In Pictures: China 2024
The Formula 1 family returned to China for the first time since the 2019 race in Shanghai, and they did it with a Sprint Weekend. The last time F1 was here, it marked the 1000th race in World Championship history. Now, 106 races later, the Formula 1 family was back!
The long break was down to the slow return to normality following on from the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and China is now back on the calendar, having made its first appearance a few months short of twenty years ago. The first edition of this Grand Prix was held in September 2004.
All 16 editions were held at the Shanghai International Circuit, which was designed by Hermann Tilke. The circuit's outline is loosely based on the Chinese “shang” character, meaning “up above.” The track is 5.451 kilometers long and features 16 corners, with many of them being very slow. For example, there is a slow section encompassing turns 1 to 3 and 6 to 14, while other sections, such as the esses through turns 7 and 8, are high-speed. There are also two long straights, both of which serve as DRS zones. One is located on the start-finish straight, and the other is on the back straight, which is over a kilometer long and runs from turn 13, slightly banked into turn 14.
Based on simulations and past data, the tires were subjected to lateral and longitudinal forces here that fell into the medium category, with the outside of the tire, especially on the left-hand side of the car, wearing the most. Nominally, 2024 had the same tire selection as in 2019, but the scenario was very different. Five years ago, the 13-inch tires were still in use, fitted to the previous generation of the car, which had a flat floor and completely different aerodynamics compared to the current car. In fact, for the drivers, the teams, and indeed for Pirelli, it was pretty much a matter of starting from scratch, given that the references were very vague.
Further complicating the situation was the fact that the Chinese Grand Prix was the first of six events that season running under the Sprint format, which itself had been slightly modified for that year in terms of the running order of the sessions. Free practice and Sprint qualifying were on Friday, the Sprint race and qualifying on Saturday, with the Grand Prix, as always, on Sunday. Parc fermé had also been changed so that it was now split into two parts: one covering qualifying and the Sprint race and the other starting before Saturday afternoon’s qualifying.
Oh, by the way, Oscar Piastri, Yuki Tsunoda, Logan Sargeant, and local hero Zhou Guanyu have never raced in Formula 1 in Shanghai.
FRIDAY
The first day of the Chinese Grand Prix was action-packed with plenty of surprises, especially in the final part of Sprint Qualifying.
The first two parts of Sprint Qualifying were run in the dry. As per the regulations, only the Medium tire could be used. In the third part, which the FIA officially declared as wet, thus allowing a free choice of tire, all ten drivers opted for the Intermediate tire. It's worth noting that, as per the Sporting Regulations, those who make it to Q3 can take a new set of Intermediates after returning a used one.
After a few raindrops began to fall towards the end of Q2, the final part was run on a completely wet track with a very slippery surface." (Clarified raindrops and adjusted sentence structure). This produced eight spectacular and exciting minutes, with off-track excursions, significant steering wheel corrections, and impressive car control, ultimately resulting in a very unusual grid order.
Lando Norris took pole position in his McLaren, with Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes alongside him. The second row featured Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) and Max Verstappen (Red Bull). Carlos Sainz ensured that the top five included five different car manufacturers.
To the delight of the packed crowd in the main grandstand at the Shanghai International Circuit, China’s first-ever Formula 1 driver, Guanyu Zhou, made it to Q3 and will line up tenth on the grid.
SATURDAY
A win and a pole position on the same day for Max Verstappen. The Dutchman made a clean sweep of it on Saturday in Shanghai, winning the first Sprint Race of the season in the morning before taking his first ever pole position at this track in the afternoon. It was the 37th pole of his career and his Red Bull team’s one hundredth. Interestingly, the team secured their first pole position at the same venue back in 2009 with Sebastian Vettel behind the wheel.
Verstappen’s best lap of 1’33”660, set on his last Q3 run, was less than two tenths slower than Pirelli’s simulation based on data obtained from the teams. His team-mate Sergio Perez (1’33”982) joins him on the front row, while the second row features the Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso (1’34”148) and the McLaren of Lando Norris (1’34”165).
After starting the Sprint Race from fourth on the grid, Max took just nine laps to work his way to the front, passing Alonso and then Hamilton before taking off for his eighth win from 13 Sprint starts. On the virtual podium for the “short” race, he was joined by Hamilton and Perez following some exciting duels over the final few laps, involving Alonso, Perez and the Ferrari pair of Sainz and Leclerc. The two Spaniards came off worst with Carlos finishing fourth, having sustained front wing damage in a collision with his fellow countryman, who also had to pit because of a puncture picked up when they touched.
SUNDAY
Max Verstappen’s dominance was again the story in Shanghai. After winning yesterday morning’s Sprint, the three time world champion added this afternoon’s race win to his tally. It is his fourth victory from five races so far this season, plus the Sprint here in China. It takes his total to 58 Grands Prix victories from 190 starts, while for Red Bull it is win number 117.
Also on the podium, second placed Lando Norris for McLaren and Sergio Perez, third in the other Red Bull. This was the Englishman’s 15th podium and the Mexican’s 39th. Fernando Alonso took the checkered flag in seventh place and set the race fastest lap for the 25th time in his career, his second with Aston Martin after the one in Zandvoort last year.
QUOTES FROM THE PODIUM
Excerpts of this article provided by Pirelli S.p.A.