Verstappen expecting chaos
Max Verstappen says he is expecting “chaos” when the cars hit the track on Friday on return to China after a five-year absence. Later in this piece, we will have more details about the many uncertainties around this weekend, but today while doing the track walk many noted what appeared to be a newly painted, rather than resurfaced, circuit.
However, the track has in fact been given a bitumen surface treatment, which sees the substance laid down on the track in fluid form, with its purpose to prevent disintegration and eliminate dust. The Dutchman said, “With the new cars, it will be a bit of an unknown. From the trackside, it looks like they have repainted it, rather than resurfaced it.”
“I don’t know what that does to the grip of the track, so that’s something we have to get on top of. It’s the same for everybody but we just have to have a good FP1 and hopefully we don’t have to finetune too much with the car.”
Verstappen has started the season with three wins from four races, the only one he retired thanks to a brake failure. He said “I think overall with the Sprint it’s always a bit more of a question mark and always a bit more chaos involved, which I guess in a way is a good thing for F1”
Later in this edition, we will have a more detailed explainer of the format, but the Sprint Qualifying that used to take place on Saturday morning now on Friday, with the Sprint itself the first action on Saturday, before normal Qualifying for the Grand Prix.
Verstappen, who has repeatedly criticised Sprint weekends in the past, added: “The new format makes more sense. The most annoying thing about it before is after FP1, you could go into qualifying and if you didn’t nail the setup, you were stuck with it for the rest of the weekend. That can really hurt your weekend and now we have another opportunity to make it perfect and I think that’s better for racing overall.”
Move to Ferrari from Mercedes ‘doesn’t need vindicating’
Lewis Hamilton said his decision to join Ferrari doesn’t need “vindicating” as he criticised “talk” around his move from Mercedes next season. The seven-time champion shocked the sport in February when he announced he would join the Italian team after ten years with the works team, ending his twenty-five-year links with Mercedes.
He told the press conference on Thursday, “I don’t feel like I need my decision vindicating. I know what was right for me, and that hasn’t changed since the moment that I made the decision. There’s not been a moment where I questioned it, and I’m not swayed by other people’s comments.”
The move was as stunning as his move from McLaren to Mercedes in 2012, a move which led to him becoming the most successful driver in sports history. Hamilton says he will use that experience to cope with the process this time around.
Hamilton’s multi-year agreement with Ferrari, which runs until at least the end of 2026, means he is set to drive for the Italian team for the first season of new engine and design regulations. It’s reported that Mercedes didn’t want to offer him a long-term future or a post-career ambassadorial role.
Red Bull has dominated since the current regulations were introduced in 2022, but the changes have the potential to completely reset the field. Asked if Ferrari accepting the new regulations and delivering him a championship car in 2026 could lead to him extending his career, Hamilton offered a positive response.
Hamilton is still not set to be the oldest driver on the grid over the next two seasons, after long-time rival Fernando Alonso last week announced the extension of his Aston Martin contract, also until the end of 2026. A rivalry going back to his ill-tempered and controversial debut season in 2007.
S3 |”Best options are still open” – Sainz
Carlos Sainz insists all the “best options are still open” for his future, but reckons it is a “coin toss” one team will gain massively with the 2026 engines. The Spaniard’s future is the next key decision in the driver market after Ferrari opted to replace him with Lewis Hamilton.
He has been linked to Sauber ahead of Audi’s takeover for 2026, but he has also been linked to returning to Red Bull with their senior team and replacing Hamilton at Mercedes.
Asked ahead of the Chinese GP if he might be forced to choose racing for a team with less potential for success in 2025 if he wants his future sorted early, as has been suggested is Sainz’s preference, he replied, “No. My best options are still open which I think is a positive thing and is something that quite obviously requires a bit of time, given the situation of the market.”
“It’s going to take some time for everyone to make up their own minds and take their decisions, but the good options are still open. There hasn’t been any progress over the last couple of weeks, so there isn’t anything to update you on.”
But added the sooner the better, Sainz admitted that the uncertainty around his future hasn’t affected his performances this year but suggested it does take time to make a decision. Sainz also claimed that “all the options are viable ones right now for me” because of his current contractual situation.
The decision isn’t only about 2025, but 2026 when new engine regulations and manufacturers come in. his fellow Spaniard Fernando Alonso has suggested that was key in his decision to stay with Aston Martin, although sources had indicated his chances of signing anywhere else had dwindled in the run-up to the Japanese race last time out.
