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.
Verstappen is lapping 0.6s quicker than his teammate.
Stroll, Bottas, Ocon, Albon and Hamilton all pit at the end of Lap 9, the soft runners keen to get rid of that particular compound.
Russell is now under pressure from Sainz as Alonso wants to extend his first stint.
"That was the worst tyre," says Hamilton of the softs he started on.
Leclerc makes a late, bold move on Piastri at the hairpin to claim 4th as Alonso, Russell and Gasly pit.
Alonso rejoins in tenth and Russell eleventh.
In the pitlane Tsunoda was released into the path of Zhou, while Gasly has a particularly slow stop, the Frenchman about to leave before his right-rear wheel has been fitted.
As Sargeant pits and drops the softs, Hamilton passes Tsunoda for 15th in Turn 1.
Verstappen and Perez both pit at the end of Lap 13, they rejoin in fourth and sixth, both on hards.
Norris now leads from Leclerc, Piastri and Verstappen, while Alonso is back up to eighth.
Make that seventh... as the Spaniard sweeps past Ricciardo who subsequently pits.
Hamilton is advised that his team are trying to balance his deg.
Verstappen sweeps by Leclerc to claim second, the Ferrari driver - who has yet to stop - wisely offering no resistance.
"I can't catch him (Ocon), the car is too slow," says Hamilton.
As Piastri pits, Perez locks-up as he tries to make a move on Sainz.
"What do you think about Plan B," Leclerc is asked as Perez finally nails his Ferrari teammate, who subsequently pits as does Magnussen.
Sainz rejoins in tenth.
Verstappen posts a new fastest lap (39.519).
"Leclerc and Sainz are incentivised to go long," Norris is told, "Leclerc might even go one-stop."
Sainz passes Hulkenberg for ninth as Verstappen retakes the lead from Norris as they head into the hairpin.
Down in 14th, Tsunoda is under pressure from his RB teammate. Indeed, the Australian passes the Japanese in what appears to be a clear case of team orders. Then again, his tyres are 6 laps fresher.
Bottas has stopped at Turn 11 thereby bringing out the yellows. "Engine is gone," he reports.
Sainz passes Stroll in Turn 6, locks-up and the Canadian reclaims the (8th) position.
The VSC is deployed as Bottas' Stake is recovered.
Leclerc pits under the VSC, while McLaren fails to take advantage with Norris who makes no secret of his frustration.
Stroll pits as does Hamilton.
Leclerc rejoins in fifth.
Next time around Norris pits, the Briton rejoining in third.
At the end of Lap 23 the full Safety Car is deployed.
Verstappen its, as do Perez, Alonso, Russell, Hulkenberg, Ocon, Tsunoda, Albon, Zhou and Gasly.
Alonso has switched to softs, while in one fell swoop Verstappen has lost his 20s advantage.
"Car is sliding around everywhere," reports Hamilton, "it's really bad."
Next time around Piastri pits, the McLaren driver rejoining in 8th ahead of countryman Ricciardo. Sargeant also pits.
The American and Hulkenberg have been noted for a Safety Car infringement.
After 24 laps, and under the Safety Car, it's: Verstappen, Norris, Leclerc, Perez, Sainz, Alonso, Russell, Piastri, Ricciardo and Stroll.
"We think everyone will try to get to the end on the hard, apart from Alonso," Norris is advised.
The Safety Car is withdrawn at the end of Lap 26. "Think about brake balance," Norris is told.
Unleashed... Verstappen soon has a 1.6s lead. Further back, Tsunoda has spun at Turn 6.
Magnussen appears to have been involved in an incident that also saw Ricciardo hit.
Indeed Magnussen needlessly clouted Tsunoda, while in a separate incident - ahead of the restart - Ricciardo was hit from behind by Stroll after braking hard to avoid hitting the car ahead (Piastri) as the field bunched up for the restart.
Just before that, Alonso had passed Sainz for 5th.
The Safety Car is deployed again.
Tsunoda is out while Stroll and Magnussen have pitted.
"Plan B for delta for both cars," Sainz is told.
Magnussen - who has "no damage" - has been noted for causing the collision with Tsunoda.
It is unclear quite why we are still under the Safety Car, and with 24 laps to go this is becoming a nightmare for the strategists.
"We can only assume it's debris," Verstappen is told when he questions the continued presence of the Safety Car. "So, marbles are debris," he cheekily replies.
They're away, and once again the world champion catches the opposition napping.
Ocon passes Ricciardo for 11th as DRS is enabled and Albon also passes the Australian.
"I've got no **** rear on exits," complains the RB driver.
Sargeant is given a 10s time penalty for a Safety Car infringement, while Stroll is also given a 10s time penalty for causing a collision, as is Magnussen.
Ricciardo pits at the end of Lap 33, the Australian's race seemingly over as a result of that clash earlier.
Stroll and Magnussen are battling for 16th, neither giving an inch, both using some classic moves.
