Chinese Grand Prix - Preview
A TASTE OF THE ’HAI LIFE
Panasonic Toyota Racing is swiftly back in action again this
weekend with the Chinese Grand prix at the impressive Shanghai
International Circuit. After an extremely disappointing result
in the wet in the Japanese Grand Prix at the team’s
home track of Fuji Speedway last weekend, the team heads across
the East China Sea for the penultimate race of the season.
Unlike the historic Fuji Speedway, Shanghai is a new facility,
having first hosted Formula 1 in 2004. The 5.451km track follows
an unusual lay-out, incorporating two long straights but also
the unique first right-left-right complex of turns, which
tightens and twists. With so little time since the last race,
Toyota will run the same package as Fuji, but the tyre compounds
will change, with Bridgestone bring their medium and hard
Potenza tyres to Shanghai. The end of the season is in sight
and the team is determined to finish strongly.
Ralf Schumacher (Car 11): “The Shanghai
International Circuit is a really impressive facility. For
the team the garages and the offices are as good as anywhere
and for the drivers the circuit itself is a real challenge.
It has some technically demanding corners, particularly turn
1 which tightens and just seems to keep on going! It is important
not to make a mistake here. It’s a fun place to race
and I am looking forward to it. We have not had much chance
of a rest between the Japanese and Chinese Grands Prix but
I am still looking forward to this race and I hope to get
a good result. The result in Japan was very disappointing,
especially as it was our home race. The weather was terrible
on Saturday and Sunday but the conditions are the same for
everyone. Let’s hope we have better weather in Shanghai.”
Jarno Trulli (Car 12): “It’s
good to be going back to China again, to one of the best circuits
we visit in terms of the facilities. The track itself is also
quite special because there are corners which you just don’t
find anywhere else, like turn 1. It is a challenge to find
the best set-up for Shanghai because of the mixture of slow
twists and long straights. Even though there are two quite
long straights it is still quite hard to overtake here, with
the one main opportunity coming at the end of the back straight.
We are nearly at the end of the season and we have just had
a frustrating weekend in Japan. It has been a difficult season
but I would like to end it with good results and I believe
we have the potential to do that in China.”
Pascal Vasselon – Senior General Manager Chassis:
“Shanghai is quite a unique circuit in terms of lay-out
but when it comes to most of the parameters on the car, such
as brake wear, demands on the engine, it is on average. There
are two long straights at Shanghai but you find an interesting
situation because of turn 13, which is a very long right-hander.
It is so important that, even with the long straights, you
find that using relatively high downforce is best for lap
times. The one overtaking opportunity is at the end of the
back straight but even this is quite difficult because you
have to follow the car through turn 13. We are hopeful as
always of a strong result. We will use the same specification
of car as we did at Fuji Speedway because of the short time
between the two races. The conditions in Japan made it hard
to evaluate our Fuji package but we know from testing that
it has brought a step forward so we hope to show that in China.”
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