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Schedule
The Circuit
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Schedule

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Free Practice 1
Sprint Qualifying
Sprint
Qualifying
Race
Free Practice 1
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Sprint Qualifying
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Sprint
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Qualifying
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Race
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The Circuit

The second round of the 2025 Formula One World Championship season takes us to Asia, and the Shanghai International Circuit for the Chinese Grand Prix.

Having first appeared on the calendar in 2004, this will be the 18th running of the event, which dropped off the F1 schedule between 2020 and 2023 because of the Covid-19 global pandemic.

The 2019 edition of the race was also F1’s 1,000th Grand Prix since the championship began in 1950, and finished with a Mercedes 1-2.

Between 2004 and 2008, the race appeared towards the end of the campaign, and even ran as the season finale in 2005.

From 2009 onwards, every Chinese Grand Prix has taken place in the opening few weeks of the season.

The race was won by Michael Schumacher in 2006, in what would prove to be the German’s 91st and final victory of his career.

  • First GP
    2004
  • Circuit Length
    5.451km
  • Race Distance
    305.256km
  • Laps
    56

Scenes in Shanghai

Our team has enjoyed a lot of success in Shanghai, and no Constructor has triumphed more at the track (six). Between 2012 and 2017, Mercedes took six consecutive pole positions.

Shanghai hosted an F1 Sprint weekend for the first time in 2024, and the Team came away with a P2 finish.

The most notable success in China for the Silver Arrows came in 2012, when Nico Rosberg claimed the marque’s first win in the sport since returning in 2010.

It was the first Mercedes F1 victory since the 1955 Italian Grand Prix. The team lined up 1-2 for the 2012 Chinese Grand Prix, with Nico in front of team-mate Michael Schumacher. It was also the first modern-era pole for the Mercedes works team.

One Hundred Not Out

Should the team score a point in the Sprint in Shanghai, it will be the 100th scored for Mercedes F1 in our sport’s shortened format.

If George or Kimi finish in the top three, it will be the 10th Sprint podium finish for the Silver Arrows.

Track Talk

The layout of the Shanghai International Circuit is designed on a character from the Chinese language itself.

The shape of the circuit comes from the Chinese character for Shang – the first in the name of the city Shanghai – and means ‘above’ or ‘ascend’.

Sunday’s Grand Prix will also be the second-shortest of the season in terms of distance run, at 305.066km between lights out and the chequered flag. Only Monaco is shorter on the 2025 calendar.

The long back straight on the run up to the penultimate corner hairpin provides drivers with the best chance of overtaking, and in 2024, the race saw more non-DRS-assisted on-track passes (25) than any other Grand Prix.

Weather Watch

As far as the skies are concerned, the clouds are likely to keep the paddock on its toes in Shanghai. Seven of the past 25 sessions at the track (past five visits) have seen rain fall.

F1 Sprint: Explained

Shanghai will host the first of six Sprint races in 2025, with Miami, Belgium, Austin, São Paulo, and Qatar to follow.

Qualifying for the Sprint will take place on Friday afternoon, following Free Practice 1. The Sprint race will take place on Saturday morning, before Grand Prix Qualifying later in the day.

Click here for a full rundown of the F1 Sprint format.

In addition to the first F1 Sprint of 2025, the F1 Academy season-opener, featuring Mercedes junior driver and last season’s series runner-up Doriane Pin, will also take place over the course of the weekend.

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