Video: Ferrari preview of the Chinese GP

It’s now a classic on the calendar, but when it was first held in 2004, it caused quite a stir. A Formula 1 race in China would have been unthinkable a few years earlier, even in a city like Shanghai which was the first to open up trade with the West. For the record, Scuderia Ferrari won the maiden event with Rubens Barrichello. Thirteen years later, Scuderia Ferrari is again in Shanghai having traveled there directly from Australia.

On arrival, the team encountered spring-like changeable weather and the forecast for the weekend includes a bit of everything including the chance of rain. The Shanghai International Circuit is interesting and demanding, running clockwise, with a very long 1.170 kilometer-long straight and corners that give the tires a hard time, especially the front left. For this event, Pirelli is providing the Medium, Soft and Supersoft compounds.

Shanghai also kicks off the first "back-to-back" of the 2017 season and once the race is over, it will already be time to prepare for the next round at Sakhir in Bahrain, the following weekend.