2017 Chinese Grand Prix
| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 2 of 20 in the 2017 Formula One season | |||
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| Date | 9 April 2017 | ||
| Official name | 2017 Formula 1 Heineken Chinese Grand Prix | ||
| Location | Shanghai International Circuit, Shanghai, China | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||
| Course length | 5.451 km (3.387 mi) | ||
| Distance | 56 laps, 305.066 km (189.559 mi) | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Mercedes | ||
| Time | 1:31.678 | ||
| Fastest lap | |||
| Driver |
 Lewis Hamilton
|
Mercedes | |
| Time | 1:35.378 on lap 44 | ||
| Podium | |||
| First | Mercedes | ||
| Second | Ferrari | ||
| Third | Red Bull-TAG Heuer | ||
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The 2017 Chinese Grand Prix (formally known as the 2017 Formula 1 Heineken Chinese Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race that took place on 9 April 2017 at the Shanghai International Circuit in Shanghai, China. The race was the second round of the 2017 season, and marked the fourteenth time that the Chinese Grand Prix has been run as a round of the Formula One World Championship.
The race was marked by difficulties in Friday practice sessions when weather in Shanghai prevented the medical helicopter from being available and only twenty minutes of running was possible. Lewis Hamilton took his sixth consecutive pole position at the Chinese Grand Prix, ahead of Sebastian Vettel and teammate Valtteri Bottas. The race began with a wet track but there was no rain during the race, and Hamilton led the race from start to finish and set the fastest lap. Vettel pitted to change from intermediate to slick tyres during a virtual safety car, dropping him to sixth position, but recovered to second place. Max Verstappen started 16th and went on to complete the podium, finishing third.
Both of Friday's practice sessions were significantly affected by the weather conditions of low cloud, rain and smog. The first session took place with the track surface damp, and featured little activity before the session was red-flagged with only 20 minutes of running having been completed. Safety rules require that an injured driver with a neurological condition must be able to reach a hospital within 20 minutes, either by helicopter or ambulance. Prevailing weather conditions made it impossible for the medical helicopter to land at the Shanghai hospital located 38 km from the track, and an ambulance would be unable to reach the hospital within the required time, and so the cars were prohibited from on-track running until an emergency medical transport became available.
The weather situation did not improve and the second practice session was abandoned altogether. Some drivers, including Hamilton and world championship leader Sebastian Vettel, had no running on Friday, and the fastest time set on Friday was 1:50.491 by Max Verstappen, set in wet conditions. There were calls led by Lewis Hamilton to change schedule to allow all sessions to be run. However, these were rejected by the organisation, as it would disrupt television schedules and, in case of potential rescheduling of the race to Monday, would also lead to significant logistical problems for the Bahrain race scheduled only a week later.
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