In third, Leclerc has his mirrors full of Perez and Alonso.
Stroll pits at the end of Lap 35 to serve his penalty. "Unbelievable man, just a joke," he says, clearly unimpressed.
Not having got the best out of his tyres, Alonso has dropped 2.3s behind Perez as the Mexican closes on Leclerc.
"Actually not too bad at the moment," insists Alonso, as the crowd cheers Zhou passing Sargeant for 13th.
Perez finally nails Leclerc with a nice move in Turn 6.
"Are we sure we are pushing for Plan D, because tyres are not great," says Leclerc. "Everyone is pushing for Plan D," he is told.
"How much damage do I have," asks Piastri, referring to that clash with Ricciardo. "It is significant," he is told.
Hamilton attempts to go around the outside of Hulkenberg at the hairpin at the end of Lap 40, but fails to make it stick.
Zhou pits and rejoins in 16th (of 17).
Hamilton finally passes the Haas, going around the outside in Turn 9.
Ricciardo and Hulkenberg are under investigation for a Safety Car infringement.
As Magnussen passes Sargeant for 13th, Perez takes 1.1s out of Norris' lead.
Despite a VSC and two Safety Car, Verstappen is already 8.2s clear.
At the end of Lap 43, Alonso pits and rejoins in 12th on fresh mediums. This should be fun.
After 45 laps (of 56), Verstappen leads Norris (+ 8.6s), Perez (+ 4.2s), Leclerc (+ 1.9s), Sainz (+ 10s), Russel (+ 2.4s), Piastri (+ 7.4s), Hamilton (+ 1.4s), Hulkenberg (+ 2.3s) and Ocon (+ 2.1s).
In eleventh - + 1.561s - Alonso, who made short work of Albon, posts a new fastest lap (37.810).
Alonso sweeps by Hulkenberg on the run to the hairpin to claim 9th. Next up is Hamilton who is 1.8s up the road.
"Fernando needs to go through traffic, but he might be close to us at the end," (fifth-placed) Sainz is warned.
Whoa! Heading out of the final corner, Alonso really nails it and gets totally out of shape, getting his right-rear on to the dirt that caught Sainz out yesterday. He subsequently nails Hamilton for eighth and then Piastri for seventh.
As Zhou passes Sargeant for 15th the crowd roars, meanwhile, with 6 laps remaining, Alonso is 11.2s down on Russell.
"Pace to Alonso is looking good at the moment," Russell is advised.
"What an absolute idiot," says Gasly after being forced off by Sargeant. The incident has been noted.
Gasly passes Magnussen for 13th, while Zhou also passes the Dane, much to the delight of the crowd.
"Let's get Gasly guys, come on," urges the Chinese driver. The Frenchman is 2s up the road.
Meanwhile, Alonso is now just 6.6s down on Russell, but with just over a lap to go.
"I might have run over a bit of debris, check my tyres," urges Verstappen. He is assured that all is OK, as teammate Perez is warned about the possibility of debris.
Verstappen takes the flag, the Dutchman almost 14s ahead of Norris. Perez is third, ahead of Leclerc, Sainz, Russell, Alonso, Piastri, Hamilton and Hulkenberg.
Ocon is eleventh, ahead of Albon, Zhou, Gasly, Magnussen, Stroll and Sargeant.
Instead of driving back to the grid for the interviews, Norris heads into the pitlane and parc ferme.
On the other hand, Zhou heads to the grid to the absolute delight of the crowd.
Well, whatever one might think, the fact is that despite those various stoppages, Verstappen still came home XX seconds ahead of Norris.
That said, it is unclear if the timing system knows something we don't for Norris is showing as the winner, ahead of Perez and Verstappen.
"Yeah it cost us quite a bit," says Perez of the Safety Car, "we lost two places and it was just tough fighting like that, the life of the tyre goes off dramatically."
"Surprised, I'm very happy, today it just worked out," adds Norris, "I wasn't expecting it. Good day, good points so I'm very happy.
"I was surprised by many things," he admits, "the lack of pace from Ferrari, our good pace, us comparing to the Red Bull. It shows the team has done a good job, and it paid off.
"I made a bet about how far behind the Ferrari we would finish today, I thought 35 seconds and I was very wrong."
"It felt amazing," beams Verstappen, "it was so enjoyable to drive on every single compound. The car was on rails, I could do whatever I wanted to do with it.
"Miami should be a good race for us, I'm excited for a busy one."
Verstappen's total dominance aside, an interesting race, with battles throughout the field.
Despite the negativity, clearly McLaren did/does have the better of the Ferraris, while Aston Martin will surely be ruing its strategy in terms of Hamilton.
Another point for Hulkenberg and Haas, while Alpine had a better day than expected.
In conclusion however, what a weekend for Max, Sprint win, pole for the Grand Prix and then another win.
And then he warns that Miami "should be good".
