This week, Formula One heads to Shanghai for the third stop on the 2016 calendar. We've had two action packed race weekends already and it's time for China to see if they can deliver more of the same. The qualifying format debacle has thankfully been resolved (for now), we've got our full complement of drivers fit and healthy to race again, and everyone is looking forward to getting back out on track.

Event schedule

Qualifying has been returned to its former glory for this weekend, after teams wrote a hasty letter to the powers that be kindly advising them to sort themselves out. That means the elimination style is gone and we're back to the three sessions wide open for drivers to try and avoid the drop zone wherever possible. It should be better than the previous two weekends, but is unlikely to mix anything up as we head into the race.

Meanwhile, Fernando Alonso has been given provisional permission to race this weekend after having to sit out the Bahrain Grand Prix due to injuries sustained the fortnight before. Providing he passes all the tests, he'll be back in the McLaren car, rather than watching on from the garage. We also know, already, that Lewis Hamilton has a five place grid penalty due to a gearbox change, which means he'll be on the back foot going in and that could spice things up just a little.

Support racing for this event includes Porsche Carrera Cup Asia.

Expected conditions

We had the unusual sight of a spot of rain in Bahrain, but this weekend in China things look set to stay dry - although there are forecast to be plenty of clouds around that could mix things up if they wanted to. Most of the time, though, the sun will be shining, birds singing, cars racing, amid reasonably temperatures if some high humidity.

Track information

The vast and sprawling Shanghai circuit with its excellent facilities and beautiful paddock was meant to bring motorsport to a brand new generation and global market. Unfortunately, since those shiny days when it first debuted, the track has settled into the smog and the visitor numbers have continued to fall. It never feels like a track with huge personality, but it can deliver good racing on occasion and it does earn its spot on the calendar.

A lap of the Shanghai International Circuit begins with the intricately designed but insanely difficult first corner complex. The initial turn bends all the way round to the right until it has more than doubled back on itself, before swinging drivers out and round to the left so they can continue the way they were first headed. A short straight dips them into a second gear slow corner, before the winding curves of the next section.

After two tighter corners housing another shorter straight, drivers are tipped round to the right onto the hugely long back straight, culminating in a second gear hairpin surrounded by grandstands. A faster switch to the left puts drivers back on the home straight, where they can pick up the speed again to head back into that fiendish first corner.

Circuit history

The Chinese Grand Prix has been on the calendar non-stop since its introduction in 2004. Lewis Hamilton has had great success around the track, dominating the 2015 weekend from start to finish but also taking victories in 2008, 2011 and 2014 as well. Fernando Alonso is the only other driver to have won more than wonce, with a sizeable gap between his victories in 2005 and 2013.

The importance of pole position is higher here than at other tracks, with seven of the twelve victories coming from the first spot on the grid. Also, the polesitter has only finished outside the top three on two occasions. The lowest a winner has started from on the grid is sixth place, which was Michael Schumacher's victory in 2006.

Tyre compounds

We've only got two races to use as evidence but so far the switch to using three compounds during a race has produced some interesting strategy and reasonably good racing. This week, the compounds on offer are the same for the third consecutive race - mediums, softs and supersofts - but the choices continue to get more and more wide as drivers get experience with the way 2016 style selections work.

The mediums have the most variation, with anywhere from just one single set (Massa and Grosjean) to a whopping five (the two Sauber drivers). Soft tyres are only split between a four or five set strategy, whilst supersofts vary from four through to seven sets. Teammates are still tending to stick to the same pattern, but occasionally there are differences, including at Mercedes where Rosberg has gone for one set softer than Hamilton.

Selected tyre sets per driver

Lewis Hamilton	4	4	5
Nico Rosberg	3	5	5
Sebastian Vettel	3	4	6
Kimi Räikkönen	3	4	6
Valtteri Bottas	2	4	7
Felipe Massa	1	5	7
Daniel Ricciardo	2	5	6
Daniil Kvyat	2	5	6
Nico Hülkenberg	2	5	6
Sergio Pérez	2	5	6
Kevin Magnussen	2	5	6
Jolyon Palmer	3	4	6
Max Verstappen	3	5	5
Carlos Sainz	2	6	5
Marcus Ericsson	5	4	4
Felipe Nasr	5	4	4
Fernando Alonso	2	4	7
Jenson Button	2	4	7
Pascal Wehrlein	4	5	4
Rio Haryanto	4	5	4
Romain Grosjean	1	5	7
Esteban Gutiérrez	2	4	7

Press conference schedule

Official press conferences are organised by the FIA and happen four times during the weekend. The qualifying and post race press conferences will take place after the television unilateral interviews.

Race stewards

The FIA stewarding process includes a former F1 driver to offer added insight. These stewards are overseeing the weekend's action.