Changes to the circuit since 2010
Track resurfaced on approach to turns 1, 8, 11 and 14
For improved drainage the levels of the verge on the left in turn 5 have been altered.

A 4.5m debris fence has been installed straight on at turn 14

Further attempts have been made to improve drainage before and after turn 16

► Sebastian Vettel will this weekend be attempting to win his fifth grand prix in succession. The reigning World Champion won the final two races of 2010 and the first two 2011 races in Australia and Malaysia. Vettel has won five of the last six grands prix and has led them all. He has started five of the last six grands prix from pole position.

► Although familiar to the Formula One fraternity as a Grand Prix host circuit, the SIC has also staged many other major international race series, including: MotoGP, DTM, Australian V8 supercars and GP2 Asia.

► SIC mixes traditional with modern: the team offices built on stilts above a lake were inspired by the water gardens in Shanghai’s Yu-yuan garden, while many of the circuit’s buildings feature the red and gold of the Chinese flag.

► The circuit and all its buildings were constructed from scratch in 18 months. The site was originally swampland, requiring 40,000 support piles between 40 and 80 metres tall to be sunk, in order to provide secure foundations. A layer of polystyrene topped off the concrete sub-structure – a requirement so vast that the entire available Asian stock of polystyrene was purchased, to facilitate construction. The location of the circuit has since required the foundations of some sections to be reinforced, to guard against subsidence.

► Shanghai International Circuit was the third of Hermann Tilke’s Formula One circuit designs. Tilke has also built all-new F1 facilities in Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, China, Korea and Turkey as well as modifying F1 circuits in Spain, Japan, Germany, and France. This year’s Indian Grand Prix will also be run at a Tilke-designed track.

► Nick Heidfeld, who finished third at last weekend’s Malaysian Grand Prix, is the driver to have scored the most points without winning a race. His tally of 240 since his debut at the 2000 Australian GP has included eight second places and five thirds.

► Shanghai has a population of almost 17m. Founded in the 11th century, it became the centre of China’s textile industry and later a major business hub. After opening to international trade in 1842, it developed as a cosmopolitan economic powerhouse, a reputation it continues to enjoy.

► Despite being the world’s most populous country, China has yet to produce a fully-fledged Formula One driver. Chinese-Dutch Ho-Pin Tung, who races under a Chinese license, has, however, tested for F1 teams.

TYRE ‘MARBLES’:
The hard and soft PZero tyres are nominated for the Chinese Grand Prix, with the aim of seeing at  least two pit stops per car, in line with Pirelli’s philosophy of promoting overtaking both on the track and in the pits.

The faster tyre wear compared to previous years can lead to strips of rubber being deposited on the track, which vary in size but are generally the shape and consistency of toffees, weighing between 10 and 20 grams on average. These strips are pliable when warm but become more rigid when they cool down, just like toffee. These rubber ‘marbles’ have always existed in Formula One, but the characteristics of Pirelli’s new compounds mean that the pieces are on average larger and softer than the hard and round ‘marbles’ that have been seen at grands prix in the past.

A Formula One tyre, which weighs approximately eight and a half kilograms when new, will lose around a kilogram and a half as it wears over the course of a stint. With an increased number of pit stops, more rubber will be laid down on the track. This phenomenon is not new in Formula One, but it is most pronounced at circuits where there is a high degree of tyre wear, like Malaysia. Pirelli is looking at ways to reduce these deposits in future, but rubber on the circuit is an inevitable by-product of degradation and the ‘marbles’ left on the circuit pose no danger to competitors or spectators.

The surface and weather in China is generally less aggressive than Malaysia, with conditions more similar to Australia. This means that there should be 30% less tyre wear and fewer pit stops than seen at the Malaysian Grand Prix, which provided a thrilling battle from start to finish.

THE TRACK:
The Shanghai International Circuit is characterised by rapid straights and very long corners, providing a tough test for the tyres. The track is 5.451 kilometres long with a race length of 305.066 kilometres after 56 laps on a smooth surface. The first corner tightens, putting all the strain on the front-left tyre: which will be cold at the beginning of the race. As this corner develops a sharper radius, aerodynamic grip decreases and the emphasis switches to mechanical grip. Leaving the opening complex the drivers change up rapidly through the gears, reaching 280 kilometres per hour in a breath-taking sweep
up to the top of the circuit.

Turn 13 is the most challenging corner of the lap, where the left-rear tyre is subjected to a lateral acceleration that triples the normal load on the carcass. This is accentuated by the camber of the circuit, which suffers from subsidence in certain places.

