Shanghai will stage the first Chinese GP since 2019 this season, so F1 Oversteer has taken a look at which Formula 1 drivers are the most successful at the circuit so far.
Very few drivers have so far made it back to the top step of the podium since Formula 1 first visited the Jiading District in 2004. In fact, Formula 1 has only seen three repeat winners yet at the Chinese GP. But a total of nine drivers have won at the Shanghai International Circuit.
The Chinese GP is also one of the very few races left on the Formula 1 calendar that Red Bull star Max Verstappen has not yet won prior to 2024. He is also still to get atop the podium at a Singapore GP. But F1 not visiting Shanghai from 2020 to 2023 helped to deny Verstappen.
Lewis Hamilton is the most successful F1 driver at the Chinese GP
Verstappen will now strive to become the 10th different Chinese GP winner in 2024 with F1, finally, returning to Shanghai. Strict covid restrictions in China forced Formula 1 to abandon plans between 2020 and 2023 to hold a 17th race in the nation since the debut 2004 meet.
Brazilian hero Rubens Barrichello won his only Chinese GP at the inaugural event in 2004 for Ferrari. His win marked the start of the Scuderia’s strong relationship with Shanghai. But F1’s turbo-hybrid engine era turned Mercedes into the most successful team at the Chinese GP.
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Mercedes’ dominance at the Shanghai International Circuit has also helped Lewis Hamilton to become the most successful driver at the Chinese GP. He had already won the race twice with McLaren before moving in 2013. But Mercedes won all but one of the last six editions.
Hamilton took his first Chinese GP victory during his first title-winning season in 2008. But a first victory was on the cards in 2007, as well, only for the Stevenage-born racer to beach his McLaren in the gravel at pit entry after he attempted to run too long on intermediate tyres.
The Chinese GP has only seen three repeat winners
Hamilton also became the first repeat winner of the Chinese GP in 2011 with McLaren. The seven-time champion later stood atop the podium in Shanghai for Mercedes in 2014, 2015, 2017 and 2019. Only in 2011 did Hamilton win in Shanghai and not secure the drivers’ title.
Mercedes also took Nico Rosberg to victory lane in 2012 and 2016 amid crucial races in the German’s Grand Prix career. His first victory at the Chinese GP was Rosberg’s first win in F1 and Mercedes’ first win since returning to F1 in 2010. Rosberg also took the F1 title in 2016.
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Ferrari and Red Bull, meanwhile, interrupted Mercedes’ stranglehold on the top step of the podium in Shanghai in 2013 and 2018 respectively. The Scuderia saw Fernando Alonso win his second Chinese GP in 2013 after taking the 2005 race with Renault en route to the title.
Only Alonso, Rosberg and Hamilton are repeat winners of the Chinese GP, though. Red Bull took the team’s second win in Shanghai in 2018 with Daniel Ricciardo after Sebastian Vettel in 2009. Barrichello, Michael Schumacher, Kimi Raikkonen and Jenson Button won it once.
The post Which F1 drivers do well at Chinese GP with Hamilton and Alonso successful in Shanghai appeared first on F1 Oversteer.