The lack of recent data, a green track and changing conditions led to a mixed bag in terms of Friday's practice session and Shootout. However, yesterday's more normal conditions meant that it was pretty much business as usual, certainly as far as Max Verstappen was concerned, the world champion winning the Sprint and claiming pole.
Nonetheless, there were a few surprises, what with Norris throwing away the advantage he'd gained by claiming pole for the Sprint, Hamilton failing to make it out of Q1 and Alonso qualifying right behind the two Red Bulls.
If the start proves to be anything like as feisty as those final moments of Q3 we could be in for some real fun, what with the McLarens, Ferraris, George Russell and even Nico Hulkenberg in the mix.
While one tends not to think of Shanghai as producing thrilling starts, think back to Daniil Kvyat's torpedo move on Sebastian Vettel back in the day, the Russian helpfully advising the German post-race that that's racing.
Of course, other than the battle behind the Bulls we have Max and Sergio themselves, and how better to prove that he's determined to retain his seat than the Mexican claiming his first win of the season.
Perez looked good in the Sprint and it was really only early traffic that prevented him taking on Hamilton for second. Alonso on the other hand fell victim to tyre deg and then a little red mist as he battled Sainz.
The Ferraris continue to look better on race pace than single lap- a complete turnaround from last season - so we can expect them to be 'up there', while adding to the fun is the little bit of 'needle' that appears to be creeping into the relationship between the two drivers as Sainz continues to get the better of Charles.
Though Andrea Stella said Shanghai would be about damage limitation, the McLarens have been pretty good thus far, and while Norris rules out a podium one wonders if this is another case of the 'underdog syndrome' mastered by Toto Wolff and Mercedes throughout their years of domination. That said, the Sprint showed that the MCL38 is extremely hard on its tyres.
Talking of Mercedes, Russell is going to have his hands busy with the various rivals ahead and behind him, while Hamilton promises to have some fun as he seeks to battle his way back through the field. That said, unless it cools - or better still rains - we don't expect too much from the Silver Arrows.
The home advantage certainly appears to have boosted Zhou, and with the obvious pace of the Stake one wonders if the youngster might rise to the occasion. Indeed, once again the midfield looks set to provide much of the entertainment with a number of drivers looking to make gains, either after a poor start to the season (Ricciardo) or merely the weekend (Tsunoda)... and let's not forget the need to impress existing and potential team bosses as the 2025 driver market continues to dominate the headlines.
The Sprint demonstrated the good performance level of the mediums tyre, and thanks to Russell we saw that the soft cannot be discounted as a possible compound to use.
It could indeed be an ideal solution for the first stint for those wishing to pit early to exploit the undercut, which is very effective here, or maybe in the closing stages of the race to try and make up some places if a driver finds himself behind others on older and therefore less effective tyres.
"Considering the high level of degradation seen in free practice and the Sprint, a two-stop is clearly the quickest strategy. A mix of medium and hard is the best on paper but, as mentioned previously, the soft could also come into play.
In terms of wear, the tyre requiring the most care is the front left, but the rears could also be given a hard time.
Overnight changes to Sargeant's car, including a new rear wing assembly, require the American to start from the pitlane. However, since he qualified twentieth...
In terms of the weather, though we don't have yesterday's sunshine it is warm and overcast and "stable" - according to Nico Rosberg - which suggests that Verstappen will be picking up where he left off.
However, this being China, a land of surprises and magic, let's hope that Perez can give him a run for his money and that Alonso, Norris, Piastri, Sainz and Leclerc can be as feisty as yesterday.
The pitlane opens and Verstappen leads the way, followed by Ricciardo, Hulkenberg, Sargeant and Tsunoda.
The Japanese driver complains of understeer, while Zhou's drink pipe is "a bit too short".
Their installation laps completed, the drivers begin to take their places on the grid, Magnussen and Albon among the last.
Air temperature is 19 degrees C, while the track temperature is 31 degrees. There is a 10% chance of rain.
Hmm... on the grid they are working on the damaged floor on Alonso's car... and it's clearly a bigger job than first thought.
Magnussen is told that his brake balance is not what it was when he left the garage.
All are starting on mediums bar Stroll, Hamilton, Tsunoda and Sargeant who are on softs while Magnussen is on hards. Fresh rubber all round.
"Already now it might be drizzle," warns Verstappen.
They head off on the formation lap, all getting away without any issues.
The grid forms.
They're away! Verstappen gets away well, as does Alonso behind. As they head into Turn 1, Verstappen leads, with Perez on the inside alongside Alonso, ahead of the McLarens and Ferraris.
Alonso goes around the outside of Perez and is almost alongside Verstappen, but while the Dutchman retains his lead the Aston Martin driver shuts the door on the second Red Bull.
However, in their eagerness, as they battle for sixth, both Ferraris go wide, thereby allowing Russell through on the inside and even Hulkenberg almost taking advantage.
There's a poor start from Ricciardo, while Zhou passes Magnussen for 17th Hamilton drops to 19th and Tsunoda makes up three places.
At the end of Lap 1, it's: Verstappen, Alonso, Perez, Norris, Piastri, Russell, Leclerc, Sainz, Hulkenberg and Stroll.
Russell is all over Piastri as Verstappen is already 2.2s clear of Alonso.
"I'm making no ground with this tyre," complains Hamilton.
"This guy is moving like a **** everywhere on the brakes," complains Albon of Ocon.
Hamilton passes Zhou for 18th.
Stroll has been noted for forcing Hulkenberg off track. "The Aston pushed me off the track," claims the Haas driver.
"OK Daniel, one at a time, we've got the top speed. One at a time, go catch them!" The Australian is currently 15th, with his teammate 0.551s behind.
"Looks like Alonso is pushing his tyres a lot more than us, which is good," Norris is told.
Meanwhile, Perez nails Alonso on the run to Turn 6, the Spaniard offering no real resistance.
Albon and Gasly have been noted for forcing a driver off track. "He pushed me wide, he just pushed me off track," complains the Frenchman.
Bottas is all over Hulkenberg as they battle for 10th, while Alonso has dropped 2.4s behind Perez and into the clutches of Norris.
At the end of Lap 7, Norris nails Alonso into the hairpin, the Spaniard thinks about resisting but has second thoughts.
"I've got no rear end, otherwise OK," reports Hamilton.
Leclerc makes a move on Russell in the hairpin but the Ferrari has no grip. However, in Turn 1 the Monegasque is through to claim 6th.
Zhou, Hulkenberg and Tsunoda all pit at the end of Lap 8. Hards for Zhou and Hulkenberg and mediums for the RB driver.
Check out our Sunday gallery from Shanghai here.
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