Formula 1 returns to China this weekend for the first time since before the world was transformed by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The 17th Chinese Grand Prix will be the first to feature a home driver on the grid. It will also play host to the first of six sprint rounds on this year’s calendar.While most of the attention will be focused naturally on the front of the field as Ferrari look to challenge Red Bull for victory for the second time in three rounds, there’s also plenty of intrigue further down the order.
Here are the talking points for the Chinese Grand Prix.
Return to Shanghai
The Shanghai International Circuit is no stranger to Formula 1, having featured for 16 consecutive seasons after joining the championship 20 years ago. However, this weekend will be the first time that the race will be held since 2019 – when the series marked its 1,000th grand prix.
While the circuit layout remains the same it has always been, teams will not have any data from a modern ground effect car to help choose their set-ups for the weekend. But there is another factor that could also complicate matters.
The circuit recently underwent a major renovation with relayed asphalt and this will be the first major racing event held on the relayed track. As seen in recent years at venues like Istanbul, it takes time for resurfaced circuits to offer up ideal grip. Which makes the fact this is the first sprint weekend of the season all the more significant.
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The right place for a sprint race?
Featuring one of the longest straights of any of the 24 circuits, Shanghai has one of the most prominent overtaking zones of the year in the form of the hairpin of turn 14. But with plenty of passes also being made into turn six at the end of the opening sector or turn 11 at the end of the second, it maybe makes sense why FOM and the FIA have chosen it for the opening sprint round of the 2024 season.
“I think it’s going to be a tough weekend for everyone,” said Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz Jnr. “I think going into a sprint to a track that we haven’t been in four or five years, with only one hour of practice, is going to be a challenge.”
This weekend will also be the first time that the latest sprint race format – the fourth in as many years – will be put tested. As ever, there will be a one hour practice session to begin on Friday, but that evening’s qualifying will decide the grid for the sprint race, which will now take place first on Saturday. After the sprint race, parc ferme will open up again for limited set-up adjustments before the traditional grand prix qualifying on Saturday afternoon, with the grand prix on Sunday as usual.
As teams will be limited in the compounds they can run throughout the three sessions of sprint qualifying – with mediums allowed only in the first two sessions and softs in the final phase – some teams may head into grand prix qualifying and the grand prix itself without having run the hard compound tyres over the weekend.
Hopefully, the relaxing of parc ferme restrictions will help teams avoid falling foul of the plank wear regulations that resulted in Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc being disqualified from last year’s United States Grand Prix. But as they will be lifted from the moment the lights go out on Saturday morning’s sprint race to the start of the grand prix qualifying session, there could be a chance that those towards the back of the sprint race grid may end up treated the sprint less like a race and more like an additional practice session to prepare for the main event where they have a better chance of scoring points.
Zhou’s homecoming
Zhou Guanyu has approached each of his three Formula 1 seasons anticipating becoming the first Chinese driver to compete in his home grand prix. But the first two times the race was cancelled. Finally, in 2024, there have been no cancellations and Zhou will, at last, take to the grid in his home city.
Unfortunately for him, however, he arrives to the fifth round of a season point-less for the first time in his career. But Zhou and his Sauber team are very much looking to change that this weekend, especially following Valtteri Bottas’ showing last time out in Suzuka.
“I can’t wait to give it my all, share the passion with our entire team trackside and at home, and start a new chapter of Chinese motorsport together with the crowd,” Zhou said. “Most importantly, though, I can’t wait to have a good race and get back to scoring points.”
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Can Ricciardo and Stroll step up?
Two drivers endured weekends to forget in Japan, for very different reasons. RB driver Daniel Ricciardo missed virtually all of Friday practice thanks to sitting out the opening session to allow Ayumu Iwasa to drive his car before rain rendered the second hour of practice useless to him. Despite a decent qualifying performance on Saturday, his grand prix ended on the opening lap after a crash with Williams driver Alexander Albon.
It was a weekend reminiscent of Stroll’s first season alongside Alonso in 2023, where the gulf between them over the season was often difficult to ignore. With Aston Martin announcing a new contract extension with Alonso late last week, Stroll’s apparently inability to keep up with his much older team mate will only be more conspicuous should it continue.
Ricciardo is also coming under increasing pressure. His team mate Tsunoda scored points in the last two races and generally looked more comfortable and quicker than the eight-times grand prix winner over the season so far. Ricciardo has won here in China before, back in 2018, and he could do with a strong weekend in Shanghai to avoid the questions over his abilities and his future in the sport increasing at such an early stage of the season.
