BN - F2 racer Correa to get first taste of Formula 1 machinery alongside Calderon

Romain Grosjean

“Shanghai is a tricky track because it’s very different from the early stages in the year. It’s a front-limited circuit, meaning that the car needs to work well with front tires. If it doesn’t, then it gets very tricky. Overtaking in Shanghai is not impossible. There’s the long back straight with DRS helping overtaking manoeuvres. In general, if the car is good in qualifying, the race should be quite good. If not, then in the race you’re going to struggle. If you qualify in the top-10, you should finish in the top-10. If you’re not, then it’s harder. I’ve had good cars in Shanghai, therefore I’ve been able to score points.

“I like the high-speed corners at [Turns] 5 and 6. It’s just an amazing part. [And Turns 1, 2 and 3 are] very challenging. There’s a lot of demand on the front tyres, and it’s not easy to find the perfect lane. Then being up on the back straight, that long right-hand side corner, going onto the throttle, as well, is important because you’ve got one-and-a-half kilometre of straight line. You need to be as early as possible on the power.

“Overtaking in China is always pretty good – it’s always exciting. The balance is really difficult to find because there’s a lot of demands on the front tyres, which makes it tricky. One of the main concerns is trying to find a way to get the best from the front tyres.”

Kevin Magnussen

“Shanghai is a really good circuit to overtake. It always offers lots of opportunities. My favourite part is Turns 7 and 8 – the fast ones in the middle. It’s a pretty good section of the track. [More challenging are] Turns 1, 2 and 3. It’s a pretty unique place, where you enter so fast and then have to stop the car in the corner all the way down to low speed.”