The FIA shares circuit changes for F1 Chinese GP together with DRS areas, as drivers share their viewpoint on the repainted system.
The returning Shanghai International Circuit has host of changes made to the circuit after 5 years of non-running and the FIA Race Director has actually kept in mind those for this weekend break’s F1 Chinese GP where drivers will certainly obtain just one practice to discover the track.
Here’s the listing of circuit changes–
- Bumps gotten rid of in Turn 1 and Turn 8 where the track goes across the passage.
- All fractures in the functioning lane fixed.
- A bump on RHS of Turn 3 gotten rid of.
- All yard pavers fixed.
- Asphalt run-off at the leave of Turn 10 reduced, crushed rock behind.
- Asphalt run-off in Turn 12 on LHS reduced to 1.7 m, crushed rock behind.
- Asphalt run-off in Turn 16 on RHS reduced to 1.7 m, crushed rock strip behind.
- All sausage kerbs got rid of.
- All man-made yard got rid of.
- New particles fencing at MP9.5.
- All brake pens got rid of and changed with brand-new brake pens connected to the fencing.
The track restricts though continues to be the white lines, as the initial DRS area’s discovery factor gets on Turn 12, with the activation being 450m after Turn 13. The 2nd area’s discovery factor is 35m prior to Turn 16, with activation being 98m after Turn 16.
In regards to the FIA guardians, the panel will certainly be led by Nish Shetty that will certainly have the able assistance of Loic Bacquelaine, Vitantonio Liuzzi andZheng Honghai While the note had all the reference regarding changes to the circuit, there was one ommision.
During the track stroll, an area learnt the track to be looking instead various. With no resurfacing done, it was recognized that the track was repainted which additionally stood out of the F1 drivers– a few of whom did a track stroll, while some waiting for their go.
The FIA though cleared up that they made use of asphalt externally which prevails in Asia. Here’s what the F1 drivers claimed of it–
Lando Norris: “I have no idea. So I think we have to wait and see honestly, I think that’s something new, something we don’t think we’ve seen before, so hard to predict exactly what’s going to happen. So I honestly have no idea. So I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Charles Leclerc: “Yeah, it’s difficult to predict because I think also, it depends a lot on the type of paint they use. And that can cause different issues or have no issues at all, which hope it’s the latter that will be the case tomorrow, but for now, it’s very difficult to predict. I have only seen pictures, so I haven’t gone around the track yet. I don’t think it’s the same everywhere, which also might not be great. But yeah, before adding further comments, I think we just have to drive and see how it feels. Maybe it’s actually a completely fine, so we’ll find out tomorrow.”
Esteban Ocon: “Yeah, I agree with Charles, I mean, I haven’t been around it. I just saw pictures for the moment. It could be slippery in the wet, could be very high grip, we can’t really tell until we really try. But that’s what I was, you know, speaking to Charles about. A long time ago, in our go-kart days, there was sort of paint put on tracks and it used to put down rubber and keep rubber a lot in corners. So that had a lot of grip. I don’t expect that to be the case. But, you know, it could do a lot of different things.”
Zhou Guanyu: “For me, obviously I haven’t been really driving here. Last time I drove here was in a road car, so I’m not going to comment much on that.”
Fernando Alonso: “Yeah, let’s wait and see. Until we drive we will not know.”
Nico Hulkenberg: “Yep, same. It depends on the type of the paint. We’ll get more of an idea once the Safety Car out, maybe in the afternoon. But same for everyone.”
Daniel Ricciardo: “It looks like they’ve painted the track or something. They’ve done something to the surface. I don’t know how the track’s going to change, or if it’s going to be the same or super slippery. But maybe that changes the way the tyres behave.”
Max Verstappen: “It looks like they’ve painted it, not resurfaced.”
Carlos Sainz: I believe there are several unknowns, particularly the tarmac appears like it’s been dealt with in an extremely certain method. I do not believe the FIA or the groups rather comprehend what has actually been done below: if it has actually been a complete resurface or simply an unusual asphalt therapy to the track. It definitely looks really certain, and something we have not discovered just recently at F1 circuits.”
Oscar Piastri: “This is really throwing it back, but when I raced in remote-controlled cars, often the tracks were painted in sort of black paint, and it actually looks quite similar to that. I don’t know if it will be grippy or not. I think if it’s wet, it’ll be a big unknown. You can kind of see where the cars have driven on track days or whatever it’s worn away the blackness, let’s say, in it. It doesn’t look resurfaced, it just looks like it’s had some bits ground away and then paint over the top. I’m sure it’s not going to be super slippery but it might just be a bit might behave a bit differently to what we’re used to.”
Taking on the difficulty–
Norris: “I guess just excited. Always excited for every weekend, but especially when you haven’t been to a place for a while. For me, I didn’t get a proper experience of it back in 2019. So things have changed. I’m a very different driver to what I was back then. So I’m excited to see what it brings and how the whole weekend pans out I think anyway being a Sprint race and having two opportunities to try and nail the set-up for the first quali and then the set-up for the second quali. I think also there is plenty of opportunity. So I don’t think it’s not going to be exciting for anyone. I think there’s a lot of opportunities on the table, there’s a lot of things that can go wrong at the same time, so excited for all of it.”
Leclerc: “Yeah, no particular feelings obviously. As it’s Sprint weekend, there’s more preparation going into a Sprint and even more so on a track where we haven’t been for five years. However, there are also lots of unknown the paint, for example, as well as the track changes because the track changes over time, the bumps are maybe a bit bigger compared to a few years ago when we came here, but this we will only learn, all this new information, tomorrow. So adapting quickly will be very important. But there’s been a lot of preparation as it’s always the case on Sprint weekends.”
Esteban Ocon: “Yeah, a lot for us to discover on our side, you know, having the upgrades on the car as well on top of having not raced here for four or five years. There’s going to be a lot to see, a lot of fine tuning needed, a lot of understanding, going through. So, we don’t really have enough time, let’s put it that way, before we get into an important session. But it’s part of the game. It’s a challenge that I like, you know. You need to be ready. You need to nail every little detail before you get to the session that counts and yeah, that’s pretty cool as a challenge.”
Zhou Guanyu: “Yeah, I mean, all the others pretty much covered everything I think. From my side you know, it’s really important to have the confidence straightaway on the track and then we can quickly adapt, changing a little bit the driving line to see what we can extract from the set-up, balance and also the circuit come to quali all the teams, drivers are still going to be learning new things for our quali laps.”
Hulkenberg: “It’s going to be busy. It’s going to be hectic, you know, to process everything very quickly going into a Sprint weekend. It’s a challenge, but also offers opportunities, probably.”
Here’s initial appearance of circuit after 5 years: https://x.com/F1/status/1780874406526636078
Here’s some track images: https://x.com/AlbertFabrega/status/1780832621796135388
https://x.com/AlbertFabrega/status/1780833770607706572
Here’s the F1 Chinese GP prize provided by Lenovo (it will certainly additionally be handed to the victor of Brazil GP): “Dreamed up by Lenovo and fashioned by iconic design firm Pininfarina, the trophy’s design was inspired by the laurel wreath and features a proximity sensor that activates the trophy’s light pattern called “Chase a Loop” that represents the rate at which F1 automobiles race around the track. The sensing unit can be turned on when the winning vehicle driver raises the prize expenses or when positioned around the vehicle driver’s neck.”
Here’s FIA Race Directors’ note: https://www.fia.com/sites/default/files/decision-document/2024%20Chinese%20Grand%20Prix%20-%20Race%20Director’s%20Event%20Notes.pdf
Here’s web link to a F1 Discord network, take part to connect
