Categories: FeatureFeatures

Chris Medland's Chinese Grand Prix preview

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Out of nowhere, the 2015 F1 season has signs of life. Written off as another two-horse race between the two Mercedes drivers after Melbourne, the Prancing Horse has joined the party after Sebastian Vettel’s victory in Malaysia. China will represent a very different proposition as the temperatures are expected to be cooler and Mercedes knows just what sort of a threat Ferrari now carries, but for the first time in over a year the race weekend will begin with a genuine question mark over which team will emerge victorious.

FORM GUIDE

Ferrari comes in to the Chinese Grand Prix as the latest winner, and the SF15-T’s pace was highlighted in Malaysia by Kimi Raikkonen recovering from an early puncture to a comfortable fourth place. Ferrari and Mercedes looks a class above the rest, but Williams will be keen to build on fifth and sixth at Sepang and close the gap to the front. There’s focus on both the front and back of the grid, with McLaren showing clear signs of progress in Malaysia, and another similar step would see the MP4-30 challenging for Q2. At the very back, Manor will look to silence doubters after improving on no running in Australia to get one car to the end of the second race.

2014 RESULT

Pole position: Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), 1:53.860 (wet)

Top three: Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), Nico Rosberg (Mercedes), Fernando Alonso (Ferrari)

Fastest lap: Nico Rosberg (Mercedes), 1:40.402

SESSION TIMES (All times local)

FP1: 10:00 - 11:30

FP2: 14:00 - 15:30

FP3: 12:00 - 13:00

Qualifying: 15:00 - 16:00

Race: 1400

TYRE CHOICES

WEATHER FORECAST

Far from the stifling heat of Malaysia - which was credited for delivering such an exciting race - China is set to be a lot cooler. Pirelli has already warned a hot race could be difficult as it has nominated the medium and soft compound tyres, and it will be keeping a close eye on Sunday’s temperatures. For now, the whole weekend looks dry and relatively cool, but the race day forecast has crept up in to the low-20s already and could go higher…

PODIUM PREDICTION

1st - Lewis Hamilton

2nd - Nico Rosberg

3rd - Sebastian Vettel

2014 WINNING SHOT

Click here for the full gallery of the 2015 F1 drivers helmets

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.