Formula One's first visit to Shanghai in five years, a successful update at Suzuka, and an announcement that may have caught your attention. There's no shortage of things for Team Principal Mike Krack to discuss as we make our Chinese Grand Prix debut.
On to China. A first visit to the Shanghai International Circuit in five years, combined with the first Sprint weekend of a revamped format creates plenty of talking points for Team Principal Mike Krack – but he's also got a strong weekend in Suzuka to glance back across, and the news that Fernando Alonso is here to stay with the team.
This is Mike on…
A step forward in Japan
"The update we took to Japan worked well. It's a little early to say how well because Suzuka provides just one data point, but we looked a little bit closer to McLaren and a little bit ahead of Mercedes, so I feel safe saying that it was a positive step.
"What impressed me most about the update was the planning and execution. We needed to be able to compare the old and new cars to make sure we didn't repeat the issues we had last year. It entailed changes to the chassis during the weekend and we had to play a joker, using one of our curfew exemptions to guarantee the quality of the work. It was well-prepared and well-executed and not something we could have done 12 months ago with the same level of discipline and structure.
"This sort of thing often goes unnoticed – but it's hard work of this nature behind the scenes that you have to get right. There's a lot of very visible progress – our pitstops in Suzuka, for example, were very consistent, very strong – but these less luminous roles are just as critical. It's doing things like this that tell me we're going in the right direction and taking steps forward."
Fernando
"Extending Fernando’s contract is a great boost to the team, and it's been our target pretty much from his first day at Silverstone. We are very happy, Fernando's a top driver.
"One of the highlights of this for us is that Fernando sticks to his word. He told us that he needed to think seriously about his desire to continue and that if he did want to continue, he would talk to us first. He did exactly that. Usually, in contract negotiations, there is a tactical element: references to teams with vacant seats or drivers on the market. We didn't have any of that. The process was open, transparent and fair."
Lance
"Lance had a luckless weekend in Suzuka, right from the outset. The aero rake fitted to his car in the opening free practice session got damaged, which cost him a lot of time in the garage. When he did get back out, he encountered a lot of traffic, as he was out of sync with others who were completing long runs, and then FP2 ended up being a washout with no opportunity for meaningful running. Pretty much everything went against him from the first moment.
"It was a shame, but once again we saw Lance's fighting spirit. It's difficult to pass at Suzuka, it's tight, it's twisty, but somehow Lance pulled off some incredible overtakes in places you wouldn't normally expect. He missed out on a top-10 finish, but I am sure he will come away from Shanghai this weekend with a well-deserved haul of points."
Being back in China
"Racing in China is crucial for Formula One. F1 first came here, 20 years ago, perhaps recognising that any sport claiming to be a genuine, global World Championship has to be here. It's a huge country with a massive population and one of the world's biggest economies. So, it's good that we're back.
"Perhaps something has worked well because, 20 years after the first Chinese Grand Prix, the sport now has its first Chinese driver. It's been a shame for Zhou Guanyu that his home debut has been postponed until now, but I hope his presence is going to really drive interest."
No Ordinary Game
"As I've said before, sport does have the capacity to bring different cultures together and perhaps that's more important now than it has been in recent decades. It's our Chinese Grand Prix debut, but we’re not confining ourselves to the outskirts of Shanghai.
"We're in the city, hosting events, meeting fans. We're creating extraordinary moments by collaborating with elite athletes, from snooker players and footballers to basketballers and table tennis players. And together with our title partner, Aramco, we're inspiring the next generation with STEM learning sessions, karting masterclasses and welcoming local students into the paddock to learn more about STEM careers in F1.
"Every place we visit on the calendar is an opportunity to engage, socialise, and connect. F1 can't stand apart from society. We're handed an opportunity by coming to Shanghai and we have to take it."
The great unknown
"Back to the racing, however, and what we've got this weekend is something of a lucky dip. The track hasn't seen much use over the last five years, the ground underneath isn't the most stable and we've never been here with this generation of ground effect cars.
"Will the track surface have moved? How has the surface aged? We don't have the scans that we'd typically get from a new venue in Europe, so there are a lot of unknowns – and only the one practice session before barrelling straight into the Sprint Qualifying."
The new Sprint weekend
"It's worth noting that the sequence of the weekend has changed, now going practice; Sprint Qualifying; Sprint; Qualifying; Race. I think this is good. It's a more logical sequence, easier for the casual fans to follow.
"I also think it's good that parc fermé will end after the Sprint, and only restart at the beginning of Qualifying. This will help avoid the situation we had in Texas last year of cars being disqualified because everyone had to take a gamble. F1 teams are good in simulation, good at assessing risk and reward but to keep parc fermé in place all weekend would, for me, have not been the correct approach. There are plenty of unknowns this weekend without that!"
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