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Shanghai International Circuit is a permanent motorsport race track located in Jiading, Shanghai, China. It hosts the Chinese Grand Prix, and has done so since the 2004 season, where the race was won by Rubens Barrichello.

Circuit History[]

The idea for the circuit came from a group seeking to publicize the Shanghai area for tourism and business. A joint venture company, underwritten by the provincial government, was formed for construction. A swampy area, about 30 km northwest of downtown, was selected for the location. The design group of Hermann Tilke was hired, and a course was laid out. Construction took about 18 months, with over 1,800 engineers and workers on site, on a budget equivalent to $450 million (£270 million in 2004).

Circuit Layout[]

Shanghai International Circuit, April 7, 2018 SkySat (rotated) (1)

The circuit from space

Shanghai has had only one main layout since it was designed in 2003. It is inspired by the Chinese symbol shang (上), the first syllable of "Shanghai". It translates from Pinyin to mean either "on", "up" or "ascend", depending on context. The track is mostly flat, with only some minor elevation changes near turns 1/2, and near turns 9 and 10.

The track begins with a 0.8 km pit straight, with the start/finish line at roughly the midpoint. The pits are on driver's right here, with a very large grandstand across the track. The first two bends are a sweeping 150° curve, made blind by a slight rise, followed by a sharply decreasing right that covers another 150°, and drops quickly downhill. It then immediately transitions to the pair of lefts constituting turns 3 and 4, which are flat and increasing in radius, and together turn the cars about 240°. A 12km straight follows with a tight but shallow right hand kink near the midpoint, known as Turn 5.

Shanghai Circuit Main Grandstand o

Shot of the pits from main grandstand during 2010 Chinese Grand Prix. Jenson Button gets a tire change as Fernando Alonso goes by.

Sector 2 begins just before Turn 6, a tight, 150° right hairpin at the end of the straight. a short and very gently bending to the right section is followed by Turn 7, a wide and high-G 120° lefthander. This is leads to Turn 8, a similar righthander with a slightly tighter radius. A short straight with heavy braking is before Turn 9, a fairly tight 110° left. Car placement is critical here, as after another short straight, the cars go through the quick Turn 10, a 70° left leading onto a 12 km straight.

Sector 3 begins at the end of the straight with the very tight 120° left Turn 11. And almost immediately the cars are into the Turn 12/13 complex, almost 300° of increasing radius right. This corner is critical for a good lap, because it leads directly onto the 1.2 km back straight, one of the longest straights left in F1. It's long enough that dueling cars have traded places more than once per lap here. It ends with a very tight, 150° hairpin right (Turn 14) followed almost immediately by Turn 15, another slight right kink. Flanked by grandstands on both sides, this is the best passing zone on the track, and the track is wide enough for the drivers to take both turns as one longer corner. Another shorter straight leads to Turn 16, the final corner. This is a very tight and technical 70° left, with leads back onto the pit straight. The entrance to the pits requires cars going straight on at 16, then making an equally tight and technical left towards the pits. This pit entry corner has caught out more than one driver, most notably costing Lewis Hamilton a championship in his rookie season.

While the F1 configuration has remained unchanged, the owners have built several alternative sections for other needs. FIM motorcycles use an easier shortcut turn inside turns 5 and 6. And FIA touring cars and the Australian V-8 series cut out the 5/6/7 section entirely, diverting from the middle of Turn 4 to the entry of Turn 8, with a gentle S-bend in there to spice things up. Several other road sections near the back straight mean that nine possible configurations could possibly be created, with up to three in use at a time.

Event history[]

The following is a list of Formula One World Championship events held at the Shanghai International Circuit:

Year Winning Driver Winning Constructor Report
2004 Brazil Rubens Barrichello Italy Ferrari Report
2005 Spain Fernando Alonso France Renault Report
2006 Germany Michael Schumacher Italy Ferrari Report
2007 Finland Kimi Räikkönen Italy Ferrari Report
2008 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton United Kingdom McLaren-Mercedes Report
2009 Germany Sebastian Vettel Austria Red Bull-Renault Report
2010 United Kingdom Jenson Button United Kingdom McLaren-Mercedes Report
2011 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton United Kingdom McLaren-Mercedes Report
2012 Germany Nico Rosberg Germany Mercedes Report
2013 Spain Fernando Alonso Italy Ferrari Report
2014 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton Germany Mercedes Report
2015 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton Germany Mercedes Report
2016 Germany Nico Rosberg Germany Mercedes Report
2017 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton Germany Mercedes Report
2018 Australia Daniel Ricciardo Austria Red Bull-TAG Heuer Report
2019 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton Germany Mercedes Report
2020 Race cancelled Report
2021 Report
2022 Report
2023 Report

Shanghai International Circuit in video games[]

Simulation / Video Game Year Shanghai International Circuit
Speed Driver Evolution 2004 Yes
Formula One 04 2004 Yes
Formula One 05 2005 Yes
Formula One 06 2006 Yes
Speed Driver 2: Overtake 2007 Yes
F1 2009 (video game) 2009 Yes
Crazy Speed (Arcade) 2010 Yes

Notes[]


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BrooklandsDavidstowFioranoGoodwoodLinas-MontlhéryOntarioOulton ParkPauPosillipoRicardo TormoSnettertonSolitudeSyracuseVallelungaWestmeadLas Vegas
Bold indicates a circuit on the 2022 calendar.
The Red Bull Ring was previously known as the "A1-Ring" and before that the "Österreichring".
V T E China Chinese Grand Prix
Circuits Shanghai International Circuit (2004–present)
ShanghaiCircuit1
Races 20042005200620072008200920102011201220132014201520162017201820192020202120222023
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