It looks like Bridgestone is worried about graining.http://www.yallaf1.com/2010/04/09/chinese-gp-bridgestone-preview wrote:Bridgestone heads to China for the fourth round of the FIA Formula One World Championship where the hard and soft compound Potenza tyres will be put through their paces on the severe Shanghai International Circuit on April 16-18.
The Shanghai track is severe for tyres, with two long straights and sixteen corners of varying types over its 5.45 km. Heavy braking, extreme lateral loads and high demands on traction are just some of the factors that Bridgestone’s tyres will encounter.
Turns 2 and 7 are likely to induce tyre graining, whilst the high lateral G-force generated through the sequence of turns 7-8 will place strong demands on the tyres’ construction and heat durability. There is an element of gradient changes over the course of a lap as well as an element of banking in turn 13.
Hiroshi Yasukawa: Director of Bridgestone Motorsport, says: “China is a rapidly expanding automotive market so it is good for Bridgestone to have a highly visible event like the Chinese Grand Prix to promote our technology here. In China we have tyre production, natural and synthetic rubber and steel cord facilities, a technical centre and proving ground, as well as a number of plants for our diversified products so it is a very important location for us.”
Hirohide Hamashima: Bridgestone Director of Motorsport Tyre Development, says: “Shanghai International Circuit is severe on tyres. There are very high lateral forces and we expect to see graining on the front left tyres, especially caused by the increasing radius turn two and the banked turn thirteen. We could also see graining on the rear tyres here too. We are a step harder in our allocation for this year compared to 2009 because of the heavier cars and the severity of this track. The circuit layout means that a medium downforce set-up will be used, as there are two long straights, but a large percentage of the track is also very twisty and technical. For the teams and drivers, finding the correct set-up to make the best use of their tyres will be a big challenge. Last year the challenge was the weather, and we saw our wet tyres used for most of the race. It was not the first time we have had wet conditions in China so the sky will be a strong consideration for this weekend.”
Stats & Facts
Number & Spec of tyres brought to Shanghai: 2000 (Hard, soft, intermediate/wets)
Pole position time 2009: 1min 36.184secs (Vettel)
Fastest race lap 2009: 1min 52.592secs (Barrichello)
Top three 2009: Vettel, Webber, Button
Sinopec Chinese Grand Prix 2010
Re: Sinopec Chinese Grand Prix 2010
Re: Sinopec Chinese Grand Prix 2010
we saw some heavy graining last year, wouldnt be surprised to see that again specially on the practice sessions.iceman1 wrote:It looks like Bridgestone is worried about graining.http://www.yallaf1.com/2010/04/09/chinese-gp-bridgestone-preview wrote:Bridgestone heads to China for the fourth round of the FIA Formula One World Championship where the hard and soft compound Potenza tyres will be put through their paces on the severe Shanghai International Circuit on April 16-18.
The Shanghai track is severe for tyres, with two long straights and sixteen corners of varying types over its 5.45 km. Heavy braking, extreme lateral loads and high demands on traction are just some of the factors that Bridgestone’s tyres will encounter.
Turns 2 and 7 are likely to induce tyre graining, whilst the high lateral G-force generated through the sequence of turns 7-8 will place strong demands on the tyres’ construction and heat durability. There is an element of gradient changes over the course of a lap as well as an element of banking in turn 13.
Hiroshi Yasukawa: Director of Bridgestone Motorsport, says: “China is a rapidly expanding automotive market so it is good for Bridgestone to have a highly visible event like the Chinese Grand Prix to promote our technology here. In China we have tyre production, natural and synthetic rubber and steel cord facilities, a technical centre and proving ground, as well as a number of plants for our diversified products so it is a very important location for us.”
Hirohide Hamashima: Bridgestone Director of Motorsport Tyre Development, says: “Shanghai International Circuit is severe on tyres. There are very high lateral forces and we expect to see graining on the front left tyres, especially caused by the increasing radius turn two and the banked turn thirteen. We could also see graining on the rear tyres here too. We are a step harder in our allocation for this year compared to 2009 because of the heavier cars and the severity of this track. The circuit layout means that a medium downforce set-up will be used, as there are two long straights, but a large percentage of the track is also very twisty and technical. For the teams and drivers, finding the correct set-up to make the best use of their tyres will be a big challenge. Last year the challenge was the weather, and we saw our wet tyres used for most of the race. It was not the first time we have had wet conditions in China so the sky will be a strong consideration for this weekend.”
Stats & Facts
Number & Spec of tyres brought to Shanghai: 2000 (Hard, soft, intermediate/wets)
Pole position time 2009: 1min 36.184secs (Vettel)
Fastest race lap 2009: 1min 52.592secs (Barrichello)
Top three 2009: Vettel, Webber, Button
Re: Sinopec Chinese Grand Prix 2010
Updated weather forecast: Sting in the tale for Sunday:
Next update on ThursdayAutosport wrote:Synoptic Trend: jumpers and jackets for the early arrivals
The general flow of weather systems is a standard west-to-east movement: across central China, towards the east coast and Shanghai, then across the East China Sea - with Japan usually seeing the backlash from any potent low pressure systems.
Indeed, this was the case yesterday as a band of heavy rain associated with low pressure moved slowly across Shanghai, dropping 25 millimetres of rainfall.
