2026 Chinese Grand Prix - Shanghai, March 13-15

[AR3-GP]

Formula 1 Heineken Chinese Grand Prix 2026: Sprint weekend






Schedule: https://www.formula1.com/en/racing/2026/china

[Muramasa666]

we are ready to dance the macarena!

[Badger]

These tyre pressures... Can they do anything right?

[Artur Craft]

Mercedes will cruise to another 1-2

[ma9mwah]

How does this circuit compare in the energy regen? Melbourne was meant to be the 4th worst. China looks to be better with more stops after long straights.

[FittingMechanics]

How does this circuit compare in the energy regen? Melbourne was meant to be the 4th worst. China looks to be better with more stops after long straights.

This one is about in the middle, IIRC.

But this track has two straights one after another and that could be a problem. Positive thing is that for qualifying, this might not be a problem as the finish line is soon after corner exit so you don't need a lot of battery at the end.

For the races I predict that they will do a lot of recharging before T14 and through T16. My prediction is T16 will be lift and coast no brake corner like Russell did in T9 in Melbourne. Before T14 they will LiCo or superclip in order to recharge the battery for the main straight.

Two straights one after another are a problem, even on energy rich tracks because you will have parts of the track that are energy rich (twisty zone) and then you'll want to use all your battery for the big straights. If there are two straights one after another, then you won't have enough energy to maximize your laptime. So even on energy rich tracks, you will be faster if you fill up your battery for the first straight, deploy it all, then fill it up at the end of first straight and deploy it on the following straight.

[AR3-GP]

This one is about in the middle, IIRC.

But this track has two straights one after another and that could be a problem.

That's why I think we have to come up with a better metric than just the total braking energy. The problem is that if the braking energy is concentrated in 1 sector, then you can still end up with needing to harvest a lot on straights in other parts of the track.

China is a good example of this. It has two straights that are back to back.

[FittingMechanics]

This one is about in the middle, IIRC.

But this track has two straights one after another and that could be a problem.

That's why I think we have to come up with a better metric than just the total braking energy. The problem is that if the braking energy is concentrated in 1 sector, then you can still end up with needing to harvest a lot on straights in other parts of the track.

China is a good example of this. It has two straights that are back to back.

Yeah, total braking energy is quite misleading. Proper metric would be to rank how much energy you can recharge by braking before each long straight, and then add weights for straight length. So a track with less energy but two straights on opposite sides of the circuit would rank better then energy rich track with two straights back to back.

[AR3-GP]

This one is about in the middle, IIRC.

But this track has two straights one after another and that could be a problem.

That's why I think we have to come up with a better metric than just the total braking energy. The problem is that if the braking energy is concentrated in 1 sector, then you can still end up with needing to harvest a lot on straights in other parts of the track.

China is a good example of this. It has two straights that are back to back.

Yeah, total braking energy is quite misleading. Proper metric would be to rank how much energy you can recharge by braking before each long straight, and then add weights for straight length. So a track with less energy but two straights on opposite sides of the circuit would rank better then energy rich track with two straights back to back.

Exactly.

[AR3-GP]

Mercedes will cruise to another 1-2

I think Ferrari can win.

[bananapeel23]

How does this circuit compare in the energy regen? Melbourne was meant to be the 4th worst. China looks to be better with more stops after long straights.

6th best out of the 24 tracks on the calendar is what I recall seeing, with Monaco being the best and Jeddah the worst. I would expect significant lift and coast and/or super clipping mostly in turn 16, and perhaps some going into the hairpin.

That's why I think we have to come up with a better metric than just the total braking energy. The problem is that if the braking energy is concentrated in 1 sector, then you can still end up with needing to harvest a lot on straights in other parts of the track.

China is a good example of this. It has two straights that are back to back.

I'd argue that the best estimate of how energy starved tracks are is best calculated by estimating time at full throttle compared to time under braking, time slowing and time at a relatively low constant speed (to account for hairpins and tightening corners where you can partial-throttle recharge). It's the best measure of how easy it will be to harvest 9MJ. In reality the most important thing is whether you can harvest 9MJ, after that it's a matter of budgeting the recharging and deployment around the lap most efficiently.

Obviously back to back straights make it more difficult to budget 9MJ with a tiny 4MJ battery, so the measure proposed isn't perfect, but I can't really think of a better way of doing it in an objective way without massively complicating the formula.

Still, I suspect we will see little lift and coast or super clipping in Shanghai. They should enter the back straight at fairly high speed with 4MJ in the battery, and will likely not be able to deploy all of it due to hitting 340 kph before the battery hits zero. The hairpin should also provide a lot of regen, so we likely won't see much super clipping there, but a bit of lift and coast is likely.

Turn 1 shouldn't have any super clipping or lift and coast, given that it's a constantly tightening corner complex that will allow tons of partial throttle regen, leaving the cars with lots of power going into turn 4.

Turn 16 will likely be the only turn with severe lift and coast.

The track isn't energy starved, it's more a matter of deployment and harvesting distribution.

[AR3-GP]

Turn 15 will likely be the only turn with severe lift and coast.

Did you mean T14 or T16? I don't understand why they would do that in T15?

[bananapeel23]

Turn 15 will likely be the only turn with severe lift and coast.

Did you mean T14 or T16? I don't understand why they would do that in T15?

Oops, I meant T16, I forgot that T15 isn't just considered part of the hairpin. Fixed that

[Badger]

Feels like anyone trying to use overtake into T14 is going to lose that gained position down to T1 as they run out of energy.

[AR3-GP]

Feels like anyone trying to use overtake into T14 is going to lose that gained position down to T1 as they run out of energy.

The back straight is long enough that the slipstream might be enough, even though it's weak.