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Can Williams keep their repair bills down?
It’s been a frustrating start to the 2024 season for Williams who have followed their best championship finish in six seasons in 2023 with zero points over four rounds and three significant crashes over the last two race weekends.
“The key element now is making sure that we build up enough stocks again, which is a medium-to-long-term damage on us, because we’re now building stock of something that perhaps isn’t as performant as a future component can be, but it’s just required to go racing,” Vowles said.
With its long straights, Shanghai would have typically been a circuit that Williams would have expected to go well at in recent years. But the FW46 is not as low-downforce dependent as some of its predecessors.
“The strength of this car is that we’re not swinging from track-to-track,” Vowles explained. “And that means that across 24 races you have 24 opportunities to score points.”
The team will be eager to get their first points on the board this weekend. However, just making it through the first sprint round of the championship without any more unplanned repair jobs to do will likely be considered a win in itself. But with less practice time and more competitive sessions, the risk for the team is arguably greater, and they expect to be without a spare chassis once again.
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A test of the Chinese market
The thousands who flocked to the Suzuka circuit demonstrated once again why Japan’s fans are considered among the very best on the calendar and why the event is so popular with drivers and teams alike.
“We saw the passion that awaits us when the tickets went on sale, and were fully sold out within hours,” said Zhou. “My country loves racing and has been waiting for this moment for years.”
In one of the most important markets, this Chinese Grand Prix will also be an interesting test of F1’s current level of popularity in the nation, especially after the time off the calendar coincided with the sport’s boom in popularity in the United States around the time of the pandemic.
The first Chinese Grand Prix in 2004 attracted the biggest crowds in the event’s history, with even the grandstands down at turns 11 to 13 filled. At the last race in 2019, the three-day total stood at 160,000 – just 40% of the maximum total capacity.
For this year the race promoters have improved the spectator areas and further work is planned. New grandstands will add over 20,000 more seats for future races.
Before the F1 circus returns to Miami for a very different kind of atmosphere and demographic of fans, it will be good to see some of the most eclectic F1 fans in the world get to enjoy seeing the sport and drivers they love up close again after so long. And if there are notably more than before.
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Are you going to the Chinese Grand Prix?
If you’re heading to China for this weekend’s race, we want to hear from you:
Do you expect to see any changes in the competitive order this weekend? Have your say below.
2024 Chinese Grand Prix
- “You need to be more on it”: 12 unheard radio exchanges from the Chinese GP
- Ricciardo needs to show “head-turning form” for 2025 chance – Horner
- With fourth format change in as many years, F1 relegated sprint races to a sideshow
- Williams accept ‘harsh but correct’ penalty for Sargeant
- Verstappen set to overtake Hamilton’s career race-winning rate at next round
Christopher
16th April 2024, 7:43
Have they been selling tickets to those empty grandstands around turns 11-13, as mentioned they were used in 2004? It has always looked crazy seeing them empty, now Zhou is talking about the tickets selling out in mere hours which would suggest they would open up those stands.
SteveR (@stever)
16th April 2024, 15:48
Yeah, I was thinking the same thing as I remembered acres of stands covered over to make it appear a sell out. Ah well, it’s all just PR talk. I wonder how the smog situation will be; wasn’t there a dense haze for most races?
SteveP
16th April 2024, 8:01
@Will Wood: I think you might want to change that; “relaid” is the word you wanted.
There is no right place.
Hand it over as a mini-format championship for the prospective drivers driving the previous iteration of car.
Matt (@hollidog)
16th April 2024, 17:46
And who is going to pay for that?
Retired (@jeff1s)
16th April 2024, 9:32
where’s the round up ?
kuvemar
16th April 2024, 9:51
Yes, like every other F1 grade circuit in the world.
Ω (@omega)
16th April 2024, 11:30
Does anyone know what the exact parc fermé Rules are now with the sprint, this article states;
“After the sprint race, parc fermé will open up again for limited set-up adjustments before the traditional grand prix qualifying on Saturday afternoon, with the grand prix on Sunday as usual.”
But an article I found on Aston Martins website states;
“Now, however, cars will be under parc fermé conditions from the start of the Sprint Shootout until the end of the Sprint, after which parc fermé conditions will be lifted and changes will be permitted before Qualifying on Saturday when parc fermé conditions will be applied again throughout the rest of the weekend.”
