Mercedes' British driver Lewis Hamilton takes a corner during the Formula One Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai, 2019. Photo: AFP
Formula One returns to China for the first time since 2019 with even world champion Max Verstappen facing a new challenge at a circuit that provided his Red Bull team's first grand prix victory 15 years ago.
The weekend will host the first sprint of the season, with only one hour of free practice on Friday to fine tune the cars and do tyre assessments, and the teams have only simulator data to go on.
The last time they raced at the Shanghai International Circuit, the cars had 13-inch tyres and a flat floor instead of the current 18-inch Pirelli rubber and ground-effect aerodynamics.
The track has also seen little use since 2019 and could be bumpier than before.
"It's going to be quite hectic anyway with the Sprint weekend," said Verstappen after winning in Japan for his third victory in four races.
"So, yeah, only one practice session to really get into it again. So I think it will be quite interesting."
The 26-year-old has been critical, with some others, of the decision to have a 100km Saturday sprint in China when there are so many unknowns.
"It would have been better to have a normal race weekend there. But on the other hand, it probably spices things up a bit more, and that's maybe what they would like to see," he said.
"We'll see what we get there. I mean, I always loved driving there. So yeah, hopefully we can hit the ground running as well as we can, and hopefully we don't need to fine-tune too many things on the car."
Verstappen has won three championships since he last raced in China and such is his domination that another victory on Sunday would mean the Dutch driver has won half of all the F1 races held since Shanghai's last appearance on the calendar.
It would also be his first win in China, which was Lewis Hamilton territory until the COVID-19 pandemic brought down the shutters.
Mercedes' seven times world champion has won a record six times in Shanghai but arrives this time on the brink of 50 successive races without standing on the top step of the podium.
Ferrari are likely to be Red Bull's closest rivals, with Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc third and fourth behind Verstappen and team mate Sergio Perez in Japan, and Mercedes beaten by McLaren and Aston Martin.
Verstappen is 13 points clear of Perez in the standings and 18 ahead of Leclerc with George Russell the highest placed Mercedes driver in seventh. Hamilton is ninth.
"The headline results didn't necessarily show it, but we made solid progress with our car in Japan," said Mercedes boss Toto Wolff. "We are looking forward to building on that this weekend."
Zhou Guanyu will give the Chinese crowd a first chance to cheer one of their own with China's first and only Formula One driver making his home debut with Sauber.
The race is sold out, previously a rarity, and the excitement is mounting.
"F1 is definitely more popular than before. In the past, tickets may have been discounted towards race day, but this year, it was actually hard to get a ticket," said local chemistry teacher and F1 fan Li Qixiang.
"Everyone told me there were no tickets available, so it's definitely more popular than in the years prior to the pandemic. The main reason for this must have something to do with the fact that Zhou Guanyu is driving this year."
Red Bull driver Max Verstappen. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Statistics for Sunday's Chinese Formula One Grand Prix at the Shanghai International Circuit, round five of the world championship:
Lap distance: 5.451km. Total distance: 305.066km (56 laps)
No race held since 2019
Race lap record: Michael Schumacher (Germany) Ferrari, one minute and 32.238 seconds. (2004)
Start time: 0700GMT/1500 local
China
The race made its debut in 2004 and returns after a five year absence due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Nine of the 16 Chinese Grands Prix have been won from pole.
Lewis Hamilton is the most successful with six wins (2008, 2011, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2019).
Two other current drivers have won in China - Fernando Alonso in 2005 and 2013 and Daniel Ricciardo in 2018.
Mercedes have won six times, Ferrari four, McLaren three. Red Bull's first Formula One win was at the circuit in 2009.
The lowest winning grid slot in China is sixth for Daniel Ricciardo in 2018 and Schumacher in 2006 -- when the seven-times world champion took his 91st and final victory in Formula One.
The track puts a high level of stress on front tyres, particularly through the opening corners, but also has two long straights.
Hamilton has been on pole a record six times in China. Alonso and Valtteri Bottas have also been on pole in Shanghai.
Sauber's Zhou Guanyu, China's first F1 race driver, is making his home debut in what will be his 49th career start.
Teams have no recent data to work with since Formula One's last visit to Shanghai was in a different technical era, before the current ground-effect cars.
Championship lead
Verstappen has led the championship for a record 43 successive races dating back to Spain in May 2022 and arrives in China 13 points clear of Red Bull team mate Sergio Perez and 18 ahead of Ferrari's Charles Leclerc.
Red Bull are 21 points clear of Ferrari.
Sprint
Shanghai hosts the first of the season's six sprint weekends, with just one practice session on Friday. It is the first time the format has been used in China.
Red Bull won five of six sprints last year.
Wins
Verstappen has won three of four races this season, with Ferrari's Carlos Sainz triumphant in Australia.
Sainz is the only driver to have beaten Red Bull since 2022.
Hamilton has a record 103 career victories from 336 starts but is chasing his first since 2021 -- a run of 49 races without a win.
Red Bull won 21 of 22 races last year, with Verstappen victorious in a record 19, and have won 34 of the last 37.
The team have won 116 races and are fourth in the all-time list of winners. Ferrari lead with 244, McLaren have 183 and Mercedes 125.
Verstappen has won 57 grands prix and is third on the all-time list. Michael Schumacher is second on 91.
Pole position
Hamilton has a record 104 career poles, his most recent in Hungary last year.
Verstappen is the first driver since Hamilton in 2015 to take the first four poles of a season. Another on Saturday would be his sixth in a row, including the last race of 2023.
The last driver to take pole in the first five races of a season was Mika Hakkinen with McLaren in 1999.
Podiums
Verstappen has 101 career podiums, Hamilton 197.
The Red Bull driver set a record of 21 podiums in a season last year but Michael Schumacher remains the only driver to have stood on the podium in every race of a season (2002).
Milestone
Red Bull are celebrating the 15th anniversary of their first F1 win and first one-two finish, in Shanghai in 2009 with Sebastian Vettel.
Saturday could bring Red Bull their 100th F1 pole position.
-Reuters
