The winner of the sprint qualification will receive the Pirelli prize.

      Pirelli talked about the specifics of the upcoming stage and a special tire manufacturers' cup for the winner of the sprint qualification.…

      The 18th Chinese Grand Prix, the second stage of the season, will be a special challenge for the teams and tire workers. New asphalt was laid on the track and pit lane last summer. It has only been used a few times and should be smoother than before, and since this is the first race event of the year for the Chinese circuit, we can expect that the condition of the track will improve rapidly over the weekend.

      The choice of line-ups remained the same as a year ago: C2 as Hard, C3 as Medium and C4 as Soft. The last two squads were used in Melbourne last weekend, and the first one was used for the winter tests in Bahrain. It should be remembered that the compositions differ from last year's ones – C2 has become softer and closer in characteristics to C3.

      The weather will be an important factor. Shanghai will host the Grand Prix for the first time in March, when the average temperature rarely exceeds 18 °C. But the forecast promises above 20 °C on Friday and 26 °C on Saturday. This is significantly warmer than usual at this time, last year similar conditions were in the third week of April when the race was held.

      Compared to the standard weekend, the distribution of tire sets during the sprint weekend is different - each rider will receive two Hard sets as usual, plus an additional Medium set - four instead of three, but two Soft sets less – six instead of eight. As a result, there are 12 sets instead of the usual 13.

      Last year in Shanghai, 19 riders chose Medium in the sprint, and only Russell chose Soft, which helped him rise from eleventh place at the start to eighth at the finish.

      China is debuting a new cup for the winner of the sprint qualification featuring a special logo to celebrate the 500th Pirelli Grand Prix this year, which will be held on the Dutch stage.

      At the end of all six sprint qualifiers this year, the trophy will be personalized with a silver plaque with the initials of the pole holder, which are used to identify the riders on the timing screens.