Wednesday 14 April 2010

The Chinese GP Preview

With 3 different winners from 3 different teams in the first 3 races of the 2010 Formula 1 World Championships, the season ahead looks mouth wateringly exciting. After what was (apparently) the boring Bahrain GP, we’ve had 2 exciting races at Albert Park and Sepang which have thrown up overtaking, crashes, mistakes and good racing.

Now the season shifts to China, one of the most modern circuits on the calendar. A Herman Tilke-designed circuit, the Chinese GP has never been anyone’s favorite track. Usually a challenge for the Engineers more than drivers, it has the potential to be a cracker of a race this year. The main reason for this is 2-fold. One, it bears a striking resemblance to Sepang (another Tilke circuit), this year more than others. Temperature in China are lower than they have traditionally been, which means that if drivers are unable to get heat into their tyres quickly, we might end up having another topsy-turvy grid after Qualifying. This, as we saw in Malaysia (thanks mainly to Lewis Hamilton) will almost always result in a lot of overtaking.

The second reason is that the circuit in China has the longest strait amongst all F1 circuits. With the Mclaren F-Duct on display and some of the other team’s ability to generate the requisite down force required on the track (think RBR), it is another point in favor of good racing. A corollary to this is the fact that the track in China is also quite wide. That is a positive for racing.

From the team’s point of view, Red Bull Racing has its tail up. Their superstar and superquick Seb Vettel is in sublime form. Had it been in his hands entirely, he would have had 75 points in the bag at this stage and would have looked like becoming a runaway contender for Jenson Button’s crown. If RBR get their cars to the finish line in working condition Mark Webber’s despondent look (as seen on the podium in Sepang and at the subsequent Press Conference) is set to stay in place, and grow wider.

Ferrari have engine issues, with both their customer engines (in the back of the Sauber’s) giving up, coupled with Alonso’s spectacular bow up with under 2 laps to go causing Stefano Domenicalli and Luca Marmorini many a headache. If any of their 4 engines give way in China, Ferrari will have a lot to worry about and not much to do (as Engine development is frozen for the duration of the season).

Mclaren shot themselves in the foot yet again when their proposed ride-height alteration system was forced to be put on ice this week. This, after they realized that they would have been in the red had they gone ahead and bolted on their proposed systems to the cars marked 1 and 2. However the performance of Lewis Hamilton (who had come in for some criticism before Australia for not seeming committed enough) would have brought a few smiles to the men from Woking (now more so with the absence of the poker faced Ron Dennis). Hamilton drove quite a race in Malaysia to finish in the points.

Force India and Renault have impressed as well. Both drivers from the former and Robert Kubica from the latter have put in some strong performances this season to get them valuable points. The fun fact from Renault has to be them ordering rookie Vitaly Petrov onto a diet! Apparently Petro weighs in 10 pounds heavier than his Polish teammate, weight that the team rather allocates to Ballast. A little less Caviar Vitaly..? Both teams look set to fight it out for the “Best of the Rest” tag behind the big 4 and if Force India can pump out a little more then Renault, it will be a big boost to the men from Silverstone (India?)

All in all the Chinese GP should be a good race. Anything more will be a resounding testament to Formula 1 (more so if it does not rain).

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