The Chinese Grand Prix presented a marked contrast to conditions in Malaysia two weeks ago, with ambient temperatures around 20 degrees centigrade today. In the past, these cool temperatures have often resulted in ‘graining’ – a phenomenon that occurs here when the tread surface cools down on the long straights. As a result, the compound loses its mechanical resistance and the tyre surface becomes brittle, resulting in a distinctive pattern of wear. On this occasion, despite low track temperatures, the medium compound experienced no graining and the soft compound had minimal graining throughout both sessions. Unusually, FP2 turned out to be a bit cooler than FP1, going against the...
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