The Official 2009 Chinese Grand Prix Thread
Shanghai International Circuit
Laps: 56
Circuit length: 5.451 kilometre (3.387 mi)
Race length: 305.066 km (189.559 mi)
2008 Winner: Lewis Hamilton - McLaren-Mercedes - 1h 31m 57.403s (199.049 km/h)
2008 Pole Sitter: Lewis Hamilton - McLaren-Mercedes - 1:36.303
2008 Fastest Lap: Lewis Hamilton - McLaren-Mercedes - 1:36.325
TV Schedule (Mountain Time)
Free Practice 2 - Friday April 17rd 12:00am (Speed)
Qualifying - Saturday April 18th 12:00am (Speed, TSN)
Acura Pre-Race - Sunday April 19th 12:30am (Speed)
Race - Sunday April 19th 1:00am (Speed, TSN)
It's been a long 2 weeks since Malaysia, and much has happened in the world of F1 politics.
First off, the protest by the 7 non diffuser teams went to the courts this week, and it was ruled that the 3 diffuser teams (Williams, Toyota, BrawnGP) are completely legal. Now it's up to the teams to catch up with their new diffuser designs. McLaren is bringing an 80% solution this weekend, while Red Bull has sent Adrian Newey back to the factory to work immediately on a double diffuser design. Ferrari needs a lot of work on their rear end to support the double diffuser, so it'll be a few races before we see their debut. Renault claims they have their solution ready for this weekend, but premilinary pics have shown that there's nothing really new with their car.
It looks like it's going to be a pretty dry race this weekend, there's a 30% chance of showers for Sunday, but expected to hit after the race is over. Last week's Malaysian Grand Prix was stopped early due to moosoon like rain conditions, and it was deemed unsafe to continue. Because the race did not complete the full distance required for full points but over 50% for points, all the finishers were awarded 1/2 points.
Tire choice will be critical this weekend. It's expected that the teams will be using the option tire for a very short stint, as the softer tire is not suitable at all for the track. Alonso has stated that the super softs are toast after 1 hot lap, and it's expected that like Australia, the prime hard tires will be several seconds a lap faster in race trim. While this promotes overtaking, Alonso is quoted as saying that it makes the drivers look "stupid". He's also stated that the prime tires are too hard for this track, and has been very vocal in criticizing Bridgestone's tire choice for this weekend.
Once again, I'll be hosting the race at my house this weekend, and if you're not on the email list and would like to attend, PM me your email address. For those that are on the list, I'll send out details again tomorrow.
Go McLaren!!!
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