In the round-up: Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff says Formula 1 should consider adding a second race in China, the world’s largest country by population:
What they say
I think we’ve achieved the first step. This is a sell-out crowd in Shanghai.
And certainly, I think it’s a big enough place. Formula E is having two races in China: One in Hainan Island [Sanya] and one in Hong Kong. Why not go to Hong Kong race downtown or go to Beijing? I would love that.
Quotes: Dieter Rencken
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Snapshot
Alexander Rossi will start the IndyCar Long Beach Grand Prix from pole position for the second year in a row – and bid to score his second win in a row at the California street track.
Social media
Notable posts from Twitter, Instagram and more:
30 min to give me a penalty for an incident that was judged fine in Mexico, absolutely gutted to not score any points today
— Jean-Eric Vergne (@JeanEricVergne) April 13, 2019
アルボン… pic.twitter.com/bkclAywzeJ
— HIRO (@hiro_ono_f1) April 13, 2019
Quali #ChineseGP #1000GP #F1 The Q3 melee from my point of view pic.twitter.com/ds8XLS2A10
— Awi ذولكرناءين (@awizul) April 13, 2019
If @LewisHamilton had put his three best sectors together in one lap he'd've been on pole position. Here's how the grid would look if all the drivers had nailed their theoretical best lap time in qualifying.#F1 #ChineseGP pic.twitter.com/Oo0kTuIPvh
— RaceFans (@racefansdotnet) April 13, 2019
To celebrate #Race1000, we thought we'd ask the team for their standout #F1 memories! 🙌
And who better to kick us off than Otmar – throwing it all the way 🔙 to 1984… #F1 #ChineseGP 🇨🇳 #MakeItCount pic.twitter.com/yIxll3xYFn
— SportPesa Racing Point F1 Team (@RacingPointF1) April 13, 2019
Verstappen didn't actually say "I'm finished, right?" until he was passing the pits. The way this has been edited makes it look like he gave up immediately after Vettel passed him.
— Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine) April 13, 2019
- Find more official F1 accounts to follow in the F1 Twitter Directory
Links
More motor racing links of interest:
"The gap to the front runners is significantly smaller than it was in Bahrain and we can have a strong race from here."
"We were less than a tenth away from making Q3 so I feel quite happy with our performance considering our speed in practice."
Valtteri and Lewis lock out the front row in China (Mercedes)
"Lewis took a bit of time to find the peak of the grip on the tyres but by his second run in Q2 he was looking very competitive and it was extremely close between our drivers in the final part."
"At the moment, we do not know the full extent of the possible damage to the various PU elements. Alex can still do well tomorrow, starting from pit lane, as he showed a good pace in free practice and overtaking is possible here."
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Comment of the day
Pierre Gasly needs to up his game quickly:
I heard rumours that the black hole picture that was revealed during the week was shot in the gap between Max and Pierre.
Joao (@Johnmilk)
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David BR (@david-br)
14th April 2019, 0:27
re: Wolff’s suggestion, yes to another China race, given its popularity and the size of the country’s population, but no to more street races!! Please no. More than enough already. Find somewhere suitably hilly, tree-covered and Spa-like, even down to the seasonal rainfall.
@HoHum (@hohum)
14th April 2019, 1:04
Seconded, China is the country most able to build a second track due to centralized planning and cheap labor. A second track should be down in the industrial south of the country, but exactly when a 2nd CGP would be held is more problematic.
@HoHum (@hohum)
14th April 2019, 1:15
The best segments compilation is interesting but not really relevant due to the fact that finishing one segment very fast can have you arriving at the next corner too fast and loosing time there, it’s a question getting the best string of segment times, not necessarily the quickest time possible in each segment.
Phylyp (@phylyp)
14th April 2019, 2:33
Wow, the cars sound great in Awizul’s video! Why is it that amateurs using amateur equipment are still able to deliver far better audio than the professionals of FOM? Not to mention the long-distance shot actually gave a far better – and holistic – picture of the Q3 kerfuffle.
budchekov (@budchekov)
14th April 2019, 2:48
F1 needs to come back to Long beach, been a long time since I saw Jonesy win.
Compared to the dull FI spectacle I witnessed this morning this place screams BIG EVENT.
Guess it might be ‘event’ over the actual racing, the packed stands emptied after Indy Qualifying and those folks missed a damn fine IMSA race, I’ve witnessed this first hand….
@ There must be a way to extend the track ?
Spawinte (@spawinte)
14th April 2019, 8:35
We have enough races in totalitarian dictatorships without adding a second in China. Spare a thought for those living under Orwellian conditions in Xinjiang.
Lenny (@leonardodicappucino)
14th April 2019, 10:00
I don’t think F1 would hold a race in Hong Kong for the foreseeable future simply because of the political nightmare of what to call such a race. It can’t be the Chinese GP, we already have it, but the Hong Kong GP could imply Hong Kong is its own country. I guess the only thing that could work is the Hong Kong, China GP or something like that.
Richard G
14th April 2019, 16:37
Strange given how popular F1 is in China that they still aren’t using the huge bank of stands before the final straight.