The third round of the 2016 Formula One season will be underway shortly at the Shanghai International Circuit for the 2016 Chinese Grand Prix. The amount of proper running has been limited throughout the weekend for various reasons, making the race tyre strategy very difficult for teams, as they will have very little data to analyze.
The Shanghai International Circuit is a quite demanding circuit, particularly on the brakes and tyres. The 5.4km circuit is fairly fast one, with the fastest section being the back straight leading up to turn 14. There are two main straights on the where drivers can easily reach speeds in excess of 300km/h. The first sector provides an interesting combination of corners, with a tricky four corner combination that requires traction and driver talent to ensure that the car doesn’t run wide and lose valuable time. There is another tricky combination of corners from turn 11 to 13, which drivers will need to nail in order to get the best possible run on the high speed straight that follows. The end of the straight is one of the largest braking points on the circuit, as the drivers will need to slow from over 300km/h to double digits on their speedometer to get through the tight right hand corner. Luckily, the hard braking points are spread out enough to allow the brakes to cool between them.
The first session of the weekend was filled with multiple red flag stoppages due to some tyre failures on the Williams. This limited the number of long race simulations that the teams could perform in preparation for Sunday. Free practice two was relatively clear and allowed teams to run some long stints, as they anticipated rain for Saturday. They were right to be worried about rain, as it hindered Saturday’s running. Eight cars failed to set a lap time in the first session of the day. The track was quite damp, limiting the amount of valuable data that the teams could use to setup their tyre strategy.
Nico Rosberg has the pole position for the race. Therefore, he has the advantage going into the race. With his teammate virtually out of the running after Hamilton failed to complete a lap during the qualifying, the only thing standing in the way of his third consecutive victory in the season is Ferrari.
Ferrari will be starting from the second row on the grid, with only Daniel Ricciardo separating them from Rosberg. The Prancing Horse has proven that they have the performance, as they topped all of the qualifying sessions except for the final one. This could mean that Ferrari may have a chance to take their first victory of the season. And with Hamilton pretty much out of the competition, this is the best chance that Ferrari has had so far this season.
Although they have improved greatly over the past season, Red Bull still isn’t the biggest competition for the Ferrari and Mercedes. Ricciardo can probably maintain a top five position. Hamilton will be looking for at least a top five position, but all of his misfortune this weekend has made that virtually impossible.
The podium will most likely contain the Mercedes and two Ferrari drivers, but the big questions is what step each driver will take on that podium. We will be eagerly awaiting the result at the Shanghai International Circuit.