At the end of the straight the drivers brake hard into a tight right-hand hairpin (turn 14) that is taken in first gear, scrubbing off the top speed produced by more than 830 horsepower in less than three seconds.

It’s then up to the tyre compound to provide maximum grip to reduce wheel spin throughout the final crucial complex of corners that leads to the start-finish straight.

PIRELLI’S MOTORSPORT DIRECTOR SAYS:
Paul Hembery: “We’re looking forward to another thrilling race in China, although we don’t want to disappoint anybody who says that we’ve made the races too exciting: it’s true that if you get up in the middle of the grand prix now, the chances are that you’ll miss something important! Once all the different strategies had played out, the last 10 laps in Sepang were absolutely thrilling – but you can’t make an omelet without breaking eggs, or, in the case of Malaysia, rubber. The rubber ‘marbles’ on the track are a natural consequence of the increased degradation that has led to more exciting races:
all that rubber has to go somewhere, just as it has always done in the past. Having said that, we’re here to serve the teams’ best interests and we're looking at ways of reducing some of the deposits in the future. But that’s not going to change our fundamental philosophy: we want to give racing back to the racers.”

2011 CHINESE GRAND PRIX PREVIEW

 Lewis Hamilton

“It’s always best to put a disappointing weekend behind you, and, as always, I’ll make a positive of the experience in Malaysia and learn from it. With China only a few days away, it’s the best possible way to move on: I’m already throwing myself into my preparations – I’ll spend a few days training and come back feeling fresh for Shanghai.  

“What’s been most encouraging is that our pace is still extremely strong: Jenson drove a fantastic race and was able to narrow the gap to Sebastian during the closing laps, and I think we have the pace to continue taking the battle to Red Bull this weekend.  

“In both races, we’ve seen that Red Bull hasn’t been able to achieve its full potential, and I think it’s important that we keep applying the pressure to make sure they can’t afford to make mistakes.  

“I’ve also been told by someone on the team that, of all the drivers in Formula 1 to have only driven for one team, I’m now the driver who’s raced in the most grands prix. I’m told that Jim Clark drove 72 races for Lotus, and Malaysia was my 73^rd race with Vodafone McLaren Mercedes.  

“And it also makes me feel very humble – I never saw Jim Clark race, but I know that he’ll always be remembered as one of the greats, and as a loyal Lotus driver. Loyalty’s extremely important and I’m proud to be mentioned in the same breath as him.  

“It only gives me even more determination to bounce back stronger than ever.”

Jenson Button

“I really love the Shanghai circuit and the city itself. Unfortunately, I’m only visiting for a couple of days, but the city has a great vibe – there are a lot of fantastic restaurants. Although I won’t get to see too much, I’m really looking forward to China.  

“As for the track, it’s a good modern circuit with a couple of interesting touches. The first corner is quite unique: you enter it at full-throttle in seventh gear, then come down through the gears as the corner continually tightens. It’s a very long corner – it’s all about being patient – and there’s a little bump right on the entry, which can make it quite tricky too.  

“Along the massive back straight, even without DRS, I still think there’ll be plenty of opportunity for overtaking – especially if we see the same sort of close racing as we witnessed in Malaysia. If that’s where they put the DRS zone for the race, then I think we’ll see some spectacular passing – and possibly even re-passing – down that back straight.  

“Off the back of two successive podium finishes for the team, we’re not only hopeful of maintaining our finishing record, but of improving it too. We’ve made no secret of our desire to take the fight to Red Bull, and we’re fully aware that stronger opposition will make it harder for them to have a smooth and uninterrupted weekend.  

“As we expected, Malaysia showed that the sharp-end of the grid is incredibly competitive, and that there are at least four teams that can expect to fight for the podium this weekend.

Martin Whitmarsh

Team principal, Vodafone McLaren Mercedes

“Coming just a week after Malaysia, it’s essential that we maintain the thrust of our development programme in order to further close the gap to the front.  

“To achieve that, we’ll be spending Friday evaluating a number of new components alongside our regular tyre and set-up programmes. We have a number of new parts that we want to evaluate on Friday – either for potential incorporation into our programme for the Shanghai race, or as part of longer-term development strategy.  

“The development race is where this year’s world championship will be won or lost.  

“But, equally, we ought to take nothing for granted: I’m extremely pleased that we’ve managed to achieve 100 per cent reliability in both Australia and Malaysia, and that our KERS Hybrid system, engineered so well by everyone at Mercedes-Benz HighPerformanceEngines, has worked faultlessly during the first two grands prix.  

“For this race, we know we have to step up the pressure: we’re looking to hit the ground running on Friday, maintain that momentum through Saturday, and be in with the best possible chance of taking victory on Sunday.”