2025 Chinese Grand Prix 
Shanghai International Circuit, Shanghai, China
21-23 March | Grand Prix 2/24 | Sprint Race 1/6
Vital Statistics
- First Grand Prix – 2004
- Track Length – 5.451km
- Lap record – 1m 32.238s, Michael Schumacher, Ferrari, 2004
- Most pole positions – Lewis Hamilton (6)
- Most wins – Lewis Hamilton (6)
- Pole run to Turn 1 braking point – 315 metres
- Overtakes completed in 2024 – 102
- Safety Car probability – 75%
- Virtual Safety Car probability – 75%
- Pit stop time loss – 23.9 seconds (including 2.5s stationary)
- Trivia – The circuit is designed to look like the Chinese symbol for ‘shang’, meaning upwards
Last five Chinese GP polesitters
- 2024 – Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
- 2019 – Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes)
- 2018 – Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari)
- 2017 – Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
- 2016 – Nico Rosberg (Mercedes)
Last five Chinese GP winners
- 2024 – Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
- 2019 – Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
- 2018 – Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull)
- 2017 – Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
- 2016 – Nico Rosberg (Mercedes)
The Schedule
The Circuit
When was the track built?
In April 2003, a marshland in the Jiading District of Shanghai was earmarked for Formula 1 greatness. Eighteen months and around $450 million later, the state-of-the-art Shanghai International Circuit was complete.
When was its first Grand Prix?
The 2004 season featured two new races, one of which was the Chinese Grand Prix (the other was Bahrain). If either were added to try and stop Ferrari from winning everything, however, it didn’t work – Michael Schumacher won in Bahrain, while Rubens Barrichello triumphed in China.
What’s the circuit like?
The circuit’s pleasing form when seen from the air – it’s designed to look like the Chinese symbol for ‘shang’, meaning upwards – is equally pleasing to the drivers on terra firma. There’s a unique start to the lap as the drivers fly into the ever-tightening Turns 1 and 2, before they dart left through 3 and 4. The super-high g force Turns 7 and 8 are loved by the drivers, while the circuit also features one of the longest straights on the calendar, the 1.2km stretch that separates Turns 13-14.
Jolyon Palmer, former Renault F1 driver:
Shanghai is a circuit with long straights and even longer corners.
The first corner is unique with a wickedly fast approach before you scrub off the speed through an almost 360 degree turn which feels never-ending from the cockpit. That brings you into a slow left-hander where the exit is crucial for traction to the end of a short Sector 1.
Sector 2 is a nicer section of fast sweeping bends, again gradually scrubbing speed through the high-speed sequence of Turns 7, 8 and 9.
Sector 3 again features an almost endless righ-hand turn, building speed this time onto the back straight, another reason this circuit is so hard on the left-front tyre.
The back straight is the best overtaking opportunity with DRS into a big braking zone for a really tight right-hander, leaving just a quick and satisfying left-hander to round out the lap.
The Weather
Friday: Free Practice 1 & Sprint Qualifying
- Sunny. Light breeze with gusts up to 40kph.
- FP1: 24°C // SQ: 23°C
- Chance of rain: 0%
Saturday: Sprint Race & GP Qualifying
- Same kind of weather. Sunny with a gentle breeze, with gusts up to 35-40kph in the evening.
- Sprint: 25°C // Q: 24°C
- Chance of rain: 0%
Sunday: Grand Prix
- A bit cloudier but expected to be dry until the evening, with a slight chance of showers after the race. Light wind.
- Race start: 26°C
- Chance of rain: 40%
The Tyres
While Pirelli will bring the same tyre selection this weekend as they did in 2024 – that being the C2 as hard, C3 as medium and C4 as soft – these compounds are now different to last year, with the C2 in particular softer than before and as such more like the C3 than in the past.
The fact that it is a Sprint weekend also means that the slick tyre allocation changes a little; each driver still receives two sets of hard tyres, but they receive four medium sets rather than three and six softs instead of eight, bringing the total to 12 sets rather than the standard 13. The number of wet-weather tyres remains the same.
Reflecting on potential strategy choices, Pirelli’s weekend preview reads: “There were three interruptions last year – one VSC and two Safety Cars – which significantly influenced the outcome of the race, both in terms of the number of stops and the sequence in which the compounds were used.
“In the case of the former, three of the drivers who finished in the top 10 made just one stop, six pitted twice and one even three times. As for the latter, the majority of drivers opted to line up on the grid on the medium, with the C3 also completing the most stints (46%).
“However, when it came to the highest mileage, that went to the C2 (57%). The C4 also played its part, with four drivers choosing it for the start, while Fernando Alonso drove his longest stint on this, the softest tyre.”
