The fourth and final round of the traditional fly-away start to the season sees Formula One arrive in Shanghai for the Chinese Grand Prix, but only just. Many teams had arrived in Shanghai on Wednesday, which was just before many European airports closed down over the Icelandic ash cloud which has halted many european sports so far this weekend. Red Bull's Christian Horner had said on Friday that many of his team were "terribly lucky" that they had managed to get out to China and without them, they would have struggled to compete this weekend.
Sebastien Vettel goes into China yet again as the man to beat after his breaktrhough win in Malaysia two weeks ago. Had it not been for two unfortunate incidents in the opening two races, Vettel would have been comfortably leading the championship on a maximum 75 points due to this new points system which has seen the championship table spread out between so many drivers separated by so few points. After the earlier criticisms of the new regulations and how they could be boring the sport, to have so many vying for that top spot is mostly in thanks to the new points system, where championship positions can now change regulary after each race, which is a delightful relief from the old system where first and second place was only seperated by a measly two points.
The Shanghai International circuit is now into its sixth year and since has produced its own share of entertainment. But, sadly the track itself seems to lack imagination and a challange with many long, sweeping, flat out corners and the now infamous long straight into a tight hairpin feature. This is yet another Herman Tilke designed "Tilkedromes". One paticular race that springs to mind was in 2006 when a Ferrari red Michael Schumacher overtook the Renualt of Fernando Alonso, who had decided to stay on his already worn tyres despite having a comfortable lead over the German. This also happens to be the last race that Schumacher has won and the way Schumacher has started his return, it looks to be his latest win for a little while yet.
The Chinese Grand Prix however has come in for criticism from many international fans over the staging of the event which has seen an increasing drop in attendences from the Chinese public with many empty seats visable in most of the grandstands. There has been rumours already that thanks to this the Chinese Grand Prix might not be included on the 2011 calender. Such a decision wouldn't surprise me at all as the attendance at the Chinese Grand Prix is questionable and for such a multi-million dollar project to not produce sell out events is just asking for trouble.
The form book for the Chinese Grand Prix is simple. Red Bull still seem supreme and around China it seems to be business as usual. Vettel and Webber just seem so comfortable in the car. Their one-two in qualifying on Saturday morning only confirms this. Fernando Alonso finally out qualified Felipe Massa for the first time since round one and will look to challenge the Red Bulls into turn one. The Spaniard stayed in touch with Vettel in Bahrain and it will be interesting to see what the Ferrari can do in Shanghai despite his engine failure in Malaysia, which Ferrari have gone on to play down their engine reliability fears. The race could be a walk in the park for Red Bull unless Alonso can either overtake them into turn one, or at least keep on tabs with them throughout the race.
Forecasts for the Sunday race predict rain or at least some form of showers. Rain in China has happened before and like any fan, rain is very much appreciated. Vettel will be going for win number two and perhaps finally the lead in the championship. He has lead at some point in every one of the three Grands Prix so far and few would bet against him doing so tomorrow. If the weather decides to make an appearence, then the 2010 Chinese Grand Prix could become a tasty Chinese take-away.
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