Sainz, however, suggests that given the huge regulation change he considers “2026 a bit like a coin toss”. He explained this was because “it’s impossible to know right now who is going to get it right for 2026”.
Antonelli completes first F1 test
Andrea Kimi Antonelli, a leading contender to replace Lewis Hamilton next season, completed his first F1 test with the team in Austria on Wednesday. The seventeen-year-old who races in F2, drove the 2021 Mercedes at the Red Bull Ring which is part of the programme to get him used to F1 cars.
In a video posted on social media after two days in Austria in which he completed 500km, Antonelli said: “It has been an incredible experience. I loved every second of it.”
“First day didn’t go as planned – we got some snow unfortunately, so we couldn’t really drive – but the second day was dry and got quite a lot of laps [completed], and it was really good fun. Want to thank all the team for all their hard work. Excited for what’s coming.”
Italian teenager Antonelli is a rising star of motorsport and has been on Mercedes’ books as a junior driver since 2019, when he was twelve years old. He has been constituent in Formula Regional European Championship last year, Antonelli has bypassed F3 completely and is racing this year in F2 with the Prema team.
His teammate Ollie Bearman made his F1 debut in Jeddah last month, finishing seventh after Carlos Sainz was unwell and had surgery for appendicitis.
Wolff has said that Antonelli is in the running to replace seven-time champion Hamilton – who stunned F1 in February by signing a deal to join Ferrari from 2025 after eleven years at Mercedes. However, should the ongoing civil war at Red Bull blow up further and Max Verstappen becomes free he is the number one choice.
Asked at Suzuka if the fact Mercedes were still not back at the front of F1 amid continued Red Bull dominance made the option of promoting the inexperienced Antonelli more attractive for 2025, Wolff replied: “You can look at it from various perspectives.”
“I believe we are in a rebuilding phase. You need to acknowledge that now – three years into these regulations we’ve got to do things differently than we have done in the past, without throwing overboard what we believe is goodness in the way we operate.”
News in Brief
Sainz simply doing a better job
Charles Leclerc reckons his performance shortfall to Ferrari teammate Carlos Sainz in recent races is simply down to the Spaniard’s greater execution of weekends. In the three races as teammate this year he has been beaten by Sainz who Leclerc said was simply been performing at a higher level in the most recent two races.
Leclerc explained, “I think it’s as simple as he’s doing a better job. I think in Bahrain, it’s difficult to compare because on my side I was facing issues and I think it was a very strong weekend apart from that,”
Williams may as well “go home”
Alex Albon says Williams may as well “go home” if it allows concerns over spare parts to start influencing how it goes racing. The team has been without a spare chassis all season which lead to Logan Sargeant being withdrawn from the race in Melbourne.
The American crashed in opening practice in Japan, things were not helped much in the Suzuka race when Albon hit the barriers after an opening lap clash with Daniel Ricciardo. Asked by Motorsport.com how challenging the current situation was, Albon said: “You go about your racing not really thinking about it, if I’m totally honest. Obviously, it’s there, but the moment that you start to think about the lack of parts, or the lack of whatever, you might as well stay home.
Sauber to have a permanent fix for its pitstop
Valtteri Bottas expects his Sauber to have a permanent fix for its pitstop woes “by Imola”. In the first few races the team has had issues with cross-threading issues on the wheel nuts, which led to disastrous pitstops over the first few races.
Speaking ahead of this weekend’s Chinese Grand Prix, Bottas said the team was introducing further modifications for the Shanghai race, but a permanent fix remained unavailable. Bottas said, “It’s a difficult situation and we shouldn’t be in this situation, but we are and now we need to get it sorted.”
Zhou hopeful for points on home debut
Guanyu Zhou will be hoping this weekend that he can battle for points as he races at his home Grand Prix for the first time. In his third season, he finally gets the opportunity to race at home having been cancelled for the last four years due to covid.
Zhou told F1.com, “It’s amazing of course to have the opportunity finally to race at home, obviously [I’ve] been missing that over the last two seasons when I started my career in Formula One. [It’s] great to be back, great to see all the track facilities [where] I used to be on the other side of the circuit here, in the grandstands watching, being a fan of F1, and then coming back here being an F1 driver.”
