[E90SLAM]

Back to back weekends, simply awesome!
Long straight + DRS should provide plenty actions...especially with the new Pirelli Tires...

Race Date: 17 Apr 2011
Circuit Name: Shanghai International Circuit
Number of Laps: 56
Circuit Length: 5.451 km
Race Distance: 305.066 km
Lap Record: 1:32.238 - M Schumacher (2004)

Tire Compounds Provided:
Prime: Hard (Silver)
Option: Soft (Yellow)
Rain: Intermediate (Light Blue), Wet (Orange)


F1 TIMETABLE (Shanghai Local Time)
Fri 15 April 2011
Practice 1 10:00 - 11:30
Practice 2 14:00 - 15:30
Sat 16 April 2011
Practice 3 11:00 - 12:00
Qualifying 14:00
Sun 17 April 2011
Race 15:00


F1 TIMETABLE (Pacific Time)
Fri 15 April 2011
Practice 1 (Thu) 19:00 - (Thu) 20:30
Practice 2 (Thu) 23:00 - (Fri) 00:30
Sat 16 April 2011
Practice 3 (Fri) 20:00 - 21:00
Qualifying (Fri) 23:00
Sun 17 April 2011
Race 00:00

F1 TIMETABLE (EasternTime)
Fri 15 April 2011
Practice 1 (Thu) 22:00 - (Thu) 23:30
Practice 2 (Fri) 02:00 - (Fri) 03:30
Sat 16 April 2011
Practice 3 (Fri) 23:00 - (Sat) 00:00
Qualifying (Sat) 02:00
Sun 17 April 2011
Race 03:00

[Chenry135]

Maybe they will get to use it after turns 13 and 16, instead of just 16. I think it would make for a more exciting race.

[E90SLAM]

Originally Posted by Chenry135

Maybe they will get to use it after turns 13 and 16, instead of just 16. I think it would make for a more exciting race.

I'd guess only after turn 13, I'm not sure if there's a rule that there can be only one DRS zone during race.
But from Malaysian, there are two apparent straights for DRS zone, but FIA has only dedicated the start-finish one to be it.

[escobar929]

gotta love back to back race weekends

[UltimateBMW]

That straight is massive. I expect drivers will start to be alittle defensive before the turn in for turn 13.

[E90SLAM]

Originally Posted by UltimateBMW

That straight is massive. I expect drivers will start to be alittle defensive before the turn in for turn 13.

until we see everyone got penalized for "manoeuvres liable to hinder other drivers"....

[UltimateBMW]

Originally Posted by E90SLAM

until we see everyone got penalized for "manoeuvres liable to hinder other drivers"....

The real shame is that the battle for third was a true race. Moves and counter moves and feints. Was fun to watch, and the ending didn't really disappoint in my eyes until the race ended and the politics came out.

[E90SLAM]

Originally Posted by UltimateBMW

The real shame is that the battle for third was a true race. Moves and counter moves and feints. Was fun to watch, and the ending didn't really disappoint in my eyes until the race ended and the politics came out.

+1

I could careless about DRS and KERS induced overtake, I much prefer good battle between drivers.

As LH/FA and NH/MW showed us....that was exciting....

[1BMW4fun]

With this track, RB better get their KERS working perfect.

[SP330]

Originally Posted by 1BMW4fun

With this track, RB better get their KERS working perfect.

Especially at the start, lest we see both RBR's falling prey at the first corner.

[UltimateBMW]

I'd be interested in knowing when the last time that the 2nd place car actually caught and passed the first place car during a race.

And I'm not talking about leap-frogging via pitstops or mechanical failures. More overtaking is good, but if it creates overtaking in every grid position but 1st place, then it hasn't worked in my mind. They need to do something about the car in first just running away with it and having a nice Sunday drive and freebie trophy. Because of the cleaner air, it is really a problem where the car up front just becomes untouchable.

[JCtx]

Any predictions?

The good news is we should start seeing the other major factor in play starting here, which is reliability. RBR didn't do too well last year, with many DNFs. Season is just starting, but if RBR wins again in China, all other teams will be at a major disadvantage. Let's hope for an exciting race.

[E90SLAM]

Originally Posted by UltimateBMW

I'd be interested in knowing when the last time that the 2nd place car actually caught and passed the first place car during a race.

And I'm not talking about leap-frogging via pitstops or mechanical failures. More overtaking is good, but if it creates overtaking in every grid position but 1st place, then it hasn't worked in my mind. They need to do something about the car in first just running away with it and having a nice Sunday drive and freebie trophy. Because of the cleaner air, it is really a problem where the car up front just becomes untouchable.