Does anyone know which is correct? Partial unlock of setup, or complete freedom?
Dex
16th April 2024, 11:45
The only right place for the F1 sprints is Domenicali’s playroom, with miniature models of cars and tracks. But leave us out of it, man…
S
16th April 2024, 12:20
You are out of it – you don’t have to watch it.
Right now, F1 is a plaything for Domenicali, the F1 teams and everyone else who makes truly disgusting amounts of money from it.
Dex
16th April 2024, 20:39
“You don’t have to watch it” argument is no argument. They could apply it to anything and anyone. We never had to watch it.
Now, with that question out of the way, other issues still remain. Oh, and F1 numbers drop again, they will beg people to watch it.
Well, Liberty plans to sell it before that I’m sure, like any investment group would do. Buy cheap, pump up the numbers (short term, disregarding the long-term consequences), increase the value, sell. They follow that pattern so far. There’s no more Drive to survive hype (their numbers did go down already), there’s no more 2021 season, there’s no more COVID hype either to lock people home.
And the space for artificial growth is limited too (the number of races and “competitive sessions”, most of all).
And let’s imagine the world where Alonso and Hamilton are retired (it will happen eventually), and Verstappen gets bored. We may lose those three within 3-4 years, some of them sooner. That means there will be no former (or current) F1 champions and legends on the grid. When did that happen last time?
S
17th April 2024, 2:52
It’s the only argument – unless you are being tortured and your free will has been taken away from you.
F1’s Commercial Rights Holder and their media partners are constantly begging people to watch F1 – it’s their job and business to do exactly that. How high or low the ratings are does not change this fact.
The changes that F1 have made over the last several years have grown the viewership – so clearly they are doing something right by the general audience, even if it isn’t getting any better for people who have watched for a longer period of time (and will likely continue to watch anyway).
Who cares? It’s still F1, even if the names change. Everyone comes into F1 as a relative unknown, and someone will become the next champion. Rinse and repeat.
Right now, in the current circumstances – if we took away the F1 champions, F1 would be a much better experience and product anyway.
Mayrton
17th April 2024, 7:24
You are right and I am sure the project manager F1 within Liberty is currently very stressed and looking at reversed grids, sprinklers, bonus points for best donut, running from the garage to the car and the like elements to even make the circus element bigger to boost those numbers.
Nikos (@exeviolthor)
17th April 2024, 8:13
I think that the last time that we had a season without any big stars was 1994. After Senna died there were no former world champions on the grid.
Prost and Mansell had retired so the only star was Schumacher, but he had not proven himself yet.
BamBoomBots
16th April 2024, 12:11
Hmmm, spending my weekend watching the sprint format in the sportswashing event from the architects of the Uyghur genocide?
I think I’ll pass.
F1statsfan (@f1statsfan)
16th April 2024, 12:56
1. Return to Shanghai: Good – always liked the Chinese races – the track offers multiple lines and overtaking points.
2. The right place for a sprint race?: No sprint races would be better – having it in China in the first year back after 5 years and resurfacing of track is creating fake drama – they might as have well installed random sprinklers. So NO really not the right place in 2024, if the sprint races are still around next year – yes then China might be a good track for it.
3. Zhou’s homecoming: Sadly for Zhou China was away from the calendar since he joined F1 and it might as well be his last based on some reports. If his contract isn’t renewed with Sauber(=Audi) I do not see him getting a drive somewhere else.
4. Can Ricciardo and Stroll step up?: No idea but Ricciardo really has to as he is rightly under pressure to really perform and actually outperform Tsunoda. If not put Liam Lawson in that car. Will Stroll step up – doubt it – but who cares. It is a wasted seat most races of the season and he will keep that seat regardless till his daddy is no longer in control.
5. Can Williams keep their repair bills down?: Certainly hope so – it is in best interest of almost everyone that Williams moves forward on the grid and for that money needs to go to development and not repair bills. Still baffles me that they kept Logan Sergeant in the seat but guess he comes with a big bag of money.
Jere (@jerejj)
16th April 2024, 13:20
Return to Shanghai – Finally, & hopefully, an exciting comeback race for the circuit.
The right place for a sprint race? – Not necessarily after such a long hiatus, although parc ferme only coming into effect from standard qualifying minimizes impact, not to mention, no riskier than F2 drivers regularly having only a single practice session, even when driving on a circuit for the first time, like some in Melbourne or other non-European circuits over the years, so all vastly or decently experienced F1 drivers should be equally okay, even quartet that will be driving (or racing in Zhou’s case) on the Shanghai circuit for the first time, despite being in a comparatively more disadvantaged position.
