The demand on the brakes during the GP
Even though this track is longer than the one in Melbourne by just a few hundred yards, the Shanghai International Circuit requires drivers to turn to the brakes more often, using them for almost 18 seconds per lap.
This translates into a lap time that is a good 10 seconds more than the time registered on the Australian track.
With respect to 2017, the average deceleration has increased, going from 3.5 G last year to 3.7 G this year. This value is very high in absolute terms, yet it is lower than what was recorded at a lot of the other World Championship tracks.
From the starting line to the checkered flag, each driver uses his brakes nearly 450 times, applying a total load on the brake pedal of more than 38 tons, which is equivalent to the weight of 440 female adult pandas. Said another way, each driver applies a load of more than 859.8 lbs per minute.
As for energy dissipated in braking, the Shanghai International Circuit places last among the World Championship tracks: over the course of the entire race, a car dissipates in braking about 101 kWh of energy on average, the same amount of electric energy consumed daily by approximately 8 Shanghai residents.