Ray S

Red Bull lost their appeal for Ricciardo's 2nd place finish disqualification (no suprise).

Who will win?

baddogz28

Lew...issss. Again.

Rosberg can pout all he wants, Louie is more talented.

pontifex4

I'm giving Jenson a vote, just so he'll have one. Alonso on the podium, Sato with a big points haul by scoring 4th through 7th place, inclusive.

Oh, and jbossolo's crush on Vettel will further intensify when Seb winks at the camera in a pre-race interview.

multi21

After Sato's crash at the Long Beach Grand Prix, it's hard not to vote for him again in China.

jbossolo

LMAO! Although I doubt I could like Vettel anymore now that he's showing his true "superior driving skills".

Hammy FTW, Nico 2nd, Alonso 3rd.
I bet $20 Ricciardo finishes ahead of Vettel.

the flyin' scotsman

I was going to vote for Sato but had to give full support to my man Kimi now he has a new boss and all will be well at Ferrari.

Or perhaps one of the Merc guys

PPo

I would be happy if Nico won... but this is Hamilton's year. (Hi! I am captain obvious!) Still, I voted for Nico.

Alonso on the podium? Wishful thinking. FI, and RBR have a better chance at 3rd... I want to be wrong.

paradisenb

Lewis
Rosberg
Vettel
Ricciardo

I see McLaren, Williams and Force India duking it out for next few positions and Ferrari somewhere in the mix but not 3-5.

fanny bay r1

lulu -1st
the GermFinn - 2nd
any guy in the merc pit crew - 3rd!!!

Larry Herman

Going out on a limb here and picking Ricciardo. I'll bet he will be driving with additional verve after that disqualification, and I have a feeling that Red Bull is going to start closing the gap. What better place to start than at a track that favors them?

consolidated

Although there's a silly long straight, Renault says they're ready to play so RB should be closer and maybe Lotus will show up. Still Mercs race to lose.

I'm almost feeling sorry for Ferrari, they maybe behind a lot of cars if Renault turns up the wick. Time to start developing next years PU.

Chaos

The Polestter

StoogeMoe

Jules Bianchi.....the best driver of the bottom teams.

LuigiVampa

Hammy
Nico
Ricardo
Bottas
Vettel

I'm routing for Bottas and Williams this year. The love seeing the old Martini livery and Bottas has been putting in awesome drives.

If you cranked up the engine noise F1 has been pretty interesting, especially after the last race.

multi21

yea... not a good sign...

Fernando Alonso admits he is wary about the lack of F1 experience that Ferrari's new team principal Marco Mattiacci has.

Mattiacci has been brought in to replace the outgoing Stefano Domenicali – whose resignation was announced at the start of the week – having previously been the CEO of Ferrari North America. Asked if the lack of F1 experience could be an issue, Alonso said it would take time to work out if that's the case.

“Well, I think we need to give him time and try to see how he settles down,” Alonso said. “It's too early to say if it will be a very good thing or very bad. I think we need to make sure he has all the facilities ready, all the technical stuff ready, all the team behind him, try to help him settle down as fast as possible.

“[Ferrari must] try to put him in a condition to feel comfortable from day one. I certainly hope … we are really hoping it will be a successful managing of the team and everyone is looking forward.”

Alonso also revealed that he has yet to speak to his new team principal and is not even sure if Mattiacci will be present in China.

“No, I haven't had the chance [to talk to him]. I don't know if he's coming here, I guess so, so it would be a good time to welcome him. I don't really have much to say. I drive the car. He will be good enough to recognise what are the weak areas of the team, what are the strong areas of the team and hopefully improve them. I think that as drivers, we will try to drive as fast as we can, Kimi [Raikkonen] and I, and try to help him in whatever field our help is required.”

And Alonso was keen to pay tribute to the departing Domenicali, saying he has been in close contact with the former team principal all week.

“I think that Stefano was a great man, first of all. I'm a close friend of his, not just on the circuit. We ski together every January 1st in Italy in the mountains. We still have a close relationship. We've been talking all the week long. I think that will continue, because we have known each for many years and we have worked very closely for this couple of years, so that's important, to separate work from friendship.

“Then, as a team principal, I think he made good choices, good things. Obviously we missed opportunities in 2010, in 2012. They missed opportunities in 2008 with Felipe (Massa). If not, he could probably have three championships in his pocket.

“I think he brought in Pat Fry, he brought James Allison, Raikkonen, so I think all the things that people ask from him he was giving to them, probably, as I said, the results in the sports are important and the pressure at Ferrari is also quite big, so he made his decision which we respect and we will try to move forward in different directions but try to move forward. I'm happy with the time that we passed together.”