Chinese Grand Prix- Talking points

Crisis? What crisis? Sebastian Vettel’s barnstorming win in the Malaysian Grand Prix has woken F1 from its Australian stupor and livened it up.

Now, the sport moves on to China, where Mercedes will be hoping to hit back in style.

Here are some taking points ahead of the weekend.

Can Ferrari rival Mercedes again?

Let’s not get too excited just yet. It’s still highly likely that Mercedes pair Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg will fight over the world championship this season, and Ferrari will be back in second.

However, their success was down to genuine pace and Mercedes certainly have a fight on their hands this season.

Ferrari’s win was helped by the blistering heat, as every team struggled to preserve their tyres except Vettel and his men.

In China, where conditions are cooler, tyre wear is expected to be less of an issue, which should hamper Ferrari. Mercedes showed in Australia that they are a class apart in colder temperatures and should dominate again.

Ferrari won’t be far behind though, but probably too far to challenge.

Rosberg needs to make a move

Hamilton started the season with an easy victory in Australia, while Vettel stunned Formula 1 with his breathtaking win in Malaysia. Now it’s Rosberg’s turn to claim the chequered flag, and he needs to do it soon.

Over the winter, Rosberg promised to come back stronger after his defeat to Hamilton last year. However, so far the gap between them has only widened.

Rosberg needs to send a statement, telling Hamilton that this season will even harder than last. He is capable of beating his rival, as he showed in both Monaco and Brazil last season.

In China, Hamilton has won three times and will be confident of making it four. Rosberg needs to stop him. If he doesn’t get the better of him soon, then this championship could start to run away from him very quickly.

Raikkonen is due some luck

While Sebastian Vettel’s season has got off to a flying start with a podium in Australia and victory in Malaysia, his team-mate, Kimi Raikkonen, has had a disappointing opening two races.

The Finn has shown speed in Friday practice sessions but luck has deserted him when it matters. In Australia, he retired after a poor pit-stop while a puncture ruined any hope he had of competing with Vettel and the Mercedes drivers in Malaysia.

Ferrari has traditionally favoured one driver every season, and Raikkonen needs to hit back this weekend to halt Vettel’s momentum.

Can McLaren improve again?

Fernando Alonso boldly predicted that McLaren wouldn’t fall in Q1 too often this season, but the team already sound pessimistic about their weekend in Shanghai.

The British team improved massively from Australia to Malaysia, but more pain is likely in China as they race amongst themselves behind the midfield runners and ahead of Manor-Marussia.

Whether Alonso is quite so chirpy after Sunday’s race will be interesting to note.e l

See more Chinese Grand Prix info.
See the Shanghai International circuit layout.

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