2016 Chinese Grand Prix preview

This is already the 13th time we come to China for a Grand Prix weekend.

The first event back in 2004 ended with Rubens Barrichello taking the checkered flag as the race winner was followed by Jenson Button and Kimi Räikkönen. Michael Schumacher had spun off the track in qualifying and didn't set a time. He started from the pit lane and was 12th in the race.

Then in 2005 Renault was the best car so the podium had the two Renaults in front (Fernando Alonso and Giancarlo Fisichella) and Kimi Räikkönen was best of the rest in third.

The next year in 2006 the same thing - Renault was the best car but what is this? The Renaults were 2nd and 3rd and the winner was Michael Schumacher! Well.. the 2nd best car was Ferrari so it wasn't that strange after all. Let's see if Ferrari can pull off one of those this weekend.

My favorite race in China was probably in 2007. McLaren's Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton had been the favorites for the championship and in this race something else happened. Their luck changed and the black horse (also known as the Iceman) started breathing down their necks. Hamilton made a mistake and then...

 


Kimi won the race! He really needed that victory. Alonso was 2nd in his McLaren, Felipe Massa was third in his Ferrari and Sebastian Vettel was 4th in his Toro Rosso which was his best result at that point and here's his reaction...

 


In 2008 Hamilton didn't make a mistake and won the race followed by the two Ferraris of Felipe Massa and Kimi Räikkönen.

The year after that it was all about Brawn GP and also Red Bull started showing some improvement as well.  In this race Sebastian Vettel took the first win ever for Red Bull and Mark Webber was 2nd which made it a perfect day for them. Jenson Button was 3rd after winning the two previous races.

In 2010 Red Bull were very hungry after they barely lost to Brawn in 2009. They wanted to win more than ever but the man who had switched teams from Brawn to McLaren (Jenson Button) won the race! His teammate Lewis Hamilton was 2nd and Nico Rosberg was 3rd.

Then in 2011 it was the other McLaren driver, Lewis Hamilton who won the race. This time the Red Bull's were right behind in 2nd and 3rd.

In 2012 Lewis Hamilton's current teammate Nico Rosberg took his maiden victory in Shanghai followed by Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton.

Lewis Hamilton was on the podium in 2013 as well but in 3rd. Just Fernando Alonso and Kimi Räikkönen were in front of him.

In 2014 the Mercs Lewis and Nico took 1st and 2nd. Fernando Alonso was 3rd which was a miracle if you ask me. The F14-T was just awful. 

Last year it was the mercs again in the same order. But this time it was Sebastian Vettel 3rd with Ferrari and not Fernando Alonso. Kimi Räikkönen was 4th which was no surprise because the newer Ferrari was much better than in 2014. This year Ferrari is even stronger and it will make things more interesting. 

It seems that the most successful drivers at Shanghai are Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso, Kimi Räikkönen, Jenson Button and Sebastian Vettel.. oh and Nico Rosberg too! So the champions and a future champion perhaps. Rosberg has been very good in the first two races. I hope he will make it much more difficult for his teammate this year.

One other thing people are still wondering about is that will Alonso race or not. We shall wait and see.

And then as usual it's time for the predictions.

Pole position: Nico Rosberg, Mercedes

The race:

1. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
2. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes
3. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari

Fastest lap: Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes

Surprise: Keep an eye on Valtteri Bottas.

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The History Of The Chinese Grand Prix

2016 BAHRAIN GP (FULL RACE)

Christian Horner's Red Bull Factory Tour (video)

MiniDrivers - 8x02 - 2016 Bahrain GP

Qualifying set to use 2015 format from China

Formula One qualifying is expected to return to last year’s system from next weekend’s 2016 Formula 1 Pirelli Chinese Grand Prix, it has been announced.

It follows widespread criticism of the revised elimination format used in Australia and Bahrain, which failed to produce the intended change in spectacle.

A statement from F1 governing body, the FIA, and Formula One Management (FOM) said: "At the unanimous request of the teams in a letter received today, Jean Todt, President of the FIA, and Bernie Ecclestone, commercial rights holder representative, accepted, in the interests of the Championship, to submit a proposal to the F1 Commission and World Motor Sport Council to revert to the qualifying format in force in 2015."

If approved by the F1 governing bodies, the change will take effect from the next round in Shanghai and will apply for the rest of the season. The 2015 format, which had been in place since the start of 2010, will see the six slowest cars eliminated at the end of Q1 and Q2, leaving 10 to fight it out for pole in Q3, with their grid positions based on their best lap times at the end of qualifying.

Todt and Ecclestone also welcomed the idea put forward by the teams to have a global assessment of the format of the Grand Prix weekend for 2017.

(source: f1.com)

Pirelli reveal driver tyre choices for China

Pirelli have revealed the tyres that each driver has selected for the third race of the season in China on April 17.

Once again Mercedes duo Lewis Hamilton and his world championship-leading team mate Nico Rosberg have picked different allocations, with the former plumping for an extra set of mediums and the latter an extra set of softs.

Four other teams have differing strategies amongst their drivers: Williams, Renault, Toro Rosso and Haas.

Ferrari have an extra set of supersofts available to them compared to chief rivals Mercedes, but not as many as Williams, McLaren and Haas, who have all opted for seven sets of the red-marked tyre compound.

The individual driver choices are shown below:

DRIVER	TEAM	MEDIUM	SOFT	SUPERSOFT
Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	4	4	5
Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	3	5	5
Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	3	4	6
Kimi Raikkonen	Ferrari	3	4	6
Valtteri Bottas	Williams	2	4	7
Felipe Massa	Williams	1	5	7
Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull	2	5	6
Daniil Kvyat	Red Bull	2	5	6
Kevin Magnussen	Renault	2	5	6
Jolyon Palmer	Renault	3	4	6
Nico Hulkenberg	Force India	2	5	6
Sergio Perez	Force India	2	5	6
Max Verstappen	Toro Rosso	3	5	5
Carlos Sainz	Toro Rosso	2	6	5
Fernando Alonso	McLaren	2	4	7
Jenson Button	McLaren	2	4	7
Marcus Ericsson	Sauber	5	4	4
Felipe Nasr	Sauber	5	4	4
Pascal Wehrlein	Manor	4	5	4
Rio Haryanto	Manor	4	5	4
Romain Grosjean	Haas	1	5	7
Esteban Gutierrez	Haas	2	4	7

Under the 2016 regulations, Pirelli make three of their five dry-weather tyre compounds available at each event.

The Italian company allocates two sets of tyres for the race (only one of which must be used) and one set which can only be used in Q3 (the softest of the chosen three compounds). Each driver is then able to choose 10 further sets of tyres from the three compounds - which for China are supersoft, soft and medium - to take their weekend allocation to 13.

(source: f1.com)