On the other hand, FIA doesn't want every race the pole sitter got robbed away on the very first lap and defeating the purpose of Saturday Qualifying.

[M3_WC]

Originally Posted by SP330

Especially at the start, lest we see both RBR's falling prey at the first corner.

That would fantastic.

A little drama would be nice for a change.

[abisson]

Is it still 3 races per engine?

[UltimateBMW]

Originally Posted by abisson

Is it still 3 races per engine?

It is 8 engines per season. How each team allocates that is up to them.

Here is a brief rundown of all the new rule changes for 2011.
http://www.formula1.com/inside_f1/ru...ulations/8692/

[1BMW4fun]

Originally Posted by elp_jc

Any predictions?

The good news is we should start seeing the other major factor in play starting here, which is reliability. RBR didn't do too well last year, with many DNFs. Season is just starting, but if RBR wins again in China, all other teams will be at a major disadvantage. Let's hope for an exciting race.

No doubt the McClunker team will be running strong, but I have a hunch that the F150 will be more competitive with FA behind it.

[ADV.1 Matt]

Do we think RBR will have functional KERS for both cars this weekend? I hope so... webber got the shaft last weekend and then drove out of his mind.

[E90SLAM]

The FIA has announced the DRS zone for the Chinese Grand Prix, allocating a section of the back straight between turns 13 and 14.

The straight is the second longest in Formula One, and in order to prevent overtaking becoming too easy, drivers will not be allowed to activate the DRS until a point that is 0.56 miles from turn 14, while the full length of the straight is actually 0.73 miles. The detection point to measure the gap between drivers is located in turn 12.

After plenty of overtaking in Malaysia, drivers are expecting to see a lot of position changes once again due to the layout in China, and Paul di Resta said it was likely to be one of the most conducive tracks for the system.

"It will be interesting to see how the DRS activation works with the rear wing in Shanghai because if it's going to work anywhere that's where it will be because it has a very long straight," Di Resta said.

Renault technical director James Allison had previously warned that the FIA should not allow drivers to use the full length of the straight in China, saying that the zone in Malaysia had been well selected.

"It was good to see lots of overtaking and I think the FIA got the DRS settings just about right in Sepang," Allison said. "For China, they will need to choose the DRS activation point carefully because the DRS straight is around three hundred metres longer compared to Sepang."

http://en.espnf1.com/china/motorsport/story/45956.html

[UltimateBMW]

Not sure how I feel about that. Certainly the poeple opposing the DRS all together will think it dumb to further restrict it as to not even have the whole straight for it's use.

On the other hand, that straight is long. We would have seen cars just bombarding themselves past there. In a way it is a shame since we won't be able to see cars fighting back and forth for position.

On the other hand I can live with it though. Just as long as there is still enough room for something to rock the boat.

[Echo M3]

Originally Posted by UltimateBMW

Not sure how I feel about that. Certainly the poeple opposing the DRS all together will think it dumb to further restrict it as to not even have the whole straight for it's use.

On the other hand, that straight is long. We would have seen cars just bombarding themselves past there. In a way it is a shame since we won't be able to see cars fighting back and forth for position.

On the other hand I can live with it though. Just as long as there is still enough room for something to rock the boat.

I personally think it was the right choice. If DRS could be activated on that massively long straight in its entirety, we would simply see the faster cars blow by the slower cars in the first few laps without much effort, followed by 40 or so laps of cars being separated out by their inherent performance.

With DRS active on only part of the straight, it will make it so that it helps the attacking driver, but NOT so much that it simply hands the position to them in a silver platter. Which, IMO, is the whole point of a system like DRS.

[E90SLAM]

DRS are banned for the first two laps of the race.

3.18.2 The adjustable bodywork may be activated by the driver at any time prior to the start of the race and, for
the sole purpose of improving overtaking opportunities during the race, after the driver has completed a
minimum of two laps after the race start or following a safety car period.
The driver may only activate the adjustable bodywork in the race when he has been notified via the control
electronics (see Article 8.2) that it is enabled. It will only be enabled if the driver is less than one second
behind another at any of the pre-determined positions around each circuit. The system will be disabled by
the control electronics the first time the driver uses the brakes after he has activated the system.
The FIA may, after consulting all competitors, adjust the above time proximity in order to ensure the stated
purpose of the adjustable bodywork is met.