Ahead of Sunday’s Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai, here are some things to watch for in the race and talking points from Saturday’s qualifying session.
Watch for Max Verstappen
Engine problems ruined qualifying for Max Verstappen as the Red Bull Racing man was eliminated in the first part of the session. But starting 17th is not the end of the world for the Dutchman on Sunday if the weather forecast for a wet race comes true. Verstappen’s drives in the rain in 2016 are well documented, particularly his memorable charge from the back of the pack to the podium in Brazil, and given he was fastest in a damp practice on Friday, a strong result – even from so far back – is not an impossibility.
Uncertain times
Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes-GP were again fastest over one lap in qualifying than Sebastian Vettel and Ferrari, and the Italian team will be hoping for a repeat of Australia where they proved quicker over a race distance and with more fuel in the car. But while rain is forecast, no teams got any long run simulations completed on Friday due to second practice being cancelled, and that means all the teams are going in having to guess, to an extent, on their set-up.
Fernando Alonso’s heroics
Performance of the day went to Fernando Alonso. The McLaren was expected to struggle on a track with a long straight, which would highlight the lack of power in the Honda power unit. But the Spaniard put in a lap time of 1 min, 34.499 secs to be ninth fastest in the first part of qualifying, half-a-second faster than teammate Stoffel Vandoorne, who was eliminated. Though he ended up 13th on the grid, Alonso could be happy with a job well done.
Antonio Giovinazzi crashes
If Australia was a dream debut for Antonio Giovinazzi as he qualified and raced well after being a late replacement for Pascal Wehrlein at Sauber, then China was a reality check. The Italian crashed during qualifying, and though he still lines up 15th on the grid, one spot behind teammate Marcus Ericsson, his confidence may have taken a dent.
gcaygill@thenational.ae
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