The Chinese Grand Prix joined the Formula 1 calendar in 2004 and returned in 2024 after a five-year absence. Here are all the facts and stats you need to know about the Shanghai International Circuit!
Track length: 5.451km
Race length: 305.066km
Laps: 56
Turns: 16
Circuit opened: 2004
F1 first visited: 2004
Races held: 17
Track Record: 1:31.095, Sebastian Vettel, 2018
Lap Record: 1:32.238, Michael Schumacher, 2004
RACE WINNERS
Since the first Chinese Grand Prix in 2004, there have been 17 races held at the Shanghai International Circuit. The event did not appear on the calendar between 2020 and 2023 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
From the first 17 races at Shanghai International Circuit, there have been 10 different winners
Lewis Hamilton has the most wins of any driver here, having stood on the top step of the podium six times.
Mercedes are the constructor with the most victories here, also having taken six wins.
British drivers have had the most wins here, with seven total victories when Jenson Button’s 2010 victory is added to Hamilton’s six wins at the track.
Mercedes have powered the most victories here, with Mercedes-powered cars taking nine Chinese Grand Prix wins.
Just one Grand Slam has been recorded here
Lewis Hamilton is the only driver to record a Grand Slam victory at the Chinese Grand Prix. Hamilton took pole, led every lap and set the fastest lap on his way to the win in 2017.
There have been four occasions on which the winner led every lap of the race. It happened in 2005, 2014, 2017 and 2019.
Hamilton is the only driver to win the Chinese Grand Prix in consecutive years
Lewis Hamilton is the only driver to have taken back-to-back wins at the Shanghai circuit, with his consecutive victories coming in 2014 and 2015.
Mercedes hold the record for most consecutive wins for a team at the Chinese Grand Prix, having won all four races between 2014 and 2017. Ferrari and McLaren are the only other teams to have taken successive wins here.
There are three previous winners on the 2025 grid
On the 2025 grid, there are three previous winners of the Chinese Grand Prix. Aside from Lewis Hamilton’s six victories, Fernando Alonso has taken victory here twice, while Max Verstappen won for the first time in 2024.
There were no repeat winners in the first seven races at the track
The longest streak of different winners at this track is seven. From the first race held here in 2004 all the way through to 2010, there were no repeat winners.
Three teams have recorded 1-2 results here
There have been five occasions on which a team has taken a 1-2 finish at the Chinese Grand Prix. While McLaren and Red Bull each have a single 1-2 finish at the track, Mercedes have finished first and second here on three occasions.
The average win margin is just over 10 seconds
The largest Chinese Grand Prix victory margin came in 2016, when Nico Rosberg won by 37.776 seconds.
The smallest Chinese Grand Prix win margin came in 2015, when Lewis Hamilton won by just 0.714 seconds.
Five races at this track have been won by less than five seconds, while ten have been won by less than ten seconds.
The average win margin at the Chinese Grand Prix is 10.200 seconds.
ON THE PODIUM
18 different drivers have finished on the podium at the Chinese Grand Prix.
Hamilton has more Chinese Grand Prix podiums than anyone else
Lewis Hamilton is the driver with most podiums at this track, having finished in the top three nine times.
Ferrari are the team with the most podiums here, with 13 – one more than Mercedes.
British drivers have the most podium finishes at the circuit. Lando Norris’ second place finish in the 2024 Chinese Grand Prix saw Britain record their 14th top three finish here, overtaking Germany at the top of the list.
Six current drivers have previously finished on the podium here
From the current grid, there are six previous podium finishers at the Shanghai International Circuit. Hamilton has the most with nine, Fernando Alonso has five, Valtteri Bottas and Max Verstappen have two, while Lando Norris and Sergio Perez each finished on the podium in Shanghai for the first time in 2024.
POLESITTERS
There have been seven different Chinese Grand Prix polesitters in the race’s 20-year history.
Hamilton has the most poles at the Chinese Grand Prix
With six pole positions at the track, Lewis Hamilton holds the record for the most poles in China.
Mercedes have taken the most poles of any team here, with seven. They took all six poles at the circuit between 2012 and 2018.
British and German drivers have the most poles here, with six apiece.
Hamilton, Alonso, Bottas and Verstappen have taken previous Shanghai poles
Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso, Valtteri Bottas and Max Verstappen are the only drivers on the current grid to have previously taken pole position for the Chinese Grand Prix. Hamilton has the record of six poles in Shanghai, Alonso has started from pole here twice, while Bottas took his first pole at the track in 2019 and Verstappen took his first pole here in 2024.
We are currently on the longest streak of different polesitters at the Shanghai International Circuit, with five different polesitters in the last five races at the circuit.
Three drivers have taken successive poles at Shanghai International Circuit
Three drivers have taken back-to-back poles at the Chinese Grand Prix. Fernando Alonso was first to take consecutive poles at the track, in 2005 and 2006. Sebastian Vettel took three consecutive poles here in 2009, 2010 and 2011, while Lewis Hamilton has taken consecutive poles here twice, in 2007 and 2008 and in 2013, 2014 and 2015.