Zhou’s homecoming – For his sake, I hope he at least gets a trouble-free event regardless of results.
Can Ricciardo and Stroll step up? – I’m skeptical about them, especially the former.
Can Williams keep their repair bills down? – Hopefully, for their sake.
A test of the Chinese market – Indeed, & I doubt the hiatus would’ve impacted in the end.
Doh
16th April 2024, 15:35
What about human rights? Did we suddenly forget?
S
16th April 2024, 13:53
How much did the ticket prices rise over that period of time?
There’s little doubt that next year’s sales will be lower than this year’s, once the novelty has worn off again. Especially if they lose their only driver.
Simon
16th April 2024, 23:08
Yeah, I remember those huge grandstands covered in tarpaulin or similar, and used for advertising instead
for example
https://cdn.gpblog.com/news/2019/04/17/v2_large_b62694c8a8f53425894117550dedba6a04efe7ba.jpg
Yellow Baron
16th April 2024, 15:33
Really looking forward to seeing all you fans and media questioning this race like you do with middle east races and funnily enough only middle east races. Can’t wait to hear the questions put to the driver’s too. If not then we know who is a hypocrite.
tielemst
17th April 2024, 8:37
Yeah, let’s not forget that after centuries of oppression, barbarism and slavery the west found the moral high ground and wants to stay there. You know, because we know what’s best for the world.
MichaelN
16th April 2024, 16:13
This FP > SprintQ > SprintRace > Open up parc fermé > RaceQ > Race format is the final admission that the original sprint qualifying format was misguided. The idea that a short race would produce more varied grids than qualifying was never going to be true. The only thing a short race accomplished was that it allowed weak qualifiers in good teams, like Pérez, to start the Grand Prix in a position more representative of their cars’ pace. Thus making the races even duller than they would have been, as cars started the race even more properly sorted by their race pace.
Decoupling the sprint ‘event’ from the race entirely creates a double header weekend with a short and a long race. But F1 cars are not sprint cars. The tyres still cannot be pushed for the shortened distance, and the race is too short to make strategy meaningful. It just doesn’t work unless some team picks a goofy compound for the sprint race for whatever misguided reason.
If FOM thinks it’s better to have two races, and they’re not entirely wrong on this, then have two races. Proper full length races. Other series do this, and it’s fine.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
16th April 2024, 17:40
Definitely agree on the first paragraph, it was always a negative side of sprint races: when drivers in good cars have a bad qualifying it can make the race more interesting, and the sprint was taking that away with the old format.
S
17th April 2024, 10:20
Don’t fall into the trap of confusing appeasement with an admission of poor decision-making.
F1 always does this – they make a change, then it goes through several iterations – each more appealing to the teams and noisy detractors – until it eventually finds an equilibrium that is so heavily neutered that literally nobody at all is satisfied with it. It ends up only 20% as good and satisfying as it should have been if allowed to mature in its initially-planned form.
The original sprint format was, IMO, the best implementation that F1 has used. Separating it from the GP was a massive error.
As for the cars being suitable – the only things fundamentally wrong with F1 cars participating in short sprint races are the same problems that prevents them from being any good in longer races. Their performance is unequal, and thus the results are largely predetermined by that lack of competitive potential, and the racing is hindered by each car’s ability to negatively impact the performance of the cars following it (too much aero).
It’s essentially similar to multi-class racing – no matter how long a race is or which variables it includes, the fastest car will always be the fastest.
I think Qatar last year showed that when certain restrictions are enforced and decisions are taken away from the teams, the on-track product in F1 can be improved even with the existing cars as they are. It just isn’t what the most politically powerful teams and rigid romantic/idealist/historically-driven viewers want.
I’m not against the idea of two full-length races either – but all of the problems would remain, and none of them are the length of the races, nor even the tyres. Those problems are much more structurally ingrained in the way F1 works, and specifically, who F1 is working for.
An Sionnach
16th April 2024, 20:15
Let’s get rid of the sprints. If they want to have a greater variety of entertainment for those who have come to watch all or part of an F1 weekend, perhaps have the drivers perform tricks in return for raw fish like a bunch of seals. Just don’t award championship points for it.
RR
16th April 2024, 22:44
No sprint for me this time alas. I’ll be in bed.