From a driver perspective

Starting at Turn 1, you've got an opening corner that seems to go on forever and puts a lot of stress on the front tyres. That then tightens into Turn 2, which is tricky as you can't really see the apex. Getting the right line between these two is really important as it sets you up for the switchback of Turn 3 before getting the power down out of Turn 4.

Turn 5 is more of a gentle curve before braking nice and late into Turn 6. This looks pretty tight but you can actually carry a lot of speed through the apex as there's good grip there and it opens up nicely on exit. Then, it's up through the gears and holding fifth through Turn 7 which flows straight into the tricky, low-grip Turn 8. Turns 9 and 10 are quite slow by comparison but again don't give you a lot of grip.

After a medium length straight it's important not to out-brake yourself into Turn 11, as positioning is crucial for Turns 12 and 13 which form a long right-hand curve that just seems to keep going and going with the car constantly moving about. Then you're onto the back straight: one of the longest on the calendar and a good overtaking spot with the DRS zone making it even tougher to defend.

There's a lot of time to be gained on the brakes into Turn 14 but you have to get a good exit, as it effectively sets you up for a run all the way through the final two turns and across the line. The last corner itself often catches people out and you almost have to be a little cautious here as a small mistake can give your opponents a passing opportunity down the DRS stretch into Turn One.

DRS Zones

As has been the case in previous seasons there are two DRS zones at the Shanghai International Circuit this year.

The first detection point is on Turn 12 with activation 375 metres after Turn 13.

The second detection point is 35 meters before Turn 16 with activation 98 metres after Turn 16.

Changes for 2021

The track has been fully resurfaced.

All track-side panels have a minimum height of 2.5 metres. From a power unit perspective

The two long straights and bursts between corners bring the total percentage of wide open throttle time to over 52% of one lap.

Shanghai is unusual as there is a very long straight, but a relatively low percentage of the lap is spent at full throttle. This dichotomy is quite unusual as most circuits are one or the other: either a 'power track' such as Monza or Montreal, or 'driveability track' such as Hungary or Monaco.

The average speed over a lap will be 205kph, putting Shanghai in the middle of the table for lap speeds.

Race fuel saving will be low, one of the easiest tracks of the year in this respect.

Shanghai is one of the most efficient circuits and close to the maximum amount of energy will be stored in the battery per lap. This will allow us to optimize the amount of energy transferred directly from the H to the K or to the battery.

The circuit is situated in an industrial zone next to several factories, some of which produce concrete, which leads to a high concentration of dust particles in the air. Air filters and the turbo will be checked after each practice session to prevent blockages and, therefore, a relative loss of power.

From a tyre perspective

The 18th running of the Chinese Grand Prix, the second round of the season, immediately throws up some special challenges, not just for the teams and drivers, but also for Pirelli, starting with a completely resurfaced track and just one hour of free practice to see how much it has changed compared to past years. Last summer, a new surface was laid down on the track and the pit lane at the Shanghai International Circuit. It has only been used a few times towards the end of 2024 and should be smoother than before and, as this is the first event of the year to be held at SIC, it's logical to expect the track to evolve very quickly.

Furthermore, as was the case in 2024, this will also be the first Sprint format event of the year, with just one free practice session on Friday. That means only 60 minutes to find the right car set-up and evaluate the performance of the various compounds over a long run, even if Saturday's short race is a great test bed to fully assess at least one of them.

The trio of compounds is the same as last year: C2 as Hard, C3 as Medium and C4 as Soft. The last two were in use in Melbourne last weekend, while the first was run extensively in the three day test in Bahrain at the end of February. However, one must remember that all the compounds are different to those from last year. The C2 in particular is softer and therefore closer to the C3 than in the past.

An important factor to consider this weekend will be the temperatures. It's the first time that Shanghai hosts the Grand Prix in March when average temperatures rarely exceed 18 °C. Although in fact, the forecast for the weekend is to seem them climb above 20 °C as from Friday, reaching a high of 26 °C on Saturday. While this is therefore considerably warmer than usual at this time, it is actually pretty similar to conditions seen last year for example, when the race was held in the third week of April.

