Alonso? Or N-alonso?

Rumours persist that he won't be passed fit for this Sunday's race.

His twitter feed seems happy although my Spanish is shocking - maybe you could help out on that one Jim??

My Spanish is unlikely to be of any use here. Does he mention "vino tinto?"

It might be fairer to say that until he gets the all-clear from the doctors in China, he is still not certain to race. McLaren have, understandably, brought Vandoorne along, just in case...

So Hamilton handed a 5 grid penalty for a gearbox change which will put a smile on Rosbergs face. I can understand a penalty if the allotted number of engines or gearboxes are exceeded it seems a bit over the top. I know it is a rule that seems to rear its head most often these days but have not heard of Vettel getting a grid penalty over his engine failure or did I miss it?

Button will also have a new ICE for China, but haven't heard anything about a penalty for him, either... Odd.

Must admit I'm a little confused about the grid penalties. Surely if Hamilton is within his allotted number of gearboxes then he shouldn't have to take a penalty

Does anybody remember when Ferrari deliberately broke the seal on Massa'a gearbox so he got a grid penalty which enabled Alonso to move up the grid onto the preferred side? I can't remember what GP is was........

New In Car Entertainment??

He'll be listening to Ed Sheeran you know.....

Rules say that a single gearbox must be used for six consecutive races

Mercedes have opted to replace the gearbox at China after it was damaged at the last race - China has the best overtaking opportunities of all races, so there will be more chance of Lewis making up the penalty.

As well as the damage sustained in Bahrain, I suspect that Merc also want to change the gearbox in case it has contributed to Hamilton's poor starts. They say it is a mechanical issue and although the design is the same, perhaps they are hoping this unit will work better. Hard to see how even a stellar start will get him back up from (at best) 6th, mind...

It still seems odd that the rules mandate a gearbox to last 6 consecutive races (even after being damaged in a no-fault accident), yet Vettel and Button can change an ICE (ICE, baby) without penalty.

Thanks Nigel

Looks like it might be Rosbergs turn to win the drivers championship this year then! Bernie up to no good?

It'll be interesting to see. Obviously a long way to go, but I've been impressed before by Rosberg's ability to respond when seemingly under the cosh. Not so sure about how he'll cope when under pressure at the front.
Will the Ferraris be Merc's biggest challengers, given the uber-long straight and possible reliability issues?

It did occur to me Lewis would be better practising starts rather than his guitar..

If, as is being reported, Alonso is fit to race (or at least take part in FP1), will he face a grid penalty for replacing one or two parts on his McLaren?

I think he replaced the McLaren on his one or two parts.

Ferrari looking promising in practice. Merc will no doubt take their double dose of Viagra (Arrivabene's term) for quali - could be interesting though.

There seems to be some evidence that all 3 tyre blowouts in FP1 were due to punctures, rather than failures, which should make it a bit less scary for the drivers heading out onto the track...

Qualifying should indeed be interesting; Ferrari will be hoping to capitalise on only having one Merc ahead of them, whilst Hamilton will (I imagine) be keen to minimise the number of places he has to make up if he is to stay in touch with Rosberg.

What role will the weather play...?

Wonder if Merc will coincidentally decide to change Hamilton's engine, etc. to capitalise on the back-of-the-grid start...?

Alonso upset about early end to Q2 - think he felt a crack at Q3 was possible...

I don't think you get a penalty for an engine change, Jim. Only when you've used too many.

I think you're right, based on the Alonso/Vettel/Button experience. However, there are probably other drivetrain bits that incur penalties, aren't there? If you're starting last and they don't carry over penalties to the next event any more, I'd definitely be thinking about it...

Yes - I like your thinking, Jim

I might be wrong but I think the reason Vettel didn't get a penalty was because he didn't actually start the race as the engine blew on the parade lap. Interesting qualy and some bad luck also.
It will be a race worth watching tomorrow:)

Button lost his engine in the race, as did Alonso...
Talking of the McLarens, both were hugely frustrated that Q2 was stopped as they were about to go full power on fresh tyres for the first time. Will be interested to see what their race pace is like.

Could be that the weather and incidents in qualifying have muddled up the grid better than Bernie's antics ever did.

Ah well it's one rule for engines and another for gearboxes then, I wonder how wheel nuts will be viewed after the force India lost one?

Interesting how n the Sky coverage, at least, they have been making a big deal about how much F1 technology feeds into road cars - Toto was making that point a fair bit too

Great race at lap 13 - some brilliant driving

Dont mention the winner!

I'll watch it later on Channel 4 .

I wouldn't do that - but it's well worth the watch

Definitely an improvement over last year's efforts.

Great race behind 1St.

Nice to see the Ferraris and Lewis being made to do some work.
Now if we could keep that for a season f1 would gain lots more fans.