1106th F1 GRAND PRIX | 17th CHINESE GRAND PRIX | 17th GRAND PRIX AT SHANGHAI INTERNATIONAL CIRCUIT
2019 POLESITTER: VALTTERI BOTTAS | 2019 WINNER: LEWIS HAMILTON
After a five year absence, Shanghai International Circuit – host of the Chinese Grand Prix since 2004 – makes its return to the F1 calendar this year. The 2024 Chinese Grand Prix is set to take place on April 19-21.
2024 CHINESE GRAND PRIX WEEKEND SCHEDULE
Friday April 19
Free Practice 1 – 11:30am Local Time / 4:30am UK Time
Sprint Qualifying – 3:30pm Local Time / 8:30am UK Time
Saturday April 20
Sprint – 11am Local Time / 4:00am UK Time
Qualifying – 3pm Local Time / 8:00am UK Time
Sunday April 21
The 2024 Chinese Grand Prix – 3pm Local Time / 8am UK Time
2024 CHINESE GRAND PRIX: WEEKEND MILESTONES
14 of this year’s 20 drivers were on the grid last time F1 raced here in 2019. Both Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon will be making their first Chinese Grand Prix appearances since 2018, while Oscar Piastri, Lofan Sargeant and Yuki Tsunoda join Zhou Guanyu in making their Chinese Grand Prix debuts.
Fernando Alonso will become the first driver to have appeared at the Chinese Grand Prix on sixteen occasions.
Lewis Hamilton could extend the record for most Chinese Grand Prix victories to seven this weekend. Fernando Alonso could become only the second driver to win at the track on three occasions, while Daniel Ricciardo could become the circuit’s fourth repeat winner. Any other driver winning the 2024 Chinese Grand Prix would make them the 10th different winner at Shanghai International Circuit.
READ MORE IN MILESTONES AND RECORDS TO BREAK
LEARN MORE ABOUT THE 2024 CHINESE GRAND PRIX
WHAT HAS CHANGED AT THE CIRCUIT SINCE LAST TIME?
Since the last Chinese Grand Prix, bumps have been removed at various points of the track, while asphalt run-off areas have been shortened at Turns 12 and 16, with gravel placed behind them. Elsewhere, all sausage kerbs and artificial grass around the circuit has been removed.
HOW MANY DRS ZONES WILL THERE BE AT THE 2024 CHINESE GRAND PRIX?
There will be two DRS zones at the 2024 Chinese Grand Prix, each with their own detection point. Activation zones are located on the circuit’s two longest straights. At the last race here in 2019, there were two DRS zones.
SHANGHAI INTERNATIONAL CIRCUIT TRACK GUIDE
F1 broke into the Chinese market in 2004 with its first race at Shanghai International Circuit. The winding track, with incredible architecture, was an immediate hit with fans and drivers.
The first vision for a Chinese Grand Prix came in the 1990s, when planning had taken place for a circuit to be built to host F1 in the south of China. The result of this was the Zuhai International Circuit, which gained a place on the 1999 calendar. However, the event never happened as the track failed to meet the FIA’s standards.
Undeterred, another circuit was commissioned to be built near Shanghai. Three years after their failed attempt, a deal was announced for the yet to be built Shanghai International Circuit to host a Grand Prix for seven years from 2004.
The Shanghai International Circuit is located twenty miles north of the centre of China’s largest city – Shanghai. It is situated on the banks of the Yangtze River Delta in East China. The track was designed by Hermann Tilke and resembles the Chinese character shang, meaning ‘ascend’. The team buildings resemble the ancient Yuyan-Garden in Shanghai.
READ MORE IN OUR ULTIMATE TRACK GUIDE
WHO WILL BE IN THE 2024 CHINESE GRAND PRIX PRESS CONFERENCES?
The world’s media will have the opportunity to talk to the drivers ahead of the on-track action. The drivers appearing in the press conference for this race are:
Esteban Ocon (Alpine)
Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)
Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
Nico Hülkenberg (Haas)
Lando Norris (McLaren)
Zhou Guanyou (Sauber)
The media will also be talking to prominent members of Formula 1’s teams in a separate press conference over the race weekend. The team members appearing in the press conference are:
Andrea Stella (McLaren)
Mario Isola (Pirelli)
Christian Horner (Red Bull)
Alessandro Alunni Bravi (Sauber)
WHO WILL BE THE RACE DIRECTOR AT THE 2024 CHINESE GRAND PRIX?
Niels Wittich will be the race director at the 2024 Chinese Grand Prix.
WHO WILL BE THE DRIVER STEWARD AT THE 2024 CHINESE GRAND PRIX?
Each weekend a former Formula 1 driver, or a driver from another prominent series of motorsport, joins the stewards to help judge any incidents from a drivers’ perspective. The Driver Steward this weekend is Vitantonio Liuzzi.
WHICH TYRE COMPOUNDS WILL BE USED AT THE 2024 CHINESE GRAND PRIX?
Pirelli have announced that the C2, C3 and C4 tyre compounds will be used at the 2024 Chinese Grand Prix. The C2, C3 and C4 compounds were also used in 2019.
WHAT HAPPENED LAST TIME AT THE CHINESE GRAND PRIX?
Formula 1 celebrated its 1,000th Grand Prix as Mercedes completed a hat trick of 1-2 finishes with Lewis Hamilton taking a sixth Chinese Grand Prix win.
The first major incident of the 2019 Chinese Grand Prix weekend came in Free Practice 3, when a large crash put Alex Albon’s Toro Rosso out of action for qualifying. It was Valtteri Bottas who claimed pole position as fellow Finn Kimi Raikkonen missed out on Q3 for the first time in 53 races. As the 1,000th World Championship Grand Prix began, Lewis Hamilton passed Bottas in the opening corner, and there was contact further back, as Daniil Kvyat managed to hit both McLarens.
Charles Leclerc had overtaken team-mate Sebastian Vettel on the opening lap, but he was instructed to let him by on Lap 11. After the pit stops, Max Verstappen attempted an overtake on Vettel at the hairpin, but was forced wide and had to settle for fourth. Mercedes flawlessly double stacked their cars in the pit stops and Bottas soon after took second place from Leclerc.
While Kvyat and Norris joined Nico Hulkenberg as retirees, Hamilton took his sixth Chinese Grand Prix victory. Bottas finished second, giving Mercedes their third 1-2 finish of the season, while Vettel completed the podium.
WHAT’S THE FASTEST EVER LAP AT THE CHINESE GRAND PRIX?
Attending the 2024 Chinese Grand Prix? Learn more about visiting Shanghai International Circuit in the F1Destinations Travel Guide.