There were three interruptions last year - one VSC and two Safety Cars - which significantly influenced the outcome of the race, both in terms of the number of stops and the sequence in which the compounds were used. In the case of the former, three of the drivers who finished in the top ten made just one stop, six pitted twice and one even three time. As for the latter, the majority of drivers opted to line up on the grid on the Medium, with the C3 also completing the most stints (46%). However, when it came to the highest mileage, that went to the C2 (57%). The C4 also played its part, with four drivers choosing it for the start, while Fernando Alonso drove his longest stint on this the softest tyre.

The Shanghai track is 5.451 kilometres long and its layout is based on the Chinese character "shang" meaning "upwards" or "above". The circuit features several slow corners, such as the first three, turn 6 and 14 and high speed corners like the combination from 7 to 8. There are two long straights, the one that crosses the start-finish line and another between turns 13 and 14, which is over a kilometre in length. There are two DRS zone, the first now being 75 metres longer than last year.

Keyword: Sprint weekend

While the standard weekend format features two hour-long free practice sessions on Friday and a further hour on Saturday followed by qualifying, the current Sprint format features just one free practice session to start the track action on Friday, followed by a qualifying session later that day. This decides the grid for a 100 kilometre race, approximately one third distance of the normal race, held on Saturday morning, which is followed by qualifying for Sunday's actual Grand Prix.

Qualifying for the Sprint is split into three segments that are shorter than those for the Grand Prix 12 minutes for SQ1, ten for SQ2 and eight for SQ3. The number of drivers eliminated at the end of each section is the same as in normal qualifying, five at the end of each of the first two sessions. For the first two parts, all drivers must use only the Medium compound, before switching to the Soft for the final session. As for the short race itself, tyre choice is free and there is no need to make a pit stop.

There is also a different slick tyre allocation per driver compared to a standard weekend: they each still have two sets of Hard, but now they get an extra set of Medium, going from three to four and two fewer sets of Soft, from eight to six, for a total of 12 instead of the usual 13.

Introduced for the first time at Silverstone in 2021 there have been 18 Sprint races to date and Max Verstappen has been the master of this discipline with 11 wins so far. This will be the second year running that Shanghai has hosted an event run to this format and just for a change, the aforementioned Verstappen was the winner. As for the tyres in 2024, 19 runners used a set of Mediums with only Russell gambling on the Soft, which paid off as he made up three places from eleventh on the grid to eighth at the flag.

This race first appeared on the World Championship calendar in 2004, always at this circuit, held every year since then with the exception of three years from 2020 to 2023. The inaugural event was won by Rubens Barrichello driving a Ferrari.

Lewis Hamilton heads the list of winners here with six and he also has paid the most visits to the podium with nine. It's worth noting that only two of the current field, Fernando Alonso and Max Verstappen have been first past the flag in China: the Spaniard did it twice (2005 and 2013) the Dutchman last year. Mercedes heads the teams list on six wins, two more than Ferrari, which as the most podium finishes to its name (13), one more than Mercedes.

Fast Facts - Provided by Mercedes

• The Chinese Grand Prix returned to the calendar for the first time since 2019 in 2024, having first appeared on the F1 calendar in 2004.

• The 2019 race was also F1000, the 1000th Grand Prix since the official inception of the sport in 1950.

• The 5.451km layout features 16 turns (nine right, seven left). The racing lap record from the first race in 2004 still stands today, set by Michael Schumacher.

• Shanghai International Circuit holds special memories for our team too, having been the site of our first win since returning to the sport when Nico Rosberg triumphed in 2012.

• Our first F1 pole in the modern era also came at the track in 2012.

• In 2005, the circuit hosted the season finale for the one and only time.

• Having originally taken place towards the end of the F1 calendar, the race moved to a more permanent slot in the early stages of the season from 2009.

• In 2024, the Chinese Grand Prix saw more non-DRS-assisted overtakes (25) than any other race on the calendar, with the hairpin at the end of the long back straight a popular overtaking spot.

• The first seven Chinese Grand Prix were all won by different drivers.

• Mercedes claimed six consecutive pole positions at the track between 2012 and 2017.

• Like 2024, Shanghai will also host the first F1 Sprint race weekend of the season.

• The circuit has been fully resurfaced ahead of this year's event.

• With a podium finish on Sunday, the team can claim Mercedes-Benz's 300th top three finish in F1 history.