F1: What to watch out for at the Chinese Grand Prix

To the Left, To the Left…

Two things make the Chinese Grand Prix stand out. Firstly the massive straight that according to Daniel Ricciardo one "could drink a can of Red Bull driving down it", and secondly the almighty right-hander that greets drivers on the very first corner, takes you round almost 270 degrees with an odd camber and tightening line to boot. It's a challenge on both driver and tyre, the front left tyre to be precise, and is always a talking point before any race in Shanghai. Expect many close up shots of front left Force India tyres throughout the race as they undoubtedly try for their typical long stint tactics.

Slip 'n Slide

As mentioned above, this track has a long, long back straight. If back the pit straight isn't too shabby either in terms of length and this will of course mean the Mercedes power units should have a massive advantage, with some even going so far as to conclude that even the Chinese Grand Prix will not give us a true indication of pace because of it. This obvious factor aside, the other thing long straights provide is the opportunity for overtaking. With DRS etc in play, this sort of overtake is sometimes somewhat of a foregone conclusion, however it might not be as simple as that. Low downforce can be a great strategy round the Shanghai circuit as well you'll lose out a bit in the middle section, there should be a whole lot of gains throughout the race to be had when charging down the long, long straightaways. Toro Rosso in particular are masters of the low downforce tactic, so look out for the youngsters beating more than just the Bulls…

Rosberg's Chance Could Hinge Here

Crazy thing to say the third race into the 2015 F1 season, but Nico has always done exceptionally well at the Chinese Grand Prix, what with him having taken his first win here and all, but one senses he needs to get one over Lewis soon, as the first two races been very much played at second fiddle to his current World Champion teammate. So often battles like the Lewis Vs Nico one can come down to who makes it count where they shouldn't, so for Lewis to win in China would be a massive blow to Nico's campaign.

Williams or Ferrari?

We always thought coming into Melbourne that the battle between Williams and Ferrari might be a close one after seeing just how much of a leap forward the Scuderia had made during pre-season testing, but no one thought it would be quite so in favour of the prancing horse, let alone have them win a race already. Malaysia it has to be said did suit Ferrari though and with the Italian team having publically stated they doubt the Chinese Grand Prix will be as productive for them, it could be a chance for Williams to take the fight to the Mercs once more. As far as constructors go, this is likely to be the most interesting battle of the year, with punch and counterpunch expected race by race as each circuit suits the characteristics of what seem to be two quite different machines and while at the moment Ferrari seems to have the legs on Williams, F1 is nothing if not a funny old game, so who knows what will happen by the end.

McLaren or Manor?

McLaren think they're going backwards for the Chinese Grand Prix. Now unless they're going to be actually racing it in reverse I'm not sure how that's entirely possible, but hey, who am I to argue with the McLaren press. If this is the case could we actually witness Manor vs McLaren? Alonso vs Stevens? Wouldn't that be something almost comical to watch, a fight born of desperation from both sides. No doubt most would be routing for Manor just for the pure entertainment value alone, but if in some bizarre parallel universe they did pull one over the "elite" McLaren team you have to wonder what on earth its PR department could dredge up to put a positive spin on what would quite literally would be the bottle of the F1 barrel.