?? THE 2019 CHINESE GRAND PRIX
ROUND 3. 12TH-14TH APRIL.
1000TH F1 GRAND PRIX | 16TH CHINESE GRAND PRIX | 16TH GRAND PRIX AT SHANGHAI INTERNATIONAL CIRCUIT
2018 POLESITTER: SEBASTIAN VETTEL | 2018 WINNER: DANIEL RICCIARDO
WEEKEND SCHEDULE
Friday 12th April
Free Practice 1 (10am Local Time/ 3am UK Time)
Free Practice 2 (2pm Local Time/ 7am UK Time)
Saturday 13th April
Free Practice 3 (11am Local Time/ 4am UK Time)
Qualifying (2pm Local Time/ 7am UK Time)
Sunday 14th April
The 2019 Chinese Grand Prix (2:10pm Local Time/ 7:10am UK Time)
?? WEEKEND MILESTONES AND RECORDS
This weekend is a massive milestone for Formula 1, as we reach the 1000th Grand Prix since the championship began in 1950.
The Chinese Grand Prix will be Toro Rosso’s 250th Grand Prix. With the event being the 1000th F1 race, that means the team will have appeared in exactly one quarter of F1’s races – exactly the same percentage as Jordan.
Ferrari could equal Mercedes’ record tally of Chinese Grand Prix victories this weekend. Ferrari currently have four, while Mercedes have five. Mercedes themselves could extend their own record.
Kimi Raikkonen is one point away from joining the club of drivers who’ve scored over 100 points at the Chinese Grand Prix. If he finishes tenth or higher on Sunday, he’ll join Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel, Nico Rosberg and Fernando Alonso as the fifth driver to have scored over a century of points at the track.
This weekend marks the last opportunity for George Russell to become F1’s youngest-ever polesitter.
You can find more information about the records which could be beaten this weekend in our Milestones and Records to Beat post.
ALL THE INFO
Click the links below to see all the stats and circuit history you could need ahead of the 2019 race!
- The Ultimate Track Guide
- Track Stats (Coming Soon)
- Team Form (Coming Soon)
- Driver Form (Coming Soon)
- Lucky and Unlucky Grid Positions (Coming Soon)
2018 RACE RECAP
Despite early weekend troubles, Daniel Ricciardo took his first victory of the year while team-mate Max Verstappen made headlines for the wrong reasons.
Daniel Ricciardo’s participation in qualifying looked unlikely but, thanks to a quick engine change by the Red Bull mechanics, the Australian was able to line up sixth on the grid. Sebastian Vettel took his second pole position of the season, while both Mercedes started from the second row. Valtteri Bottas made his way by Kimi Raikkonen at the first corner, and would go on to pass Vettel as a result of getting the undercut at the first round of pit stops. A miscommunication saw the Toro Rossos collide at the hairpin, with debris on the track leading to a Safety Car period. The timing of the Safety Car allowed both Red Bull drivers to head into the pits, while Mercedes and Ferrari stayed out. Verstappen lost a position to Ricciardo as a result of being too optimistic with a move on Lewis Hamilton, then tangled with Vettel at the hairpin, damaging both of their prospects for the afternoon. Meanwhile, Ricciardo cleanly scythed through the field, with a masterful move on race leader Bottas powering him to victory. Vettel finished down in eighth, while Verstappen picked up a ten second penalty for his antics.
PRESS CONFERENCE SCHEDULES
The world’s media will have the opportunity to talk to the drivers on the Thursday before the race. Appearing in the Drivers’ Press Conference for this race weekend will be:
Kimi Raikkonen
Romain Grosjean
Sergio Perez
Alexander Albon
The media also be talking to prominent members of Formula 1’s teams on Friday. Appearing in the Teams’ Press Conference for this race weekend will be:
Toto Wolff
Mattia Binotto
Andrew Green
Toyoharu Tanabe
DRIVER STEWARD
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 will be Derek Warwick.
WEATHER FORECAST
The weather forecast for the week ahead at the circuit currently looks like this:
FASTEST EVER LAP
1:31.095
The fastest ever lap of the circuit was set by Sebastian Vettel in 2018. Will it be beaten over the race weekend?
TYRE CHOICES
Each weekend, the tyres will be known as Soft (red), Medium (yellow) and Hard (white), but the actual compounds will change each race weekend.
Pirelli have revealed that the C2, C3 and C4 compounds will be used for the Chinese Grand Prix weekend. Each driver’s selection of tyres will be announced nearer to the event.
2018 FASTEST LAP IN EACH SESSION
| Free Practice 1 | 1:33.999 (Lewis Hamilton) |
| Free Practice 2 | 1:33.482 (Lewis Hamilton) |
| Free Practice 3 | 1:33.018 (Sebastian Vettel) |
| Qualifying | 1:31.095 (Sebastian Vettel) |
| Grand Prix | 1:35.785 (Daniel Ricciardo) |
ON THIS DAY
Two previous races have been held on 14th April – the 2002 San Marino Grand Prix and the 2013 Chinese Grand Prix. Ferrari won both races held on this day, with Michael Schumacher taking victory in 2002 and Fernando Alonso winning in 2013. In both races, all of the top three qualifiers went on to finish in the top three in the Grand Prix, with them finishing in the order in which they started in 2002, and in reverse order in 2013.
