After the war of words that filled the air in the run up to the Malaysian GP, things have been considerably quieter this time around. Christian Horner hasn't piped up with more complaints about equalising Mercedes' performance advantage - mostly because Ferrari are leaving the Red Bull enterprise for dead, and the fact that even the junior team are beating their elders. But just as we thought the matters were put to bed, for now at least, the Red Bull overlord Dietrich reinforced his claims that Red Bull would depart F1 if Renault continually failed to deliver a competitive power unit. Renault themselves made a statement that the quality of their engine is weaker than what they completed 2014 with. So there is certainly an issue there, one that is hampering both Red Bull and Toro Rosso's progress... but they are still better than Honda are at the moment. If the drinks company do retreat from the pit lane and back into a sport they can win all the time, do we lose both Toro Rosso and the main team. The theory is that Toro Rosso may become a Renault factory team - Renault Squadron 2.0... or 3.0 depending on how you count it.
In other news, there is the matter of the now absent German GP, another victim of the ongoing transformation of the sport under the immense pressure of financial demands. The Nurburgring has been struggling for some time now, and was unable to pay Bernie's special fee, the owners of the Hockkenheim circuit stated that they were unable to take over running of the race due the short notice of Nurburg pulling out of this season's calendar. As a result there will be no visit to Germany for the first time since the the championship began 65 years ago. It is a reminder that heritage and tradition mean nothing in comparison to good old fashioned money. Bernie is also reported to be putting pressure on Monza to cough up it's fee or face losing rights to the race in the near future. I can understand that the calendar will evolve over time, great circuits, with long motor-racing histories have vanished from the championship in the relatively brief time I've followed the sport - Imola and Magny-Cours for example. Nothing lasts forever, I'd welcome both of them back at the expense of places like China and Russia because they are better circuits - even if the racing falls short of their illustrious reputations. But that's not how things work - a world championship needs to visit more of the world... not just a little corner of western Europe, even if that's where the good stuff is. The only thing I'd ask is, if Germany has to go the same way as France and San Marino, replace it with something awesome. Please... although I think Azerbaijan or Qatar are the desired targets...
Shanghai
Starting as a brand new venue outside of China's financial hub, the Shanghai circuit has since been consumed by the sprawling city - the backdrop to the main straight has seen skyscrapers sprouting from the formerly open land. While many nations are experiencing a continued phase of economic strife, strife which has seen the grid shrink, crowds diminish and sponsors back away - China has been expanding and developing. Yet none of that enthusiasm has made it's way in to the Chinese grandstands - empty seats are an omnipresent sight around the venue. To the point where the organisers have boxed out the stands at the start of the final sector with some sort of display because they can't be filled. It's a similar situation to the one I noticed when attending the group stage matches of the Olympic Women's Football matches in Newcastle. Tickets were primarily sold for the seats opposite the TV cameras so the stadium looked more full. While the stands on the other side were completely empty. It doesn't fool anyone I'm afraid, high ticket prices, low national interest keeps crowds down - but China is such a large international market we keep coming back year on year.
Normally I wouldn't mind, and in many respects I still don't, but the Shanghai circuit is disappointingly lacklustre. To some extent it looks as if someone left the blue-print for the Sepang track out in the rain and copied the soggy mess to make the venue for round three. The design for turns one-three could have easily been stolen from an angry toddler's failed attempt at using spirograph. It is one of those - "it seemed like a good idea in theory" - moments, but in practice it just doesn't work. Perhaps if turn one ended in a Laguna Seca style corkscrew rather than some lazy double hairpin it would be both unique and interesting. After the monstrosity of this opening element - turn five is the fist prime overtaking opportunity, despite being a generic hairpin the slight kink on the approach makes the braking area rather interesting.
The middle sector is another throwback to the Sepang layout we just fled a fortnight ago - but once again it is a little warped out of shape. Even so it is the most redeeming feature of the generally tedious race track - the sweepers of turns seven and eight provide enough from for a particularly ballsy outside pass. But the problem is that these sweepers don't lead anywhere interesting just feeding into the braking area for two unimpressive pieces of angled tarmac. Bordered in the drab curse of astroturf and bleak tarmac run-off space. Just when it seemed the wave of mediocrity was over the diabolical mess that is turn 11 appears through the gloom and smog engulfing the short intervening straight. Turn 11 is horrific, and ultimately a waste of space - it is another legacy of the original design principle being based around the idea of turning a Chinese character into a race-circuit. For art perhaps, or some crazed design concept... not a real world track.
To finish things off there is the obligatory DRS straight, brought onto the calendar before the plaque of DRS was even thinking of forming in a misguided synapse in a mad corner of Bernie's mind. I think one of the driving forces behind this particular incarnation was the aim of extending braking zones by planting a really slow corner at the end of a really fast straight. Despite it being excessive and borderline ghastly - I can't argue that it doesn't create a lot of action in the final hairpin. So it is strange that in a track which was conceived under the premise of artistic license rather than functionality concludes in a section that proves to be primarily functional - dull, bleak but it gets the job done somehow. The track works and the racing works inexplicably so, even if it is an irritating ribbon of malformed tarmac.
The Form Guide
If the first two races are have told us anything, it is that Mercedes - while they are the dominant force - are not infallible any more and can be beaten. But the conditions do have to be right for Ferrari to be close enough to capitalise on the performance gains they have made over the winter. Other than a jump in engine power the Red team have made gains in tyre management - something that designer James Allison's former team at Lotus were synonymous with getting right... before the tyre change cancelled out that advantage. In the colder temperatures of China, this might not be enough for Ferrari to repeat their Malaysian success. I think normal service will resume - Mercedes out front leaving the pack behind, while Ferrari and Williams fight over the final podium position
Does the weekend bode well for any of the Red Bull teams, well probably not - the similarities between Malaysia and China may anchor the two outfits to the bottom end of the points. If the track and conditions work out for the likes of Sauber and Lotus, then the hope for Renault powered points starts to run a little thin. On the positive side, there is a slightly greater dependence on chassis performance at Shanghai over Sepang that might keep Red Bull and their junior but faster team Toro Ross in contention with the rest of the mid-field.
At the very back McLaren might be a little quicker as the cooler temperatures might allow the clever folk at Honda to turn up the power a little more without risking an overheating issue. But whether it will make them quick enough to get of out Q1 is an entirely different question... and a slightly unlikely prospect. Manor are also waiting on a power upgrade as the team have announced that their upcoming 2015 car will be running the newer, more powerful Ferrari power unit. Depending on how quickly the new spec chassis makes an appearance and fuses with the 2015 engine... McLaren need to start looking in their mirrors, well probably not. Even a new Manor car would need a gargantuan improvement to be on the pace with someone else on the grid.
The Chinese GP may not be hosted by the most enthralling circuit in the world, or probably even in China - but it still works, many races have been far better than the surroundings would suggest. But that is the thing with creations with an artistic design principal - only a certain set of mal-adjusted indivuals can truly appreciate the aesthetics and understand the impact it can have. For the rest of us, well, we shall just have to see what happens.
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