China GP: With chasing pack closing in on the front-runners, frenetic action on the cards!
By Harish Samtani
Shanghai, April 13: The land of mystique spoke with me on arrival at the airport in Shanghai. The customs department was scrutinizing incoming passengers and 
I had to restrain myself from asking the stern looking officer as to what on earth was he looking for! Everything that I had with me, including my luggage and my undies, were made in China! Maybe, they had a bizarre reverse smuggling regulation in force!
All that flippancy transformed quickly to respect once I reached the F1 circuit. China had exceeded itself in building a state-of-the-art circuit that has the approval of all the teams. From the perfect surface of the track itself to the facilities on offer were bang on.
Add to this a picturesque location – the team paddocks are located idyllically on the banks of a meandering river and the Media Centre that has the best view ever of the circuit’s many corners and looking out on to the start/finish line. Top class. Period!
One tends to overlook the shortcoming of lack of the English language and the overwhelming presence of the Special Forces on duty. There was a sign posted on the glass window stating that it was dangerous to take pictures from there and strictly not permitted! In short, you shoot pictures and we shoot you. Fair.
The 5.45 Km circuit allows for a maximum straight line speed of about 320 KPH and seems to be favored by most drivers. Tyre wear isn’t all that much and hence one can expect – I am guessing – that most teams will opt for the ultra super soft option of tyre and then stop just once for a change after about 15 laps. Looks like, it’s going to be fast and furious all the way to the checkered flag.
The other rhyming word is curious, as to the tremendous build up of tension in the midfield. The time difference is tantalizingly close from 6th downward to the 14th position. With fractions of a second separating them, finally boredom may have to take a back seat, thankfully. That is, if the cars get thru’ the first two laps without taking each other out, like they stupidly did in Bahrain.
Alonso’s team McLaren had brought grief upon themselves in Bahrain by opting to focus more on cornering speed via better downforce and which as a downside affected their straight line speed by about 7 Kph. Their Bahrain Sheikh sponsor didn’t quite enjoy that event from his royal box obviously! So, one can hopefully see this legend back and thrilling his legion of faithful followers.
Now, if one was to throw in Max Verstappen (good news that he and a forgiving and forgetting (?) Hammy have kissed and made up) and Ricciardo into the mix, it’s going to be frenetic action surely. This will hold good through the entire season, of this I am sure. Practice timings only flatter to deceive and hence I won’t dwell on that for now for the Chinese chapter.
The leaderboard will have its independent numbers and stories since the big boys such as Ferrari, Mercedes and Red Bull are in a different league and only major mishaps can derail their charge to the top. But they are a bit confused and worried about the emergence of team Haas and Toro Rosso as challengers.
Gasly (Toro Rosso, 4th in Bahrain) and Magnussen (Haas, 5th in Bahrain) have been quite proficient behind their respective wheels. Vicious rumors are doing the rounds about probable reasons for their superlative performance, but I think that’s rather unfair and uncalled for. Time will tell and time can be a bitch when push comes to shove.
