Formula 1 News: Aging Shanghai circuit presents real challenge

The Formula 1 circus will return to Shanghai, China next weekend after a 5-year absence. The circuit, built on swamp land, is bumpy and the asphalt quite green, presenting a real challenge to Pirelli and the teams.

–by Mark Cipolloni–

Pirelli Formula 1 chief engineer Simone Berra explained recently that China was effectively being treated like a new event because previous knowledge was of little relevance.

Related article: Video: A lap of Shanghai with Esteban Ocon

“It’s like a new circuit, honestly,” said Berra when asked by Autosport about the return to Shanghai. “Because we have new cars, new tires, the 18-inch [rims].

“The track was really not used in five years, it was just used for one race per year or something like that. So, it will be really green and quite dirty, although obviously, they will clean the track.

“And we need to understand even from tarmac measurement pre-event how it has changed.

“In the past, it was quite rough in terms of both micro and macro roughness. We need to understand how aging has gone in the last years.

“So not much data, and even for the teams it will be a big challenge, not just for us, but for the teams even more, probably.”

Chinese officials have ground the surface to remove some of the undulations, but will that be enough, or should they have repaved sections like COTA was forced to do?

We will find out in one week’s time.