2013 UBS Chinese Grand Prix

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lbsf1

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F1 is back after the two week break, last year this race was won by Rosberg so maybe this year we will also have another unusual victor?, maybe Mercedes could win again? Mclaren are confident that they can improve the dismal performances so far this season, only time will tell. Ladies and gentlemen, start your engines, F1 is in China

2013 UBS Chinese Grand Prix
chinese-grand-prix.jpg


Race Date: 14 Apr 2013
Circuit Name: Shanghai International Circuit
First Grand Prix: 2004
Number of Laps: 56
Circuit Length: 5.451 km
Race Distance: 305.066 km
Lap Record: 1:32.238 - M Schumacher (2004)
2012 Race Winner: Nico Rosberg (Mercedes GP)

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Enjoy.
 
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SilverArrow
There's a second DRS zone on the pit straight.
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Effing hell, I wish the official F1 website would upload the correct map then.

Right, I will try and find a correct one then.


EDIT: After a quick google there doesn't seem to any talk of there being 2 drs zones. Even this thread comes up on the second page of a search.
 
The FIA has confirmed that there will be two DRS zones at every circuit except Monaco and Suzuka. If the Formula1.com website hasn't been updated yet, it's probably because the FIA haven't settled on the exact placement of the second zone on the main straight.
 
prisonermonkeys
The FIA has confirmed that there will be two DRS zones at every circuit except Monaco and Suzuka. If the Formula1.com website hasn't been updated yet, it's probably because the FIA haven't settled on the exact placement of the second zone on the main straight.
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I don't find it odd that Monaco only has one. The second one would be through the tunnel which seems like a recipe for fiery death.

But all the others EXCEPT Suzuka? Why is that special? Not like you couldn't have a second one if you wanted.

I'm aware this is wildly off topic, but there's gotta be something to talk about for three days. Right? :P
 
Imari
But all the others EXCEPT Suzuka? Why is that special? Not like you couldn't have a second one if you wanted.
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Where would you put it? Suzuka is a very technical track. The only place I could see a second drs zone going is on the approach to 130r. Given the high speed nature of that corner, it doesn't surprise me that the FIA aren't that keen on promoting overtaking there.

The only other straights (approach to the hairpin and the chicane) are fairly short and lead into corners where overtaking is already possible.
 
Suzuka usually turns into a parade though. That's why most of the passes you see at Suzuka are so epic, 'cause they're usually desperate moves. Not a lot of overtaking, but when it does happen, each one's a highlight most of the time (for better or worse).

I don't see a problem with setting the DRS zone on the backstraight. It's a really long straight, they could make the zone end well before 130R so things don't get too crazy. It'd be a balancing act though: the zone needs to be long enough to allow a decent opportunity but not so long that cars end up side by side when entering that famous fast left.

It's a great corner but improvements over the years have almost neutered its risk factor. Some of the better cars last year were taking it with DRS activated the whole time, flat out, in qualifying. So it wouldn't be that gnarly, the guys will know what to do, this is F1.

Anyway, lots of delish news popping today in the run up to Shanghai:
 
Wardez
4
I don't see a problem with setting the DRS zone on the backstraight. It's a really long straight, they could make the zone end well before 130R so things don't get too crazy. It'd be a balancing act though: the zone needs to be long enough to allow a decent opportunity but not so long that cars end up side by side when entering that famous fast left.

It's a great corner but improvements over the years have almost neutered its risk factor. Some of the better cars last year were taking it with DRS activated the whole time, flat out, in qualifying. So it wouldn't be that gnarly, the guys will know what to do, this is F1.
4
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The teams at the top of the pack take that corner with the throttle floored mid-race, not just in qualy. Add to that DRS -cars next to each other on a kind of narrow straight-, tire conditions, tire classes and not a particularly long run-off area, and you have a recipe for destruction.
 
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Yeah, you pretty much repeated what I said in a different way.

