Formula One returning to China after five-year absence

Now, Mercedes is competing for third, Verstappen is dominant and Gasly drives for bottom-of-the-table Alpine.

In many ways, this Chinese Grand Prix is China's post-COVID sporting reintroduction. The country has not hosted a major international sporting event since lockdowns began.

It's a big occasion, but it's one that's made bigger by the presence of Zhou Guanyu, the Stake F1 driver and first and only Chinese driver to crack into F1. He will be celebrated warmly by home fans in Shanghai. 

"I couldn't be more excited to finally race on home soil in Shanghai," he said, per racingnews365. "It isn't just a race for me: after four years off the calendar, the championship finally returns, and with a Chinese driver on the grid, we will write history."

There's a lot to like about the Chinese Grand Prix. The track is loopy and complicated, with hypnotic spirals in turns one and 10, and everything is linked together by two long straights. There's just one problem: F1 cars have changed dramatically since the last race in China, so no one quite knows how they'll perform on the track.

Usually, that lack of knowledge would be assuaged by early practice sessions, but F1 has made the Chinese Grand Prix a sprint weekend. That means all 20 drivers will have just one practice session instead of their usual three. If anything goes wrong during that practice session, their time will be cut even more.

"I just hope there are no issues with the track, with any drain holes, any issues like that," said Ferrari's Carlos Sainz, the victim of a loose drain hole in Las Vegas in 2023. "That will just put us out of sync."

F1's China return is a long time coming, but the drivers must get up to speed quickly to have a successful weekend.

The Chinese Grand Prix begins Sunday at 3 a.m. ET.