Profile: Shanghai Circuit
- Location: Shanghai, China
- Direction: clockwise
- Lap Length: 5.451km
- Race Laps: 56
- Race Legnth: 305.256km
- Lap Record: 1:32.238 (Michael Schumacher, 2004)
- Massive grandstands seating over 200,000 fans provide a caldron of tension for Formula One in Shanghai, China. The area boasts one of the world’s largest populations and the circuit designed by Herman Tilke in 2003 has the calendar’s best facilities.
While the off-track provisions impress all who visit, the Tile layout has again come under much criticism. It was designed in the shape of a traditional Chinese character and is made up of a total of 16 tight turns. Shanghai provides a difficult race with lots of heavy braking but the lack of quick corners leaves drivers yearning for a challenge and few find the SIC an enjoyable place at which to drive.
The roads around the circuit are not too popular either. Since hosting a round of the championship, the Chinese have built up a reputation as notoriously bad drivers within the Formula One world. In 2003, there was an accident where a van carrying F1 mechanics was hit, but luckily none were harmed.
A lap with Kimi Raikkonen…
The lap starts on the long pit straight, we power along the 600 metre section reaching speeds that we estimate to be in the 320km/h mark in seventh gear as we pass underneath the impressive grandstand walkway. The first corner looks like it is very long and sweeps round to the right and is immediately followed by a right then left of turns two and three. Our speeds will probably drop quite low through here as it looks quite tight. As we exit turn three, we will have to push on the throttle to build up speed as we pass through the slight kinks of turns four and five that gently flick the track first left then right on the run down to turn six. We may hit 300 km/h along here before braking hard for the hairpin of six, which will see us drop down into first gear. Coming out of the hairpin there is a section of track that looks like it may be awesome to drive. There is a short straight that leads to a long, wide, sweeping S of seven and eight, with the track first curving to the left and then to the right.
This section will probably be very high speed, maintaining as much as possible for the first section in particular and only lifting slightly for the apex of eight. The two almost 90-degree bends of nine and ten follow that take you onto a short straight, which leads to the tight left of eleven at the end of the straight. This will probably be in second gear and it takes you onto another long sweeping right hander, similar to the complex at the end of the pit straight. This double-apex bend swings us back round on ourselves onto a straight that runs parallel to the one we were just on. The corner is the widest section of the track and it is fairly long so we will be increasing our speed as we drive through it, all these factors may lead to possible overtaking here. The corner is also particularly important for a quick lap time as it swings the track round onto the longest straight, which is just over one kilometre. We need to ensure we have the maximum speed possible as we exit the corner so that we have the momentum to power along the back straight at speeds nearing 330km/h in seventh. A hard braking zone at the end of the straight for the two rights of fourteen and fifteen. This will probably see another overtaking opportunity as we will be able to slipstream any cars ahead on the track for the kilometre and pull alongside shortly before the end and hopefully take the position under braking. Again on the power for a short straight that takes you to the final corner, a 90-degree left-hander that sees you return to the pit straight.
Circuit maps as featured in F1 Championship Manager.
