2013 Chinese Grand Prix Preview

After back to back races in Australia and Malaysia, Formula 1 took a long 3 week break and now its back. This time ready to burn rubber in Shanghai, China for the 2013 UBS Chinese Grand Prix.. All teams will be bringing major upgrades to this race and we can expect to see a few surprises.. Last year this track gave Rosberg the first win of his career and Mercedes its first win in 57 years.. Will it be repeat of last year's performance by the silver arrows.. Will Lewis finally get that first win to prove he is still very competitive.. We will find out this weekend.. 

Lets take a look at what people in the paddock expect out of this weekend,

Last year's race winner Nico Rosberg from Mercedes says “I travel to China next week with very good memories from winning my first Formula One race in Shanghai last year, and having led the race there for the past three years. I enjoy the Shanghai track a great deal and I have a positive feeling going there with the car that we have at the moment. The team have been working very hard to develop our car since returning from Malaysia and I will be at the factory on Monday to complete my preparations in the simulator for the next two races. We've had a strong start to the season and I'm confident that we can keep pushing and hopefully score some good results in China and Bahrain.”

Mercedes Team Principal, Ross Brawn says “The Chinese Grand Prix of course holds great memories following the first win for Nico and our Silver Arrows team in Shanghai last year. That win was an extremely proud occasion for us all and certainly one that we hope to emulate in the future. Our season has started well, perhaps better than we expected, however we're fully aware that there is still a gap to close and that we must keep up the pace of development. A lot of hard work has taken place at our factories over the last two weeks to do just that and I look forward to seeing how that translates to track performance. The Chinese Grand Prix race is well established now in its tenth year and it's an important market for both Formula One and Mercedes-Benz. The circuit itself is challenging with fast curves, tight corners and two hairpins. The layout requires good straightline speed, braking stability and traction, and the temperatures are likely to be cooler than we have experienced in the first two race weekends.”

Mark Webber, who is looking for redemption in a lot of ways, is looking forward to eating Dumplings in Shanghai.. He says “My best memory of the Chinese Grand Prix is coming from the back of the grid to finish on the podium in third place in 2011. The middle sector of the circuit is my favourite - Turns 5 and 6, it’s a nice and flowing section and it’s very important to get the technique right there. My favourite place to go in Shanghai? I went to a really nice restaurant with some of the boys from the team, Din Tai Fung Shanghai. They do great soup dumplings, a Shanghai specialty!”

Lotus went from hero to zero in Malaysia with the car not looking as competitive it was in Australia.. This weekend though things could be a lot different..  

Eric Boullier, Team Principal at Lotus F1 Team says, “First of all, I think we can take some positives from Malaysia. We’ve made a step forward with the car in terms of single lap pace, but still the race pace looks strong as well. For China, Romain will have the upgraded exhaust and bodywork package which Kimi ran in Malaysia, plus there will be a few additional parts arriving so it’s going to be quite interesting. Coming away from a race feeling like sixth and seventh is a bad result for the team shows how far we’ve come, so we’ll keep pushing and with a normal weekend I’m sure we can expect some stronger results.”

Kimi Raikkonen from Lotus says, “It’s always difficult to predict what will happen in the next race as we haven’t been there yet with this car, and every car reacts differently to each circuit. Unfortunately we didn’t achieve any points there last year so we can only improve from that. I have been first, second and third in Shanghai in previous years so it would be nice to add to that list. There’s no reason why we shouldn’t go well there; we have some new parts for the E21 and the last upgrades we had seemed to help so it will be interesting to see what will happen if it doesn’t rain. (Last year) there was some good racing and it looked like a strong result could have been possible, but we ran out of rubber during the final stint and didn’t score any points. Hopefully we’ll be a little bit more lucky with the tyre performance this time and well prepared from a strategy point of view. We had the race pace in 2012, that’s true, but we tried to carry on with our tyres for too long. They dropped off, and that was it. On the other hand without trying to push with those tactics, we would never have been fighting for top positions. If you look at last year we didn’t have a bad car for China, and if we get the car working as well as we did on Friday at Sepang, we should do well in Shanghai too.”

