Renault F1 Team is in Shanghai, China, for the third race of the 2019 FIA Formula 1 World Championship, and the 1000th race in Formula 1 history, the Heineken Chinese Grand Prix.
The Circuit
- The Shanghai International Circuit first hosted a Grand Prix in 2004, having been built in 18 months between April 2003 and September 2004.
- The circuit used to boast the longest wide-open throttle distance on the calendar, on the 1,200m straight between T13-T14, but that is now pipped by the 2,010m run from T16-T1 in Baku.
- In Shanghai, drivers spend the most time modulating the throttle (31%), of any circuit on the 2019 calendar.
- In 2005, Fernando Alonso triumphed in China at the final race of the season to seal his first of two Drivers' Championships and also Renault's first of two Constructors' Championships as a full manufacturer entry in Formula 1. A six-year-old Guanyu Zhou, Renault F1 Team's Development Driver, was in attendance at the track that day as a fan watching his favourite team and driver win the title.
- In 2017, Renault presented its R.S.2027 vision concept car in Shanghai.
The Drivers
- Daniel Ricciardo won the 2018 Chinese Grand Prix at his seventh attempt. Daniel fought his way from sixth on the grid and produced the unlikeliest of overtakes at Turn 6 on Valtteri Bottas to cement his impressive victory.
- Nico Hülkenberg ended a three-year Chinese Grand Prix points-scoring drought last season with a solid sixth place finish.
The Local Resident
- Shanghai local, Guanyu Zhou, joins the team this weekend for his home race.
- Zhou will drive the Renault-powered E20 Formula 1 car from 2012 at the Heineken Formula 1 Fan Festival in downtown Shanghai on Saturday 13th April.
- Zhou enjoyed a superb FIA Formula 2 debut in Bahrain, finishing tenth (plus the Fastest Lap) in the Feature Race before battling to fourth place in the Sprint.
1000th Race
- Renault has a long and proud history in Formula 1, since its maiden outing at the British Grand Prix in 1977.
- 670 Grand Prix entries later, Renault has powered 177 victories, 507 podiums, 217 pole positions, 186 Fastest Laps, 8,561.5 points, 11 Drivers' Championships and 12 Constructors' Championships.
Renault in China
- Renault sold more than 210,000 vehicles in China in 2018. Renault will unveil its first all-electric vehicle in China next week at the Shanghai Motorshow. The Renault City K-ZE is an urban SUV and the sixth electric vehicle of Groupe Renault.
Source: Renault F1 Team
