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Old 8 Apr 2013, 01:05 (Ref:3230655)   #1
Dayzer
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Chinese Grand Prix Preview

Onwards then, for Round Three of the World Championship. Remaining in the East for another round, it's time for Shanghai and the Chinese Grand Prix.


It is somewhat unfortunate that after such a frenetic start to the season, such a long gap came about almost instantly. We have had time to digest all the data and the facts from Australia & Malaysia, the Lotus dominance of Melbourne, McLaren's poor start, Ferrari looking comfortable, Red Bull comfortably heading home the field in Kualu Lumpur. But the most important thing that time has allowed to cool, is the frayed nerves and flared tempers at Red Bull.


If China had come about just one week after Malaysia, who knows what may have come about? It would be unwise to suggest anything untowardly on the track, seeing as Vettel and Webber are not idiots, but we could have seen the war of words become soap opera-esque. With the team refusing to publically admonish either driver particularly strongly, we can only guess as to what has happened behind closed doors. We have witnessed Horner saying Webber has done the same crime as Vettel in the past, the admission that a feud has been simmering since Brazil 2012, and even theories that Mark was possibly trying to push Vettel back towards the trailing Mercedes, a tactic that backfired. With Red Bull now admitting that 'Multi 21' as an order is gone, the unspoken hierarchy of the drivers appears to be out the window. If Mark truly feels that Red Bull have held him back in the past, and that he, as a driver, is as fast and mentally strong as Sebastian, now is the time to prove it.


What, then, of Ferrari? Massa now leads Fernando in the standings, and after only two races, Alonso finds his challenge weakened by his Malaysian faux pas. Massa faded quite badly last time out, and with no benchmark of his usually stronger team-mate, it is hard to guess whether said fading was driver, car or tyre related. Fernando will need to re-assert his authority quickly, and resume scoring strongly, or this season is doomed to failure yet again.


2nd in the drivers standings, Kimi Raikkonen looks as though he is contending with a car which seems to be on a knife edge with regards to setup. A dream to drive in Australia, as well as the disclosure from James Allison that Kimi only broke traction twice during the entire race, the Finn then went on to have a shocker in Malaysia, with a visibly ill handling car, and a frustrated drive that yielded points, but would have been far worse without the retirements of Button and Alonso. China 2012 has been the only race since his comeback that he has failed to score points in, but he will take heart in the fact that the E20 almost made it to the end while running in second last year.


The battle between the Mercedes drivers could also heat up this time out. Both Rosberg and Hamilton will be keen to put distance between themselves, and the 2012 and 2011 respective winners of this round will hope that the Mercedes will be on the same form as last year. Ross Brawn has publically ruled out the chances of a double, but the Mercs don't seem to have any particular weakness this year, apart from maybe that slight lack of ultimate pace.


The biggest story of the weekend will ultimately be down to the Red Bulls though, regardless of how near to the victory they may be. Will Webber stop playing a team game and summon up one of the electrifying drives we know he is capable of doing? Will Vettel continue to show this ruthless, single minded stubborness and try to crush his team-mate? The only thing we can say with certainty about this weekend is...if the Red Bulls are line astern after the last round of stops, all bets are off. Aren't we lucky there's still seventeen rounds to go?

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Old 8 Apr 2013, 09:23 (Ref:3230778)   #2
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Looks like another interesting factor for the Chinese Grand Prix - Pirelli confirm they will be using the PZero Yellow Soft tyres. As this is the first race with the softs, could there be any surprises in store?
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Old 8 Apr 2013, 09:48 (Ref:3230790)   #3
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As this is the first race with the softs, could there be any surprises in store?
Nope. People will still moan about them, as usual.

China. Bring it on!
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Old 9 Apr 2013, 14:10 (Ref:3231511)   #4
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Jimmy Magnusson should be qualifying in the top 10 on the gridJimmy Magnusson should be qualifying in the top 10 on the grid
Right, going to this one... Anyone have any tips on how to get to the circuit during Saturday and Sunday? On Friday I understand the subway stop at the track will be open, but that doesn't seem to be the case for the other two days.
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Old 9 Apr 2013, 17:28 (Ref:3231604)   #5
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kurski should be qualifying in the top 5 on the gridkurski should be qualifying in the top 5 on the grid
F1-Areena interviews Kimi Räikkönen.
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Old 9 Apr 2013, 20:38 (Ref:3231698)   #6
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FordCosworthPanoz should be qualifying in the top 5 on the gridFordCosworthPanoz should be qualifying in the top 5 on the gridFordCosworthPanoz should be qualifying in the top 5 on the grid
Hopefully its at least as half as good as the two previous Chinese Grand Prix's. After 2011 and 2012 I may actually have to stay up to watch this race live.
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Old 9 Apr 2013, 20:41 (Ref:3231701)   #7
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Really looking forward to this, all the sessions live on bbd, and is on at a convenient time in that I can watch the GP live, then go to Silverstone to watch some more awesome racing!

I do hope McLaren and Williams are more on the pace this weekend. It seems like it is all or nothing for McLaren's title hopes if the other contenders have no major collateral breakdowns later in the season.
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