Martin Whitmarsh, Team Principal at McLaren,  is expecting things to turn around for the team at this weekend's race.. He says “Clearly, our performance in Australia and Malaysia fell below the high standards we’ve come to expect at Vodafone McLaren Mercedes. However, the three-week break between rounds two and three has been a useful one; we have been fully engaged in further developing our understanding of the MP4-28 and are confident of being able to implement a number of changes this weekend that will widen its operating window and, potentially, improve its performance. The team’s ability to respond has been exemplary; as I’ve already said, the behaviour of both Jenson and Checo has been superb. They have shown themselves to be true, inspirational leaders, and they have held themselves high, as real ambassadors for our team. The engineers, designers and mechanics, too, have worked tirelessly and painstakingly to unlock the car’s potential, and we feel confident that we are starting to turn the page. Formula One is an unpredictable beast. We’ve enjoyed some very competitive weekends in Shanghai in the past - with some equally unexpected results - and I feel confident and excited that we head to China next week with the hope of making further progress and eating into the advantage currently held by the leading pack.”

Ferrari will be looking forward to getting back on the podium and Massa will try his best to keep Alonso behind him.. Alonso on the other hand will go all guns blowing and try to get maximum possible points to get back up on the championship ladder after ending his race early on lap 1 in Malaysia.. 

Force India had a disastrous outing in Malaysia courtesy the wheel nut issue.. The team have now said that the issue has been resolved.. Lets hope it is and they score a handful of points this weekend.. 

Dr Vijay Mallya, Force India team principal has high hopes for this race.. He says “The first two races of 2013 have been an encouraging start to the season. The VJM06 is a solid contender with competitive race pace; we have an excellent pair of drivers and the right technical package in place. Most importantly, the whole team is working together well. Even though the last race in Malaysia was very disappointing, I know we have the potential to bounce back quickly and get a good result in Shanghai. Throughout the Sepang weekend, we had a quick car and the drivers felt good about their chances. We were confident of bringing both cars home in the points until the wheel nut issue let us down. We’ve had three weeks to understand what went wrong and have worked hard fix the root cause of the problem. China has always produced spectacular races and it’s not uncommon to experience some wet weather, but we know that both our drivers and the VJM06 are comfortable in all conditions. It shows how far we have come as a team. In the past we used to hope for rain as our only chance to upset the front-runners, but now we are more competitive in all conditions. The next two weekends, with races in China and Bahrain, will put us in a position to see where we really stand in comparison with our rivals. Everyone in the team is looking forward to this challenge and I am confident we will put the disappointment of Malaysia behind us and bring home some big points.” 

Their driver Paul di Resta says “I am really looking forward to the next two races in China and Bahrain. We were unlucky not to get any points in Malaysia, but we can take some positives from the performance we showed on the track. We looked to be one of the fastest cars during the early part of the race. It’s a good sign for the rest of the season. The climate in China is very different compared to the first two races, but we’ve performed well in the cool conditions of Melbourne and in the heat of Malaysia. The team has had a sensible approach to the start of the season; we worked hard to get a good understanding of our package and we’re already reaping the rewards. The objective for China is to make up for the missed opportunity of Malaysia and be firmly back in the points. It is important not to get carried away and to keep doing our job at each race. We appear to be in a good position at the moment, but no one can say where we will be compared to our rivals after the next two races. We know McLaren are a very strong team and they will develop well, so all we can do is continue pushing hard to try and stay ahead of them. We have been doing a good job so far - better than many people expected - but there’s a long way to go.”  

Jules Bianchi, best of the rookies this year, from Marussia says “I’m really looking forward to heading to China and getting back to the racing. Things had started out so well that it was almost a shame to have to stop for a few weeks, but for the team it is very important to have the time to look at what we have achieved and how to continue moving forward. For me also, I was able to reflect on what has been a bit of a whirlwind, but a very positive start to my first season of Formula One nonetheless. I am quite happy with the progress so far. It’s all about maintaining the momentum now, so it is good to know that we head into the next race with some new developments which should carry us forward again. I have a little experience of the Shanghai International Circuit having completed eight laps there in Free Practice last year, plus I spent some time on the simulator in the break. I haven’t seen Shanghai yet though, so maybe this will be a first! The target for this race is to keep closing on the guys ahead and be challenging them consistently, lap for lap.”

This weekend the forecast shows ambient temperatures much like race day in Melbourne (barring the rain)  where conditions were cool.. This could favor Lotus and Red Bull with Ferrari right on their tail.. McLaren and Mercedes need to be consistent through out the weekend to compete for a podium position.. With a better understanding of the medium tires and the grip of the softs, it looks like most teams will go in for a 3 stop race and some gambling on a two stopper.. The winner of this race will be the one who makes the right race strategy not the one with the fastest car... Just 3 more days to go :)