The Formula One circus is well underway and as expected 2010 champions Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull are still the ones to beat. The young German has looked completely in control as he convincingly won the Australian and Malaysian races, Despite the fact that his team are still struggling with the Kinetic Energy Regeneration System (KERS) the Red Bulls cars have been the class of the field.
The Austrian outfit's biggest challenge has come from McLaren with drivers Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button taking a second place in each of the opening races. A surprise package in the shape of the Renault-Lotus team has surprised many team, especially the likes of Ferrari and Mercedes GP. Both Renault drivers – Vitaly Petrov and Nick Heidfeld – have claimed podium spots in the opening two races, respectively.
Much hyped during the pre-season testing, the Pirelli tyres have not yet played a significant role in the outcome of races. The Italian tyre manufacturer was supposedly instructed by Formula's governing body to create tyre compounds that provide a wide performance gap. Teams and drivers, though, have been managing the tyres very carefully. High track temperatures in Malaysia did not severely affect tyre degradation, and the cooler climes of Shanghai should not pose much of a problem.
The moveable rear wings, officially referred to as Drag Reduction System (DRS) was not responsible for any additional overtaking manoeuvres at the opening race in Australia. That, however, was more a result of the short straight at Albert Park. In the second race at Sepang the DRS was far more effective at manufacturing overtaking situations and the same is likely to happen in Shanghai. The long straight that leads down to turn 14 has been confirmed as the official DRS usage zone. Thanks to the length of the straight expect plenty of passing, and even re-passing down the kilometre long straight.
The real game changer at the Chinese GP could be the weather. Rain has been forecast for Friday practice and quite possibly during qualifying as well. This will be the first time this season that the teams will utilise the treaded wet-weather rubber. A wet qualifying session could produce some interesting results.
Despite KERS woes expect Red Bull to keep up their phenomenal pace, and once it DOES have the hybrid aspect of its RB7 working reliably the opposition had better watch out because the team with wings seems hell bent on successfully defending its 2010 titles.