130R is almost just a kink these days. I would trust the drivers to pass before it safely, just look at Alonso's pass on Schumacher there. But I don't get the argument against it totally. I mean, even the current DRS zone on the front straight is pretty dangerous when you consider everything. Going side by side into turn 1 is always breathtaking, it's flat out as well for the first part and the run off there is the same as on 130R, look at it on Google Maps if you don't believe me.
Not only that, but the run to 130R is slightly uphill while the one down to T1 is downhill, then goes slightly banked, which could send cars flying off the road with their suspension unloaded, leading to a possibly faster impact potential.
Two cars fighting going into T1 could be argued to be an even greater danger, all things considered.

I'm interested in getting an official take on why they didn't go with two zones, but there doesn't seem to be one yet.
 
Overtaking at 130R today would still take a) balls of steel and b) a co-operative overtakee. Otherwise it's going to end up in a mother and father of a shunt.
 
DRS shouldn't be at Spa or Montreal.

Anyway, this is one of the races I'm most excited for. I want to see if the Red Bull situation changes and China is always one of the best races in the year.
 
Shanghai always has as much overtaking as any other circuit on the calendar. The last two years have both been very good races: I would say China has probably been the best dry race in each of the last years.

Looking forward to this one as well, especially after a three week break.
 
Why does everyone include the sponsor in the GTPlanet thread about the race? Or for GT5 race series? They aren't paying us, and I'm really sure we're not confusing this with an ongoing big-prize badminton tournament playing in the same country.

[/rant]
 
Pupik
Why does everyone include the sponsor in the GTPlanet thread about the race? Or for GT5 race series? They aren't paying us, and I'm really sure we're not confusing this with an ongoing big-prize badminton tournament playing in the same country.

[/rant]
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The f1 races is because it is the official title. The race is called the 2013 UBS Chinese Grand Prix.

As for GT5 I have no idea.
 
Same reason guys put GT-R badges on their Mustangs: looks cool, sounds cool, tricks the fool.
 
Its amazing how these cars need DRS to overtake on a straight as long as that. I hope it doesn't make it to easy, I like to see out breaking not the driver cruzing past and then taking the racing line.
 
Should be year on year improvements with the DRS effectivity based on how easy passing was the year before. Activation should then be moved accordingly. Can anyone confirm the exact DRS activation points from 2012 to see if they have been moved?
 
xStretch-
Its amazing how these cars need DRS to overtake on a straight as long as that.
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The problem is not the straight - it's the corners beforehand. Turns 11 and 12 are tight and and slow, and while the speed picks up for Turn 13, the effect of the three corners is that they naturally thin the field out, so passing onto the back straight is difficult. In a perfect world, there would be no Turn 11 or Turn 12, and Turn 10 would feed onto a straight that connected directly to Turn 13. But because Turn 13 is relatively fast (and is slightly banked, allowing the drivers to take it even faster), Tilke didn't have enough space for run-off on the outside of Turn 13, thus making the slow section necessary. And while he could have cut the tight corners and brought Turn 13 forward, the circuit would be too short and the straight between Turn 10 and Turn 13 would have cut through the run-off area for Turn 8.

So once again, Tilke was let down by the shape of the land that he was given to work with.

xStretch-
I hope it doesn't make it to easy, I like to see out breaking not the driver cruzing past and then taking the racing line.
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The FIA should (and probably do) know what they're doing. When they were first experimenting with DRS, Shanghai was one of their earliest successes. They put the activation point on the back straight in just the right place to allow drivers using DRS to put their front wing alongside the rear wheels of the car they were trying to pass. It wasn't enough to guarantee a pass, but it gave the attacking driver a fighting chance.
 
Mclaren have said they have pinpointed their issues. Hopefully they'll do well and bring both their cars home in the upper region of the points. But I'd like Massa to continue his good form and maybe get a win.
 
Oh joy the back straight DRS will be useless again.

Last year by the time they opened it they were all almost on the limiter.
 
Interview with Vettel in the last couple minutes of this Infiniti PR footage video where he says, " I don't apologize for winning in Malaysia:"



No one's asking him to apologize, what's done is done. At least he's more mature about it this time and not crying playing the victim.

RBR says no more team orders though, so now things are going to get pretty hot. Can't wait to see where these two end up dicing it up next, hopefully it's this weekend.
 
That Red Bull 'no team orders' decision can go either way. I have a feeling which way though and to be honest it should favour Vettel.
 

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