With around two hours to go before the start of the 2010 Chinese Grand Prix, the thing on everyone's minds, certainly in the paddock, isn't so much the forthcoming race but how they get home afterwards.

The ash fallout from the Icelandic volcano continues to wreak havoc for travellers and now the F1 'circus' is about to feel the full impact.

Some people have been given a departure date of late April (Emirates), while Virgin is saying May 4.

China isn't that popular with many of those that inhabit the paddock, therefore, even under normal circumstances, they want to get out as soon as possible.

The Spanish Grand Prix might be three weeks away, but In light of the worsening travel situation, some here, including team bosses are beginning to panic. Barcelona is the start of the European season, the race at which teams introduce the biggest updates. However, the fear right now is how those cars are going to get back to their factories then on to Spain.

As for personnel, some are considering heading to Dubai and sitting out the ash storm there, others are considering flying to the USA then on to Portugal then getting a ferry back to the UK. Some of the teams are even looking to club together and hire a charter aircraft - where's Stoddy when you need him?

To further complicate the issue, there's a major exhibition in Shanghai next week so hotel rooms are in short supply and getting more expensive.

As for today's weather, currently, the temperature is 23 degrees with hazy sunshine bathing the circuit and no sign of rain. Consequently, those drivers who opted for a wet set-up - and Michael Schumacher is said to be one of them - are looking more than a little worried. However, as we know from experience, things can change quite dramatically very, very quickly.

Reliability issues aside, one has to admit that whatever the weather, Sebastian Vettel must be red hot favourite today. His qualifying lap was superb, while his performance here in the wet last year should never be forgotten.

His main challenge is sure to come from his teammate, Mark Webber, who, despite the smiles, will still be smarting from that move at the first corner of the Malaysian GP. Today, the Australian will be looking for revenge.

Fernando Alonso will be looking to make up for the misery of Malaysia, however, there remain serious doubts as to the Ferrari engine's reliability, no matter what the Spaniard and his team might say.

Another strong performance from Nico Rosberg yesterday who really isn't getting full credit for his sterling work this year. Sadly, much of the media is concentrating on his teammate's (under?) performance and therefore failing to grasp the fact that Nico is actually better than we gave him credit for, especially when given a good car and a team with a decent budget.

We can probably expect another strong performance from Lewis Hamilton, while teammate Jenson Button is another suspected as having opted for a compromised set-up.