F1 teams and Pirelli were unaware of 'painted' asphalt in China

It caused a stir among Formula 1 drivers on arrival at the Shanghai International Circuit: the track did not appear to have been resurfaced, but painted. Neither the F1 teams nor tyre manufacturer Pirelli had been informed of this.

F1 teams unaware of 'painted' asphalt in China

Max Verstappen, among others, looked surprised when he arrived at the circuit, which hosts the Chinese Grand Prix on Sunday and also the first sprint weekend of the year. Work was recently carried out on the track, including removing bumps and repairing barriers. The asphalt was then coated with bitumen to protect the track surface.

Normally, the FIA informs the teams of any changes to the track, but this time the modification in question was not mentioned in the documents communicated to the teams and Pirelli. The tyre supplier only found out when it arrived at the track with its technicians on Wednesday and was therefore somewhat surprised.

Pirelli also surprised by F1 circuit modification

"We didn't get any indication, so we were also surprised," chief engineer Simone Berra said in conversation with Motorsport.com. "We noticed it on Wednesday when we were doing the usual track inspection, and it was quite clear that this surface was completely different from the old one."

Race director Niels Wittich, on the other hand, would have been aware of the modification, but he would not have felt it necessary to inform the teams as the change would not have a "substantial impact" on performance. Moreover, a change to the track's homologation (approval, ed.) requirement was not necessary.

Pirelli assumes that in the future, the FIA will do their utmost to work more closely with the circuit to get a better picture of this kind of information ahead of an F1 weekend. The same problem should not occur next year, as the circuit will be completely resurfaced prior to the next edition of the Chinese GP.