“can’t wait, a lot of mixed emotions of course going through the weekend. I want to treat it as much as a normal race weekend, but I’m sure that there will be plenty of supporters coming throughout the days.” Pre-covid China was seen by Liberty as a huge untapped market for growth.
He said on his way in this morning he could see the circuit is ‘completely different’ to what it used to be, as Chinese motorsport culture continues to grow. Adding “I came from the city this morning, the roads [on the way to] the circuit have been completely different to what it used to be.”
“Then in general [since the] beginning of [the] 2022 season, Formula 1 has really been building, mainly just the history and background of motorsports culture has been completely growing, and it’s great to see the pattern improving in a positive way.”
Looking ahead to this weekend, Zhou was hopeful given the sprint format he has two opportunities to score points this weekend. But said the lack of practice makes it more interesting as there hasn’t been a race in Shanghai since 2019. He also admitted it wasn’t a circuit he knew well as he has never driven it in a single-seater.
He added “Racecraft has been recently okay, and from my side, I think there’s parts to be improving. [I hope to] get a bit more clean Friday and get prepared ready for the qualifying sessions.”
In the press conference, he said it had been a twenty-year wait, having watched the first race, but it hadn’t been an easy journey. Zhou added “For me of course I’m still focused on my job. I know [there is a] mixture of emotions going into this weekend, especially on Sunday with the national anthem going on and the memories reflect on your mind.”
“But as much as I am a race driver, I think the most important, critical thing is to do the right job on track, which is trying to score points, give it the maximum I have on the package, on the car we have.”
Talking Points Shanghai
F1 return to Shanghai following a five-year break raises many questions. The last time F1 travelled to China, Max Verstappen had only won five races and RB was still racing as Toro Rosso rather than its previous name Alpha Tauri. While Lewis Hamilton was only a five-time champion, Charles Leclerc had just lost out on a maiden win at the previous race in Bahrain.
In the meantime, as the Shanghai International Circuit hosted a makeshift COVID-19 hospital in 2022 rather than any major motor racing, F1 went through wide-ranging regulation changes and Pirelli introduced different tyres mounted on larger rims.
This race is effectively a new race, the regulations have changed, the circuit has been resurfaced for the first time since 2004 attempting to smooth out the bumps which the ground effect cars are more sensitive too. Picking China of all places to host the first sprint format of the year has raised some eyebrows, with Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz both questioning whether it was really the right move for this year.
It gives teams just an hour of free practice to validate their set-ups, with an even bigger emphasis on simulation work. While a sprint adds to the engineers’ headaches, it also provides opportunities to shake things up, which can be good news both for the fans and for teams that aren’t so confident in their outright performance.
But Shanghai, which layout is based on the city’s Chinese character, meaning to ascend or above, is similar to Sakhir which also debuted in 2004 and Melbourne where Ferrari won last month. A mixture of high-speed sections which will favour Red Bull, but this could be an interesting race in terms of strategy. Historically this has been a race with high tyre wear, forcing multiple stops.
McLaren who are expecting to be on the back foot in China. The Woking squad started off the season well, but Shanghai’s combination of slow, winding corners and long straights is exactly what its MCL35 comparatively struggles at.
team principal Andrea Stella acknowledged holding the sprint there “adds many complications”, it could turn out to be a blessing in disguise for the papaya team it if executes its Friday running better than its direct rivals.
He added “Difficulties can also be seen from the opportunity side because everyone will have difficulties, which means you can gain an advantage. Ideally, you wouldn’t have had China as a sprint event. At the same time, it’s not something that we are in condition to influence. So we just get this out of our heads and we focus on doing a good job”
One big question remains the same whether Red Bull is able to be beaten. Ferrari looked strong in Melbourne where Carlos Sainz won, and could have won in Vegas where they were strong and appeared to be on top of tyre wear which has been their biggest weakness in recent years.
With temperatures expected to hover around the 20C degree mark, the colder conditions could further exacerbate graining and potentially play into the hands of the Scuderia. Team principal Fred Vasseur added “The biggest question mark for me will be the tarmac and probably compared to the last event we will have colder conditions.”
“We don’t know the roughness of the tarmac and this will be key for the weekend to see if we have graining or not. With the sprint and one practice session, you have to choose which compound you will test on Friday. It means that the anticipation of the weekend is crucial.”
