The Chinese GP preview

Three races in and still no one team or driver has taken the initiative in the championship. Ferrari, McLaren and Red Bull have all won races, while the drivers' championship leader, Felipe Massa, has yet to win in a season that is still to find its shape.

Red Bull's one-two finish in Malaysia two weeks ago confirmed that, pace-wise, it is the one to beat, but we've yet to see a balls-out battle for victory be played out in full. Hopefully, the seventh Chinese Grand Prix will produce that, and in doing so will tell us just how much work the rest have to do to catch Red Bull heading into the start of the European season.

The curveball that has been thrown into the mix is the FIA's clarification of suspension regulations that bans any pseudo-active ride system. Red Bull has steadfastly denied running any such system, while McLaren made no secret of the fact that it had developed a package that replicated what it believed Red Bull to be doing.

The team has now admitted that it has had to modify the system that it planned to bring, so the question is will Red Bull's qualifying supremacy be in any way harmed? Probably not. And most expect Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber to come to the fore once again on Saturday afternoon, especially with Shanghai being such a heavily aero-dependent circuit even by Formula 1 standards.

Race pace is a different matter. With drivers conserving tyres, it's impossible to say just how close the Ferraris or McLarens will be able to get in a straight fight. Race laptimes so far this season suggest there isn't much in it, and if the McLarens or Ferraris can get to the front, we will really see just how hard the Red Bull's can push in the races.

Fascinating as the inter-team battles will be, the intra-team battles should be even more gripping. At Red Bull, Webber will be determined to put one over Vettel to ensure that his young team-mate does not become the team's title focus, while at McLaren the competitive advantage has ebbed and flowed between Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton.

There will also be intense scrutiny on championship leader Massa. Despite the positive noises coming from the team about the Brazilian, who is out of contract at the end of the year, Ferrari is considering its options for that seat next season. Massa is far from out the door, and has every chance of proving he deserves to stay on, but probably needs to do slightly better than being Mr Consistency to be absolutely sure of staying at the team where he is immensely popular and well-regarded.

Then we come to Mercedes. The German manufacturer is continually being lumped in as part of the 'big four', but frankly the car is not yet quick enough to win races. Michael Schumacher's pace was shrouded in Malaysia by cooking his wet tyres in Q3 and, despite the willingness of many to write him off, he is on an upward curve. The question is whether Shanghai, not the happiest of hunting grounds for Schumacher, is the place for him to put one over Nico Rosberg.

Whichever team wins in China can rightfully claim to have won the opening leg of the season before F1 returns to Europe. If it's Red Bull and Vettel, we might have a genuine championship favourite on our hands at last.

Weather

Strategy

It's hard to see this being anything other than a one-stop race, especially with Bridgestone opting to bring harder tyres to Shanghai this year, and the low temperatures expected. That said, during practice in 2009 teams suffered a lot of graining to both fronts and rears, and drivers will have to be wary about going too hard on rubber during the race.

It won't be clear until practice what the ideal tyre choice to start the race on will be, but expect most to start on the option tyre before switching to primes for the second stint. In Malaysia, in terms of speed, the ideal strategy would have been to start on primes and switch to options, but the disadvantage in terms of track position meant that, in the real world, it was slower.

Although you would expect most to run similar strategies, the punishment for any driver pushing too hard in the race could be an extra pit-stop. If it's close at the front, the ability to conserve tyres without backing off too much could be key. Everyone points to Melbourne hero Jenson Button as having the advantage in that situation, but Fernando Alonso is arguably even stronger on that front.

*The score is calculated by each driver's position (1st = 1 point, 20 for a DNF in 2009, 24 in 2010, and 25 if not present). Lowest score wins.

Moment from history

Whether Michael Schumacher spent much time during his three-year retirement reflecting on his career is unclear, but it's hard to imagine that he will have cherished memories of the 2005 Chinese Grand Prix. It was the nadir of a dismal season for him and Ferrari, as after qualifying sixth he collided with the Minardi of Christijan Albers while on an installation lap.

It happened while Schumacher was cruising, as he strayed into the path of Albers, who was going far quicker. Schumacher himself was equivocal in his reaction, admitting, "the accident was at least partly my fault". The stewards were unconvinced and hit him with a reprimand.

"I wanted to warm my tyres up and usually you do that by driving in a zig-zag, especially if you want to go slow in order to save fuel," said Schumacher. "I do not know if it was obvious for him what I was trying to do and that is why I don't want to blame anyone because I do not know if he could see what I was doing."

If that wasn't bad enough for Schumacher, who started from the pit lane in the spare car, his race ended after 20 laps with a spin under the safety car while trying to warm his brakes. Oh dear.

No wonder Ferrari team principal Jean Todt said after the race that "it is painful to see Michael have a race like this".

From the forum

The McLarens are gonna be nailing people down that long straight, the Red Bulls should be up there again but not sure if they can fend off the McLarens under braking for that hairpin. Alonso - if he can get past Massa - should be quick too. Force India could surprise. If it rains, I think it will probably be another RBR 1-2 like last year...
krapmeister

I'm looking so much forward to this one! I'm expecting it to be the first real chance to see Red Bull, Ferrari, McLaren and Mercedes close together on track. What might skew things a bit though, is if the very low temperatures continue. But still, this should be a good chance to get a better reading on how things stand.
race addicted

This is an important race for Vettel, he hasn't got the points he should have. The car always looked like a winner and Red Bull finally have solid proof, but they are only third in the constructors championship. Red Bull's advantage is slipping away as the other teams are finding their feet and starting to catch up. Vettel really needs to make the most of the car's performance at this stage because teams like Ferrari and McLaren are quickly closing the gap.
Rabbit123

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