A more complex weather system is expected throughout much of Wednesday and the early part of Thursday, as another large area of wet weather moves in from the west. However, the rain will be accompanied by a much colder airmass from the north-west, resulting in a very cold and wet end to Wednesday particularly, as the temperature gauge struggles to just seven degrees Celsius.
Conditions at the circuit will begin to improve on Thursday once the rain has cleared away eastwards to give Japan (and notably Suzuka) its usual battering.
Early Forecast: dry practice and qualifying but a sting in the tail?
Friday and Saturday are looking good from the early weather model runs, which predict higher pressure arriving from the west, giving a clear and pleasant spell of weather. Temperatures will rise to around 14 degrees during second practice and possibly as high as 16 degrees by the end of qualifying.
Saturday night into Sunday could yet herald a change back to unsettled weather - with showers - but it is still too early to predict the timing and movement of any change for race day. Certainly Friday and Saturday look good for dry running in reasonable conditions, although cooler temperatures than at any other event so far this year could provide a challenge for the teams in getting the best out of the tyres.
Re: Sinopec Chinese Grand Prix 2010
I'd like it to rain, as rain always seems to produce good racing in Shanghai, something that can't be said about the races in the dry at Shanghai.
Re: Sinopec Chinese Grand Prix 2010
Karun Chandhok wrote:It is sooooooo cold here !! I'd even swap for british weather now
Jaime Alguersuari wrote:Shanghai is cold and cloudy
Heikki Kovalainen wrote:Arrived in Shanghai airport and lots of fans were waiting there, good to get back here great atmosphere!
Mark Webber wrote:In china s*** it's cold here!! Now where's the gym to try and shake of this jet lag.
Re: Sinopec Chinese Grand Prix 2010
Sebastian Vettel Onboard Pole lap - 2009
Re: Sinopec Chinese Grand Prix 2010
Yeah, I totally agree with you. I can't remember a good race in Shanghai on a dry track. However, the 2006 race, in changing conditions, was one of the best out there. But maybe it's typical for those brand new circuits like Bahrain, Abu Dahbi. There is just something missing. Races on Monza or Spa are always worth watching, even on a dry track.cformula1 wrote:I'd like it to rain, as rain always seems to produce good racing in Shanghai, something that can't be said about the races in the dry at Shanghai.
Re: Sinopec Chinese Grand Prix 2010
If it rains, any circuit can have an exciting race, even Monaco. I can't wait for Monaco though, basically to see if strategies are going to work for leapfrogging like they did in the past.cformula1 wrote:I'd like it to rain, as rain always seems to produce good racing in Shanghai, something that can't be said about the races in the dry at Shanghai.
Re: Sinopec Chinese Grand Prix 2010
Fans help teams beat China’s Twitter block
F1Fanatic.co.uk wrote:In the past year F1 fans have enjoyed increased coverage of the sport on Twitter from F1 teams and media outlets posting live updates from the races.
But that service could be disrupted this weekend as China blocks its citizens from accessing Twitter.
China’s notoriously strict regime of internet censorship, dubbed the ‘Great Firewall of China’, was extended to include Twitter late last year. Access to other social networking sites has also been restricted to make it harder for organisations that are critical of the government to organise.
Several F1 people on Twitter have already reported difficulty accessing the site to send updates. However it seems there are ways around the block and some F1 fans in China are already getting word to F1 personnel such as Karun Chandhok, who Tweeted this earlier today "Three very sweet fans were waiting at the airport for me with instructions on how to use Twitter in China! Unbelievable…"
This a minor inconvenience for the F1 teams and fans is a far more serious matter for the people of China. Twitter is just one of many many sites they are denied access to, including many which promoting human rights and freedoms.
Incidentally, to the best of my knowledge F1 Fanatic is visible in China. I have heard from fans in the country and site traffic shows visitors coming from China.
Re: Sinopec Chinese Grand Prix 2010
Vettel couldn't have much less luck
YallaF1 wrote:After his reliability problems aboard Red Bull’s RB6 so far in 2010, Sebastian Vettel’s Chinese grand prix got off to a shaky start on Tuesday.
The 22-year-old German was safely aboard an Airbus A340 on a runway at Zurich Airport, bound for Shanghai, when the pilots abandoned takeoff due to a fault in one of the four engines.
The plane and its passengers, including the photographer Mark Sutton and many members of the Swiss-based Sauber team, were returned to the gate for a more than four-hour delay.
Vettel, who won the most recent grand prix in Malaysia, is third in the world championship standings, just two points behind the leader Felipe Massa.
After winning at Sepang, the German dismissed claims that early reliability problems for Red Bull were putting the title out of reach.
“We are just here to race. Racing cars are built on the limit and sometimes something breaks. We carry on and we’ve proven that we can come back,” he said.
Re: Sinopec Chinese Grand Prix 2010
No one has won from pole this year yet
Re: Sinopec Chinese Grand Prix 2010
With some luck, Vettel might start doing it frequently, hope it is not too frequent though, else it will get boringiceman1 wrote:No one has won from pole this year yet
Re: Sinopec Chinese Grand Prix 2010
Well it's defo looking dry for all the practice sessions and quali, but Sunday looks very much like a wet gig according to the latest forecasts. It could turn very interesting through the weekend. There's lots of reliable weather forecast analysis and explanation from the BBC at http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/weather/ianf ... st-c.shtml
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