[GuidoK]

F1 2025: Chinese GP - Shanghai (Mar 23)

Schedule:
https://www.formula1.com/en/racing/2025/china
(adjusts to your local time/date depending on your browsers/internet settings)
This is a sprint race weekend, so points can be earned on both the saterday and sunday.

Shanghai International Circuit



Circuit stats:
First Grand Prix: 2004
Number of Laps: 56
Circuit Length: 5.451 km
Race Distance: 305.066 km
Lap Record: 1:32.238 (Michael Schumacher 2004)

Onboard Lap:
(2024 Max Verstappen pole lap)

2024 thread:
https://www.zpost.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2097178

2024 race highlights:

2024 lollypop comic:

[GuidoK]

With the fantastic opening race of the season in Melbourne fresh in our memories (yesterday ), the next race is already next weekend in Shanghai!
It'll be a sprint weekend.

So what are your predictions?
Yesterday's race gave lots of chaos during the rain, with a fantastic win for Lando Norris, a strong 2nd place for Max Verstappen but a disappointing 9th place for Oscar Piastri in front of his home audience due to a spin in the grass.
For sure the McLaren cars showed what they were made of and they were especially fast in the dry with very low tyre deg.
Other teams that were struggling previous years/decades showed some fantastic results (williams) and showed promesing and strong competition (VCARB, KICK). Again it seems that this year the deck has been shuffled a bit.

This is my prediction:

1. PIA
2. NOR
3. VER
4. LEC
5. ALB
6. RUS
7. HAM
8. SAI
9. TSU
10. ANT

[wizardofOz]

I predict it will be:
1. Lando
2. Max
3. Oscar
4. Carlos
5. Charles
6. Yuki
7. Albon

[M5Rick]

MAX will even the score, well what do you expect with my new RBR 1 hat
1. MAX
2.Lando
3. Charlie, with a dry race
4. Carlos, after nagging the techs non stop
5. Slippery Oscar
6. Liam.
That's all for now.

[fs1977]

1. Lando
2. Oscar
3. Max
4. Russel
5. Charles
6. Carlos
7. Lewis
8. Kimi
9. Liam
10. Fernando

[Chihuahua]

Lando will win bigly in China.

[M3WC]

Originally Posted by TheBingoBalls

Will see what happens in China, but it looks like the first month should be dominated by McLaren until we start seeing the first upgrades in April.

Maybe sooner.

https://www.crash.net/f1/news/106543...ter-fia-checks

[///M Power-Belgium]

Originally Posted by M3WC

Maybe sooner.

https://www.crash.net/f1/news/106543...ter-fia-checks

The papaya cars will fail in the FIA flex test in Shanghai .

[M3WC]

Originally Posted by ///M Power-Belgium

The papaya cars will fail in the FIA flex test in Shanghai .

Not sure they will fail in China. But supposedly even more stringent tests are coming.

The reason Mclaren can't be passed even using DRS, is their superior flexible wings. Specifically their rear wing. Mclaren can run a more downforce heavy setup while not hurting straight line speed.

Could also explain their magic tire wear.

[M3WC]

People seem to be focusing on them still using some sort of mini-drs like in Baku. I believe this is now more focused on the entire rear wing assembly flexing down on the straights. Multiple videos floating around social media of Lando's rear wing assembly flexing quite a bit in Australia.

[///M Power-Belgium]

Originally Posted by M3WC

Not sure they will fail in China. But supposedly even more stringent tests are coming.

The reason Mclaren can't be passed even using DRS, is their superior flexible wings. Specifically their rear wing. Mclaren can run a more downforce heavy setup while not hurting straight line speed.

Could also explain their magic tire wear.

Yeah I know . And the McLaren tires last forever .

Did you know that Lando's floor had major damage .But still he was faster than MAX with DRS .

[M5Rick]

Originally Posted by ///M Power-Belgium

Yeah I know . And the McLaren tires last forever .

Did you know that Lando's floor had major damage .But still he was faster than MAX with DRS .

'Party mode' might be over for McLaren.

[Mr Pete]

They should have one race where all the teams agree to drive the same car with same engine, aero, etc, all identical parts and setting. Race strategy is up to the teams. See who the best driver is.

[HeelToeShift]

Originally Posted by Mr Pete

They should have one race where all the teams agree to drive the same car with same engine, aero, etc, all identical parts and setting. Race strategy is up to the teams. See who the best driver is.

I would LOVE to see this, but as with the fact that most guys have no interest in racing WEC, IMSA due to the fact that cars are run on BoP I think most of the grid, sans Max and Alo would say no.

[HeelToeShift]

Originally Posted by M5Rick

'Party mode' might be over for McLaren.

Honestly, FIA from here on out the FIA should be deducting points. You know it's out of hand when the FIA implements new testing within a day of the previous race.

[M5Rick]

Originally Posted by HeelToeShift

Honestly, FIA from here on out the FIA should be deducting points. You know it's out of hand when the FIA implements new testing within a day of the previous race.

..and not before time.

[M5Rick]

Just in, how the MCL keeps the tyres cooler, there are ventilation vanes in the brake drums.
https://racingnews365.com/new-mclare...with-f1-rivals

[Artemis]

Originally Posted by M5Rick

'Party mode' might be over for McLaren.

So-called "Mini-DRS":





FIA doesn't mention a team. Of course, any similarity to actual teams or persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

[Artemis]

Originally Posted by m5rick

just in, how the mcl keeps the tyres cooler, there are ventilation vanes in the brake drums.
https://racingnews365.com/new-mclare...with-f1-rivals

[Artemis]

McLaren did its homework. There's nothing wrong with being smart. No paradigm shift is needed. It's up to the competing teams to build better performing cars and to let these race by the best skilled drivers.

Reposting this earlier post about how so-called 'observational engineering' and gnats at the Sebring circuit helped transforming a Porsche race car into a complete beast: the Porsche 917.

Summary: Porsche had no truly competitive Le Mans car in the late 60s. Ford and Ferrari dominated the field. Porsche was determined to win Le Mans. They analyzed the rules, struck a deal with an experienced British team with a US sponsor (Gulf) and build together a rocket ship: the 917. Eye for details: prototypes proved to be unstable at high speed - a 'widow maker' ...until bugs/gnats splatter at the Sebring circuit showed Porsche the way: Porsche engineers had noticed way less splatted bugs on the tail and rear spoiler of their cars. However, the Can Am version with a longer upwards inclined tail proved to be more stable. Observational engineering and a so-called 'Aha Erlebnis': to improve air flow and downforce dynamics they decided to redesign the tail of the 917: inclined aluminum panels were bolted on the tail with screws and duct tape. *Bingo*: improved stability and way faster lap times. Porsche subsequently perfected the redesigned tail. The rest is history.



See from 12:20 onwards - amazing story:

Fast forward to 2024: Andreas Preuninger explains the "dramatic" importance of a Gurney flap on the Porsche 911 S/T. A Gurney flap is a common feature of BMW M cars.

See from 11:25 to 12:37 ("what a huge difference" - "You wouldn't believe how much effect this thing [Gurney flap] has at higher speeds"):

[MoeTE87]

Max
Carlos
Lando

I know that is a far fetch guess but I am thinking Max will win..if Carlos doesn't get P2, he will be top 5.

Lewis will be outside of top 10.

[M5Rick]

Originally Posted by Artemis

Attachment 3689761

Attachment 3689759

So wheel rim ventilation that's channelled onto wheels/tyres.
There was similar system on Mercedes before which was allowed after Ferrari queried it but was banned from RBR in a 2012 race.
https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/fi...90128/5290128/