A lap of Shanghai with Alex Wurz

Round seventeen of the 2008 FIA Formula One World Championship takes the Honda Racing F1 Team straight from the Fuji Speedway in Japan to Shanghai for the Chinese Grand Prix. The 56-lap race takes place at the 5.451km (3.387-mile) Shanghai International Circuit, which is situated 40kms from the city. Alex Wurz takes us for a lap around the circuit.

Alexander Wurz: “The city of Shanghai is a bit too hectic for my taste, however the Shanghai International Circuit is a very impressive facility and an interesting challenge for the drivers and engineers.

“The lap itself is fairly typical of a Herman Tilke design with a huge range of corners, starting with Turns 1 and 2 which combine to form what seems like a never-ending right-hander. You arrive in seventh gear at 300kph (186mph) and you only start to brake when you turn into the corner. You can’t brake very hard, so you’re braking for a long time as you slow the car down to second gear. To be quick around the whole circuit you need to have a neutral handling car, which generally results in oversteer through here.

“You approach Turn 3 over a little jump downhill. It’s a left-hander and can be first or second gear, depending on your gear ratios. At this point the tyres are still very stressed from the long first corner, so you’re sliding a lot and it’s difficult to make a good exit, which is very important because Turns 4 and 5 are flat-out kinks and are followed by a straight.

“Turn 6 is a hairpin, where the biggest challenge is getting the braking point right because you’re arriving at nearly 300kph (186mph). You want to clip the apex and get on the power as early as possible to carry as much speed as you can through the fast left-right chicane that follows. This is taken flat in sixth gear and you can really feel the car gripping the road.

“At the exit of this chicane you’re almost immediately into a double left-hander, Turns 9 and 10. These are very important corners and a lot can be gained on the entry to the first left, which you take in third gear. The second left is flat, but you have to be quite precise with your line and without traction control it will more tricky this year.

“You’re then up to sixth gear, before braking at around 90 metres into a tight left-hander. If you set your car up to ride this kerb, it will be too soft for the first part of the track, so I think it’s better to avoid the kerb and lose half a tenth, which will be more than compensated for elsewhere on the lap. This section reminds me of Club at Silverstone because the track goes immediately right and you have to steer the car with the throttle all the way to the exit.

“Turn 13 is a long, banked right-hander. It’s easy-flat, but you still need to concentrate because it’s easy to destroy your tyres if you apply too much steering lock. The longest straight on the track follows and you’re braking from 320kph (200mph) for the hairpin. This is the best overtaking point on the lap and it’s easy to lose 0.2s by getting your braking wrong, so you need to focus on getting the car into the apex.

“Turn 15 is a flat-out kink and suddenly you’re into the last corner, Turn 16. It’s a very interesting corner because you can carry a lot of speed at the apex if you can find the right rhythm. Then you’re back onto the start-finish straight to begin another lap.”