - Preview

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Published on 16 Apr 2014 14:14
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By: Tom Brooks

After a two week break the Formula 1 circus rolls on to another Tilke designed circuit, this time in Shanghai, China which is another circuit like Bahrain, celebrating its 10th anniversary on the calendar.

It has been another circuit that in its short history has played part to some crucial moments within the sport’s history, namely Lewis Hamilton’s title demise in 2007, Red Bull’s first victory in 2009 and of course Michael Schumacher’s last ever victory in 2006. All key moments that set the stepping stone for great things to happen in the future.

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After a thrilling Bahrain Grand Prix, with the two Mercedes’ of Hamilton and Rosberg going wheel-to-wheel for the victory, a sense of trepidation is in the air for the race in China as both drivers will be continuing to fight tooth and nail for the strongest result possible after only 11 points separates them in the Drivers’ Championship.

Perez will also be looking to continue his strong form after bagging Force India’s second-ever podium last time out, as will Daniel Ricciardo for Red Bull who netted his first points after a torrid first two Grand Prix’s due to the disqualification appeal for Oz being rejected and suffering a grid penalty in Bahrain thanks to an unsafe release by his team at Round 2 in Malaysia.

McLaren, who have recently announced a brand new partnership with Gillette, are looking to improve on a disappointing race in the Gulf after both Button and Magnussen suffered Clutch failures which caused their first double retirement since 2009. Likewise for Lotus, with Grosjean and Maldonado coming 12th and 14th respectively, after the latter caused a collision with Sauber’s Esteban Gutierrez resulting in 3 penalty points on his license, as well as a 5-place grid penalty for this round.

The Shanghai International circuit is one of the most physically demanding and complex modern circuits on the Formula 1 calendar, with two medium speed right-handers that tighten up before the equally tight left of Turn 3. Turns 6 and 7 are equally as demanding with a tricky left-right combination before slamming on the anchors for the difficult double-apex left of 9 and 10.

Power will also be key here, with the back-straight totalling a length of 1170m, the equivalent to 11 football pitches laid end-to-end. Drivers will spend 17 seconds on full throttle, and with the aid of DRS on both this and the main-straight, we should see plenty of overtaking throughout the race.

After the event moved from the end to the beginning of the calendar in 2009, we have seen uncertainty in the weather and this year looks to be no exception. Friday is looking to be bright and sunny with an almost zero percent chance of rain for FP1 and FP2. However, for Saturday rain is expected to fall lightly at around 05.00 Local Time and continue to increase in intensity until 17.00, meaning that FP3 and Qualifying are likely to be held in Wet conditions which will cause drivers to be careful with their tyre conservation as they only have 3 sets of Wet rubber available to them.

Sunday is looking to generally be good however, with a fairly low chance of rain for the race expected, but strong North/North Easternly winds of between 13 and 15mph are expected to be blowing, which will cause a cross-wind of the back-straight, thus reducing the expected top speed.

With Hamilton and Alonso having taken a collective four wins over the years, I would tip both to do well here this weekend and with the former appearing to have the stronger car currently, it is looking positive for a Mercedes victory once more. I would also not count out Nico Rosberg who took both the first victory for a Rosberg and Mercedes in the 21st Century back in 2012.

Qualifying is due to get underway at 14.00 Local Time (07.00 BST) and the race at 15.00 Local Time (08.00 BST). Keep following F1Today.net for the latest news and information throughout the weekend.

Tom Brooks
Chief UK Editor