F1 2019: 5 Early Predictions for the Chinese Grand Prix

Only two races into the 2019 Formula One Season and we've had a whole bunch of drama, swings in title contenders in the middle of a race and a stacked up midfield.

In Bahrain, we saw Ferrari shed their starting pains from Australia at least in terms of pace and bring it to Mercedes with a 1-2 on Saturday.

However, while Charles Leclerc drove a brilliant race to lead most of the race on Sunday, a mechanical problem saw him relegated to third, while Sebastian Vettel who might have taken second, made an unforced error to leave him in fifth.

McLaren had a stormer of a day with Lando Norris taking P6 and best of the rest, while Renault who were on for a strong finished suffered an eerie double failure near the end of the race. With it all to play for at the beginning of the year, we head to China for the 1000th Grand Prix in the history of Formula One.

Mercedes will be looking to close that pace gap, while Ferrari will be hoping to close that reliability issue and ensure that if Leclerc, or indeed Vettel has a great drive that they will be rewarded at the end of the race.

Last time round in China we saw amazing action, with Daniel Ricciardo taking advantage of spins and misfortunes around him to claim a surprise win in Shanghai.

Will we see him in the Renault putting up any sort of a fight? Can Leclerc in a reliable car on a circuit that should suit the Ferrari finally claim the win he was denied in Bahrain? Or will Mercedes improve their performance again and take a routine victory?

We sure don't know but like always, that won't stop us from guessing, check out our 5 Early Predictions for the 2019 Chinese Grand Prix!

#5 Hamilton on Pole

Hamilton will keep his calm and in smooth fashion take pole position here

With the Grand Prix in China being the historic 1000th race in Formula One history, I can't help but feel that Lewis Hamilton will rise to the challenge either on Saturday or on Sunday... or even both.

However to start with I believe that Hamilton, who has had a few issues with his car in the last two races, will extend his record and take an unprecedented 85th pole position in China.

Ferrari will still be reeling from their mechanical issues with Leclerc and they'll be far more focused on race pace, rather than pushing themselves to the brink on Saturday.

Meanwhile, I believe Hamilton will keep his calm and in smooth fashion take pole position here. Last year it was Vettel who took pole, but with the Ferraris having their issues and with Leclerc being seemingly faster than his teammate, for now, I see the Mercedes being ahead of both of them.

While Bottas may be able to put a challenge to Hamilton and be the one to take pole at F1's historic 1000th race, I can't see it being anyone other than the five-time World Champion and the most successful driver on the current grid to take pole with everybody scrambling for position

#4 The Renaults crash into each other

Renault had a very strange race in Bahrain that did not end well for them. After Daniel Ricciardo was put on an odd 1 stop strategy opposing the rest of the grid, he and Nico Hulkenberg actually managed to put their cars in the points and were running well.

Even after a little bit of a touch earlier when Ricciardo locked up into turn 1, both Renaults managed to keep going and looked to finish with some good points.

However, with a few laps to go, both Renaults incurred mechanical failures and that too, seemingly two different problems. All of Ricciardo's electric cut out, while Hulkenberg seemingly had an engine blowout.

Even in Australia Renault had some bad luck, while Hulkenberg finished P7, Ricciardo had an unfortunate wing loss and retirement in his home race.

I don't see Renault's bad luck going away in China and with both Hulkenberg and Ricciardo looking to be keen put in a good performance I see him running into each other at some point to bring out a safety car.

Whether it will be a case of fair racing gone a tad wrong, or another lockup like in Bahrain that isn't saved by a few inches, but I see the bumblebee patterned Renaults picking up a Double DNF and setting up an incident to put some spice into the race in China.

#3 Vettel out of the Points

Sebastian Vettel is currently sitting in fifth place in the World Driver's championship race, having only a notched a fourth and fifth place so far in Australia and Bahrain.

Australia saw the Ferraris with a distinct lack of pace, meanwhile, a spin in Bahrain that came from an error meant that he denied himself a second place finish.

Even though Ferrari have seemingly bridged that pace gap against Mercedes, Vettel couldn't finish ahead of them in Bahrain, and I believe that in China something of the sort will happen again.

China last year saw Vettel finished eighth after a touch with Max Verstappen, and the way I see it happening this year, Vettel will see himself running in traffic and while attempting an overtake or a defense, he will make some contact and spin around again.

Vettel essentially lost the chance to fight for the title in 2018 due to a couple of spins, and while Ferrari fans everywhere will be hoping that Vettel's luck turns around, I can only see his car turning around for now.

With the pressure mounting on Vettel from the Tifosi, from Mercedes and absolutely now from teammate Charles Leclerc, I feel that Vettel will need a little bit of time to get on top of it and that he won't be able to by China.

Not only do I see Vettel compromising himself at the 1000th ever Grand Prix, but I also see him finishing outside the points and not just outside the podium positions.

#2 Bottas beats Hamilton fair & square

Although Valtteri Bottas was able to get a second place finish in Bahrain to retain the lead on the World Championship over Lewis Hamilton, he didn't show the same mean streak that he did in Australia.

Bottas and Hamilton were both beaten handily by Leclerc until his mechanical failure in Bahrain and now with Ferrari showing the pace they have.

I believe that in order for Bottas to truly stake his claim as a prime contender for the World Championship this year he needs to focus not on beating Ferrari, but on getting ahead of his teammate Lewis Hamilton.

I think Bottas knows this as well, and after being beaten by Hamilton in Bahrain he will refocus and essentially let Ferrari run their own race as he competes with Hamilton to stay ahead of him in the standings, in order to establish his own confidence.

China is generally a great track for racing and I see Bottas and Hamilton getting some space to battle fair and square. While Hamilton has looked great historically, I think Bottas will pull out that aggressive spirit to take the five-time World Champ on and beat him on Sunday.

#1 Charles Leclerc gets the win back at F1 1000

The 2019 Bahrain Grand Prix was Charles Leclerc's arrival on the scene as a true championship contender for this season.

While the young Monegasque has a phenomenal drive on both Saturday and Sunday, a heartbreaking issue with the car lead Ferrari fans everywhere to weep as he had to limp home in third rather than take the victory that he truly deserved.

Everyone from Lewis Hamilton and the Mercedes crew to his teammate Sebastian Vettel and every fan out there wholeheartedly agreed and empathized with Leclerc.

With the new talent of Leclerc arriving in F1 as we reach this huge milestone of 1000 race, while I see the old guard of Hamilton taking pole on Saturday, I feel that in China he will finally get his first win after a fantastic drive and while it may not be a passing of the torch, it will be spark that lights Leclerc's possible patch to real World Championship contention.

Leclerc had a bad start in Bahrain but put in the laps to overtake Vettel who beat him at the start.

I think that in China even if he doesn't start from P1 and has to fight his way through to beat out the likes of Vettel, Hamilton, Bottas and Verstappen, I think he will rebuff the image he put forth in Bahrain and come home with is first win and put forth his case to be a legitimate contender this year!

Edited by Alan John