Team-mate Kubica enjoyed a wheel-to-wheel battle at the end of the Japanese Grand Prix, eventually having to give best to
Ferrari's
Felipe Massa, and is hoping to carry his feisty form to China.
"Last year's grand prix was pretty interesting for me, with qualifying wet and then touching with Robert Doornbos at the start of the race," the Pole recalled, "I gained a lot
of positions, but then, when the track was drying, we put the grooved tyres on too early. It is quite a nice track with, again, a very long straight, and maybe there is an overtaking possibility at the end of the long back straight too."
Toyota – Ralf Schumacher (#11), Jarno Trulli (#12):
After failing to trouble the scorers on home soil last time out, Toyota gets an immediate chance to redress the balance after a short hop across the East China Sea.
Team news between races focused on the fact that Ralf Schumacher had been ruled out of contention for one of its seats in 2008, but the German will be back in harness alongside Jarno Trulli for this weekend's Chinese event, determined to raise his stock elsewhere with a strong end-of-season run.
"The Shanghai International Circuit is a fun place to race and I am looking forward to it," he said, "We have not had much chance of a rest between the Japanese and Chinese grands prix, but I am still looking forward to this race and hope to get a good result. The result in Japan was very disappointing, especially as it was our home race, and the weather was terrible on Saturday and Sunday, but the conditions are the same for everyone. Let's hope we have better weather in Shanghai."
With little time to make alterations since the Japanese race, Toyota will run the same package as it did at Fuji, although the tyre compounds will change.
"We are hopeful, as always, of a strong result," senior general manager Pascal Vasselon revealed, "The conditions in Japan made it hard to evaluate our Fuji package, but we know from testing that it has brought a step forward, so we hope to show that in China."
"Shanghai is quite a unique circuit in terms of layout but, when it comes to most of the parameters on the car, such as brake wear, demands on the engine, it is on average. There are two long straights at Shanghai, but you find an interesting situation because of turn 13, which is a very long right-hander. It is so important that, even with the long straights, you find that using relatively high downforce is best for lap times. The one overtaking opportunity is at the end of the back straight, but even this is quite difficult because you have to follow the car through turn 13.
Red Bull Racing – David Coulthard (#14), Mark Webber (#15):
There were mixed emotions in the Red Bull Racing camp after the Japanese Grand Prix, with team boss Christian Horner admitting that
David Coulthard's fourth place felt disappointing because of what had happened to
Mark Webber, who had been in the running for a podium - and maybe even a win, according to the Aussie himself - before being taken out under the safety car.
"It was a good finish, but the race still left a bitter taste because of what might have been," agreed engine specialist Fabrice Lom, "Still, it is in the past now and what we need to remember is that our car-engine-driver package was performing very well. The target is to achieve the same thing at the next race in China.
"We worked on our preparations for the Chinese Grand Prix a few weeks ago in
Jerez, especially in terms of the aero package. The car performed very well and we made good progress during what was a promising test. Hopefully, that will all come to fruition in Shanghai, and allow us to move ahead of
Williams. We are feeling confident ahead of this race.
"The fact that the engines ran all weekend in wet conditions in Fuji should not prove to be a problem. We have good filtration of the water, the engines are in good condition and wet running is less demanding in terms of reliability. That means their second race weekend in Shanghai shouldn't be too difficult, especially because it is not generally a circuit we consider demanding for the V8. So we are going into the race in a calm frame of mind."
Williams – Nico Rosberg (#16), Alex Wurz (#17):
With more rain predicted for much of the coming weekend, the Chinese Grand Prix promises to be as thrilling as Japan and, with fourth place still up for grabs, the Williams team will be working towards a double point-scoring finish, something it has rarely achieved in 2007.
"After the result in Japan, we are looking to get back into the points at the Chinese Grand Prix and strengthen our position in the constructors’ championship," technical director Sam Michael confirmed, having seen Alex Wurz crash out at the 'start' in Fuji and Nico Rosberg succumb to mechanical gremlins, "China normally demands a two-stop race strategy, but there were quite variable weather conditions last season and, according to the most recent forecasts, that may again be the case at this year’s race - which will certainly make things interesting!"
Rosberg's retirement brought to an end a run of scoring finishes stretching back into the summer, but the German remains optimistic that he can get back into the top eight this weekend.