Sprint Format for 2024
Friday
- lunchtime sixty minutes of free practice
- Late afternoon sprint qualifying
- SQ1 twelve minutes with the bottom five cars being knocked out
- SQ2 ten minutes with the bottom five cars being knocked out
- SQ3 eight minutes with the top ten fighting for pole
Saturday
- Morning 100km + 1 lap sprint in Shanghai nineteen laps
- Saturday afternoon Grand Prix qualifying
- Q1 eighteen minutes with the bottom five cars being knocked out
- Q2 fifteen minutes with the bottom five cars being knocked out
- Q3 twelve minutes with the top ten fighting for pole
Sunday
- afternoon the Grand Prix 300km + 1 lap in Shanghai fifty-six laps or three hours
McLaren can win races this year – Norris
Lando Norris believes McLaren can win races in 2024, albeit only with significant car improvement upgrades and “right place, right time” fortune against Red Bull and Ferrari. In Lusail last year the team were the only team to beat Red Bull in a Sprint.
They head into the weekend third in the constructors in a battle with Ferrari, Mercedes and Aston Martin for best of rest behind Red Bull. While that is a major year-on-year improvement, Ferrari has established itself as Red Bull’s closest challenger so far this season, a position McLaren largely enjoyed during the second half of last year.
Although two weeks ago Norris beat both Ferraris to finish third on the podium behind Red Bull. Speaking to F1’s podcast, team principal Andrea Stella reckons his squad can “think about winning races this year” if it can replicate its impressive 2023 in-season development.
When asked about Stella’s comments in the pre-event press conference at this weekend’s Chinese Grand Prix, Norris initially quipped that he feels such an improvement for McLaren to claim 2024 wins is not possible in the short term. He joked, “Not any time soon – that’s for sure!”
But he then went on to add how he feels: “I think we can [win with the] right place, right time – if we improve the car how we need too. Honestly, there weren’t too many frustrations with Suzuka.”
“Everything went pretty much as expected. I don’t think we did a perfect job and we probably should’ve finished one place higher up, potentially. But I don’t think it was far off. We’ve been the same place all season – behind Red Bull, behind Ferrari and we’ve been a bit of a step ahead of the other two teams come the race.”
Norris says the team knows what they need to do to improve the car and in Suzuka every thing was how they expected it to be but they didn’t do the perfect job. He believes the team are able to fight Ferrari ‘if’ they can improve in certain areas.
The Weekend Ahead
This weekend is still I think likely to favour Red Bull, but there are so many uncertainties as we have explored in this edition. Could that open up opportunities both in the sprint and Grand Prix for surprises? But my feeling is that its going to be difficult to beat Red Bull. But remembering both Melbourne and the 2009 race, the leading team were Brawn and they struggled here.
Adding to that is the sprint which means every session matters this weekend and though we have the regulation change allowing for changes between a sprint and race qualifying, time is the limiting factor as they only have possibly two hours once the parc ferme is complete to make changes for the rest of the weekend.
This isn’t a weekend for mistakes every session matters, crashing or technical issues in FP1 will harm sprint qualifying, and issues in the sprint harm race qualifying and that can disrupt drivers flow that is not what they need on a sprint weekend. This has been criticised given we have not raced here since 2019, but I think given Imola 2020 teams will adapt to that given these are the best in the world it’s not going to impact too much
I think at the moment Ferrari is the best of the rest, but not close enough to fight Red Bull. This weekend I think given it’s a high deg circuit we will get firm ideas around how much they have solved the tyre deg issue which has been a big issue for them in recent years, Mercedes I think hasn’t made the jump they would have wanted over the winter and they need answers.
Mercedes are under threat from McLaren, its almost as if they have swapped places, as I feel from the opening races McLaren are better on track as they’ve made a jump to fight Ferrari. I think it will become clearer in Imola as the next two races are sprints and that’s when we are likely to see upgrades.
You can join us for coverage of this weekend’s Chinese Grand Prix with reports and analysis on our website and in This Grand Prix, on Sunday evening. FP1 starts Friday 11:30 CST / 04:30 BST, Sprint Qualifying 15:30 / 08:30, Saturday the Sprint 11:00 / 04:00 Grand Prix Qualifying Saturday 15:00 / 08:00 and the race Sunday 15:00 / 08:00
