2006 CHINESE GRAND PRIX PREVIEW
Team McLaren Mercedes travels to the People’s Republic
of China this week for the third Grand Prix held at the Shanghai
International Circuit.
The race sees Formula 1 leave Europe for the final three
fly-away races of the 2006 season. Following the Chinese Grand
Prix, the sport moves to Japan next weekend and then the culmination
of the year in Brazil on Sunday 22nd October.
The Shanghai International Circuit is northeast of the city,
the track has the shape of the Chinese symbol 'Shang', which
translates as 'high' or 'above'. China first hosted international
motor racing in the mid nineties, with the BPR sports car
championship that raced on a temporary street circuit in downtown
Zhouhai, southwest of Hong Kong. Shanghai’s first international
race was also on a temporary street track when a DTM event
took place in Pudong close to the centre of the city in July
2004, two months before the inauguration of the Shanghai International
Circuit.
Since 1986, DaimlerChrysler has been represented in China
with its own Mercedes-Benz subsidiary. Last December the company
launched the production of E-Class models in a purpose built
plant in Beijing in co-operation with Beijing Automotive Industry
Holding Company (BAIC). It is also planned to manufacture
the next generation of the C-Class there. The plant which
has been officially launched on 15 September, has a production
capacity of 25,000 Mercedes-Benz cars per year. Meanwhile,
a total of 140,000 Mercedes-Benz cars run on China’s
roads. The country is the fastest growing market for cars
worldwide. In 2005, about 2.7 million passengers have been
sold in China, this was an increase compared to 2004 of more
than 25 percent.
KIMI RAIKKONEN
“The Shanghai track is great to drive, it is quite wide
so can be good for overtaking in places. You do need good
mechanical grip for the slower corners, this is really important
for turn 13 as it exits out onto the long back straight, that
is over one kilometre, so having good speed as you leave the
corner is vital. The final hairpin, turn 14, at the end of
the back straight is probably the most obvious overtaking
opportunity. You can get into a slipstream, as speeds reach
nearly 330km/h, and the go for position under braking as you
drop down to around 85km/h. Turn four is also pretty important,
as you need to take quite a precise line through turn five,
which is very long to be quick. So far in China I have finished
in third and second and my aim for this year is to take the
top step of the podium with Team McLaren Mercedes!”
PEDRO DE LA ROSA
“Since the Italian Grand Prix three weeks ago, we tested
at Silverstone for two days. My programme with the team focused
on Michelin tyres for Shanghai and Japan, alongside set-up
for both races, it was a good session. I am now really looking
forward to getting back to driving in Shanghai. I drove there
last year on Friday with the team, and really enjoyed the
track. It is the kind of circuit that you understand really
quickly, so can start pushing to the limits right away. I
completed 50 laps last year, so I have some good experience
of the track and can’t wait to race on it. The track
has some pretty fast straights, and our set-up will be medium
downforce, but towards the lower end to ensure we are quick
along these sections of the track whilst also being fast on
the slower, windy sections.”
MARTIN WHITMARSH, CEO FORMULA 1, TEAM McLAREN MERCEDES
“During the three week gap since the Italian Grand Prix
at the start of September, the team has been out on track
at Silverstone with Pedro and Lewis Hamilton working through
preparations for the Chinese and Japanese Grands Prix. It
was a productive couple of days and although we are arriving
in China in a different position to last year when we were
battling for the Championship, we are going to fight as hard
for the victory. The two races at the Shanghai track to date
have both seen some very close and exciting battles and Team
McLaren Mercedes would like to continue this trend. The car
felt strong in Monza, the performance had increased and there
was some positive work completed at the Silverstone test.
It is going to be hard however, the Shanghai International
Circuit is a tough track, but we will push to the maximum.”
NORBERT HAUG, VICE PRESIDENT, MERCEDES-BENZ MOTORSPORT
"Not only is China one of the most important markets
for automobiles worldwide; the Grand Prix there is also of
great importance to us, because DaimlerChrysler has been manufacturing
models of the Mercedes-Benz E-Class in China since December
2005. In addition, we launched a new plant there 11 days ago,
which is able to produce up to 25,000 Mercedes-Benz E- and
C-Class cars per year. Within a competitive environment, we
want to present ourselves positively to the interested Chinese
spectators and TV viewers. Therefore, we have intensely prepared
ourselves for the third-to-last World Championship race of
the season. The circuit, with its two long straights and both
very fast and slow corners; is demanding for brakes and engines.
More than 70 percent of the almost 5.5km lap will be run under
full throttle. Two years ago, in the Chinese Grand Prix debut,
Kimi was third and 1.5sec behind the winner, in 2005, he placed
second, four seconds behind."
USEFUL STATISTICS
Chinese Grand Prix McLaren Team McLaren Mercedes Kimi Pedro
Circuit length 5.451 km Race starts 611 201 102 69
3.387 miles Race wins 148 44 9 -
Race distance 305.066 km Pole Positions 125 46 11 -
189.558 miles Points 3138.5 1231 338 24
Laps 56 Podiums 393 140 36 1
Inaugural race 2004 Fastest Laps 130 60 20 1
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