Motor Racing
Chinese Grand Prix preview: Lance can Stroll back into Shanghai top
With Max Verstappen back on top of the podium in the Japanese Grand Prix, the drivers head to the bright lights of Shanghai for the return of the Chinese Grand Prix in the Formula 1 calendar.
This will be the first race back in China since 2019, so a few of the new additions to the grid over the past few years will be keen to take a strong hold on the new circuit, but experience might play a serious factor.
The Chinese Grand Prix also marks the return of the Sprint Weekend which has a new format. Last year, the Grand Prix Qualifying would take place on the Friday, the Sprint Race on the Saturday, and the Grand Prix on the Sunday. This year Free Practice 1 and the Sprint Shootout will take place on the Friday, the Sprint Race and Grand Prix Qualifying on the Saturday, with the main Grand Prix taking centre stage on the Sunday.
We preview the Chinese Grand Prix below.
Bet on the Chinese Grand Prix with William Hill
Shanghai International Circuit overview
The teams in the past have had to negotiate some brutal tyre wear around the Shanghai International Circuit, but since the last Grand Prix there the surface has been redone so it’ll be interesting to see how the teams adapt to the new track.
The circuit features a mixture of medium-speed corners and tighter slow-speed corners which tend to punish the tyres as the drivers will have their feet on the brakes for extended periods of time. It is however difficult to predict how the teams will approach the Chinese Grand Prix in terms of strategy given it is a race that hasn’t been run since 2019, but last time the majority of teams opted for a two-stop race with two sets of mediums and one set of hard.
Even though overtaking can be hard with all of the sharp corners, the pit-stops and tyre wear issues will allow plenty of opportunity for the drivers to take advantage on the straights, with 40 in the last renewal of this event. There are two DRS zones along the back straight of the track and alongside the pitlanes which should result in some high-octane, flat-out racing. Valtteri Bottas reached a remarkable 320 kph along the back straight in qualifying when earning pole position last time.
Main teams to look out for
Aston Martin
Fernando Alonso secured some more solid points for Aston Martin last time out in Japan, managing to fend off George Russell and Lewis Hamilton in the Mercedes as well as Oscar Piastri in McLaren, both of whom sit in faster cars. Fernando Alonso is 9/4 to finish in the Top 6 in China.
Lance Stroll had another disappointing run missing out on the points yet again, however, given the prowess the Aston Martin cars showed on the straights, the Shanghai circuit might just play into their favour. Stroll might struggle this weekend, but his price of 15/2 to finish in the Top 6 suggests there is a chance he turns up in China and performs at his best.
Mercedes
The Mercedes cars looked promising in qualifying but just couldn’t convert in the main Grand Prix as tyre wear bore most of the issues during the race. Should the new surface bear any resemblance to the track of old, Mercedes are likely to run into the same issues this time around.
The two drivers are both far out in the Podium Finish market with George Russell leading the charge at 12/1 marginally in front of teammate Lewis Hamilton at 14/1. This could just be Hamilton’s worst start to a season as he looks to be struggling with getting to grips with the new car, but Japan at least was an indication that things might be getting better for him.
McLaren
If there’s a team to rival Red Bull around the fast sections of this circuit, it is McLaren. With two talented men in the drivers’ seat in Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, they’ll be looking to land well in the points here. Norris is 13/8 to finish on the podium, with Piastri out at 7/1.
In order to secure a spot on the podium, the McLaren drivers will need to negotiate the lower-speed corners which they tend not to handle as well as those that are faster given how the season has gone so far. Given that the slow corner exits onto a long straight, they’ll have to fight pretty hard to beat both Ferrari cars who are rapid along a straight line.
Ferrari
Japan was very positive for Ferrari as it proved that they have an extremely versatile car that should be able to deal with the adaptations required around the Shanghai circuit, shown by Charles Leclerc’s one-stop race. It was teammate Carlos Sainz that really shone having performed well in the qualifying, and with back-to-back podium finishes to his name now, the 8/11 price to do the three-peat is warranted
Last year Leclerc was dominant in the Ferrari car in comparison to his teammate when it came to Sprint Weekends, and should he manage to claw this form back he could be in with a shout to beat Verstappen in the Sprint Race at 10/1.
Red Bull
Red Bull were back to their best in Japan with a 1-2 finish, but this weekend could be a tougher ask for them in their pursuit of holding off the Ferraris. Verstappen is 1/6 to win the Grand Prix and pick up his fourth victory of the season, whilst teammate Sergio Perez is out at 10/1, second in the betting.
Sometimes, Perez needs those Free Practice rounds more than most to get up to speed so the absence of two of them could prove difficult for the Spaniard to keep up with Leclerc and Sainz.