Mercedes are the team to have taken the most consecutive pole positions at Shanghai International Circuit. They took six poles in a row here between 2012 and 2017. Renault, McLaren and Red Bull are the other teams to have taken successive poles at the track.
Not counting the wet qualifying sessions at the track, the difference between the fastest and slowest pole laps in China is 5.208 seconds. The slowest dry pole lap was in 2008, while the quickest was Vettel’s pole lap in 2018.
The average pole margin at the Shanghai International Circuit is 0.311 seconds.
The largest pole margin at this track is 0.715 seconds, when Sebastian Vettel set the fastest time in 2011.
The smallest pole margin came in 2019, when Valtteri Bottas took pole by just 0.023 seconds.
Pole has been decided by less than a tenth here three times – in 2015, 2018 and 2019.
SATURDAY TO SUNDAY
The Chinese Grand Prix has been won from pole ten times, while the winner has come from the front row 12 times.
The race has been won from third or further back five times. The furthest back the Chinese Grand Prix has been won from is sixth on the grid, which has happened twice. Michael Schumacher won from sixth in 2006, a feat which Daniel Ricciardo repeated in 2018.
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The polesitter at this track has gone on to finish on the podium 14 times.
There have been only four occasions (2010, 2011, 2016 and 2019) on which the Chinese Grand Prix polesitter did not lead at the end of Lap 1. From those four occasions, only Nico Rosberg in 2016 went on to win the race.
Just two podium finishes have come from lower than tenth on the grid at the Chinese Grand Prix. The lowest grid slot a podium finish has come from here is 18th, which Mark Webber achieved in 2011.
The 2010 Chinese Grand Prix is the only time none of the top three qualifiers have finished on the podium at this track.
2015 is the only time that the top three starters at the Chinese Grand Prix have finished in the same order as they began.
SUNDAY STATISTICS
950 Grand Prix laps have been raced at the Shanghai International Circuit since the first race here in 2004.
The highest number of drivers to finish on the same lap as the winner of the Chinese Grand Prix is 19, which happened in 2018 – the lowest is six, which happened in 2019.
The difference between the longest and shortest races at this track is 28 minutes. The 2004 Chinese Grand Prix was the shortest, clocking in at 1:29:12.420. The longest race here was the 2009 event which Sebastian Vettel won in 1:57:43.485.
Hamilton has the most fastest laps in China
13 different drivers have set the fastest lap of a Grand Prix at this circuit. Lewis Hamilton has set the most fastest laps of a Grand Prix at the track, and is the only driver to have taken more than one fastest lap at the track, with four in total.
The overall finish rate at the Chinese Grand Prix is 84%
From the 362 cars which have started a Grand Prix here, 303 have reached the end of the race. That means 84% of all the entrants to the Chinese Grand Prix have seen the chequered flag.
The fewest number of cars to reach the end of a race in Shanghai is 14, which happened in 2005.
The 2016 event is the only time every driver has reached the end of the race, with all 22 starters crossing the finish line.
Six drivers led a lap in 2011 and 2013
The highest number of drivers to have led a lap in a single Chinese Grand Prix is six. It’s happened twice: in 2011 and 2013.
There have been only three races in Shanghai in which the winner has not been the driver who has led the most laps of the race. It happened in 2016, 2011 and 2018.
The fewest laps led en route to victory in the Chinese Grand Prix is six, which is how many laps Lewis Hamilton led in the 2011 race.
Valtteri Bottas holds the record for most laps led in Shanghai without ever winning a race here. He’s led 18 laps at the track.
Red flags and Safety Cars in China
Eight of the 17 races at this track have featured a Safety Car period. The 2019 race was the first not to feature a full Safety Car period since 2014, though there was a Virtual Safety Car period.
The most number of Safety Car periods seen in a Grand Prix here is two, which has happened five times – in 2005, 2009, 2010, 2017 and 2024.
There has never been a red-flagged Chinese Grand Prix.
Five Grands Prix at this track have been affected by rain.
The 2014 Chinese Grand Prix is the only F1 race at the circuit which did not run to its scheduled distance. The race ran to the scheduled 56 laps, but the chequered flag was erroneously shown one lap early. That meant that the race result was taken from the order at the end of Lap 54.
CHAMPIONSHIP GLORY
Despite being close to the end of the season for its first five events, a World Champion has never been crowned at the Chinese Grand Prix. The Constructors’ Championship has been decided here once, in favour of Renault in 2005.
There has been only one dead rubber race in China.
The 2004 Chinese Grand Prix is the only dead rubber race to have taken place here. In addition, Fernando Alonso had already been crowned World Champion ahead of the 2005 Chinese Grand Prix, while Ferrari’s status as 2007 Constructors’ Champions was confirmed before the 2007 race.
The winner of the Chinese Grand Prix has gone on to win the title in the same year on eight occasions. The Chinese Grand Prix polesitter has gone on to win the title in the same year on nine occasions.
The leader of the championship after the Chinese Grand Prix has won the title nine times.
