F1, five years later the Chinese GP is back. Between a difficult circuit and a sprint that arouses controversy

Park reopened. F1 returns to China five years after the last time (2019) and finds another world: different cars, given that in the meantime the regulations have changed with ground effect cars; a circuit, in itself rather bumpy and complex, with new asphalt; rather cold temperatures even with the unknown of rain. In the variable and varied circumstances, the unknowns of the first weekend of the year are added with the renewed format of the sprint race (the next ones in Miami, Austria, Brazil, Qatar). A choice that left various drivers perplexed, starting with world champion Max Verstappen, never too fond of the mini race, who ironically commented: “It’s very smart to put the sprint in Shanghai”.

How sprinting has changed

The 100 km mini race has undergone various changes since 2023, starting from Friday: the first and only free practice session has been confirmed in the morning (60 minutes at 5.30 am Italian time) but in the afternoon, unlike last year, there will be the Sprint Shootout (at 9.30), i.e. the mini qualification (SQ1 of 12 minutes, SQ2 of 10 minutes, SQ3 of 8 minutes) which will determine the starting grid of the sprint itself. The mini-race of 100 km and approximately half an hour will take place on Saturday morning (at 5 in Italy), while in the afternoon (at 9 in Italy) there will be the traditional qualification for the deployment of the actual GP on Sunday (always at 9 Italian). The most important change, apart from the timing of the sessions, concerns the parc fermé rule, the phase in which it is no longer possible to intervene on the cars to make changes: last year you entered parc fermé already with the qualifications of the Friday afternoon, this year the parc fermé starts on Friday afternoon with the mini qualification and ends at the end of the sprint race. In order to allow the teams to make any changes and repairs before returning to parc fermé in traditional qualifying until the end of the GP on Sunday.

The Shanghai route

Inspired by the Chinese character Shang (“above”, “to climb”), the circuit was built by Hermann Tilke and is 5451 meters long. Very technical, it features a mix of high-speed and right-angle corners that force sudden braking and restarts almost from a standstill. In the third sector, a very long straight. A balance is needed between downforce and top speed, tire wear is a key factor. The surface, very bumpy and with (partly) new asphalt, will force the teams to choose the right heights from the ground: last year Leclerc (and Hamilton) were disqualified in Austin (on a circuit with bumps where there was the sprint ) due to excessive wear of the bottom. The temperatures, expected to be cool, will be decisive as will the uncertain weather. Teams and drivers have worked hard on the simulator to prepare, given that they do not have recent data to orient themselves.

Red Bull e Ferrari

Max Verstappen, who comes from three successes in 4 races held so far, has never triumphed in Shanghai. The last GP in China in 2019 was won by Lewis Hamilton. The world champion’s Red Bull and Ferrari should still be close, so far they seem to be the only two cars less “sensitive” to circuit changes. Even if the unknowns, due to the circuit itself and the sprint format, could reserve surprises. The reds, always on the podium so far (with Sainz always ahead of Leclerc and winner in Australia) but who have not won in China since 2013 (Alonso), are trying to improve their qualifying: especially Leclerc, a pole specialist driver, who however is finding it difficult to get the tires up to temperature in qualifying. Team principal, Fred Vasseur: “We will have to improve on the management of the preparation lap in qualifying, where we have not been perfect recently. The objective, with both Carlos and Charles, is to maximize the potential of the car and bring home a solid result while trying to put pressure on our rivals.” Park open.