In practice for the Chinese Grand Prix drivers discovered the soft tyre is far quicker than the medium compound but does not last long.

They found it good for a single flying lap in second practice and were unable to improve on subsequent runs. “It looks like the soft tyre is the one for qualifying, but it seems that we won?������t see that many stints on the soft tyre during the race,” said Mark Webber.

Webber’s 14-lap stint on the medium tyre (see graph below) showed it should stand up well in the race. As Pirelli motorsport director Paul Hembery notice, it should prove more durable once the track conditions improve:

“In total, we?������d expect the soft tyre to last between 11 to 12 laps in the race and the medium tyre for about 18 laps. This would suggest a maximum of three pit stops but it?������s also possible that we?������ll see two stops if the track keeps on evolving at this rate.”

Hembery put the performance difference between the tyres at “around one-and-a-half seconds, which is a little higher than we initially expected but it?������s still early days here”.

This adds up to a strategic conundrum for the teams similar to what unfolded in Melbourne. The soft tyre is undoubtedly the way to go for those in the hunt for pole position. But those expecting to be in the lower reaches of Q3, and those who qualify on row six, might be better off starting on the harder compound, as Adrian Sutil did at the Australian race.

“There may well be people who chose, in Q3, to conserve tyres or plan to start on the more durable tyre,” said Ross Brawn. “But I think pole position will be set on the soft tyre because it’s so

much faster.”

Shanghai is a circuit where the track condition improves rapidly, particularly on the first day of running. This may go some way to explained Felipe Massa’s final time in second practice being considerably quicker than Nico Rosberg’s but the pace of the Ferrari should not be underestimated.

Ferrari led the way in the first two sectors of the lap with Mercedes – and Rosberg in particular – showing great pace in the final sector.

Lotus, meanwhile, appear to have much better pace on the soft tyre than the medium, which may not help them in the race.

Here’s all the data from practice for the Chinese Grand Prix.

Longest stint comparison

This chart shows all the drivers’ lap times (in seconds) during their longest unbroken stint:

http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/charts/2013drivercolours.csv 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Sebastian Vettel 105.608 105.724 106.755 107.261 107.819 Mark Webber 104.275 104.256 103.232 103.31 103.654 103.967 103.776 103.451 106.533 103.483 103.531 103.046 103.078 102.422 Fernando Alonso 102.668 103.809 105.745 105.722 106.043 106.355 107.513 Felipe Massa 101.309 108.765 102.048 103.039 102.866 105.163 106.04 103.553 104.107 103.998 Jenson Button 103.639 104.175 105.585 105.862 105.488 106.345 107.328 Sergio Perez 104.907 105.843 105.948 106.997 107.379 Kimi Raikkonen 103.448 103.313 104.046 103.622 103.747 104.282 104.35 105.798 Romain Grosjean 103.914 103.341 103.738 103.403 104.056 103.722 103.222 103.337 Nico Rosberg 102.244 103.749 104.41 103.089 102.919 102.946 103.436 105.23 103.282 103.58 103.748 104.297 104.3 Lewis Hamilton 102.706 103.62 103.377 103.535 102.811 103.426 112.201 103.708 103.453 103.299 104.116 105.265 108.375 104.668 106.876 Nico Hulkenberg 103.337 103.741 103.709 104.572 106.354 103.9 104.433 105.057 105.184 Esteban Gutierrez 104.144 104.66 104.973 105.99 106.93 Paul di Resta 102.706 102.756 103.578 103.836 103.321 103.04 103.54 103.401 Adrian Sutil 103.696 103.369 104.326 104.002 104.666 105.384 104.316 103.647 Pastor Maldonado 103.659 103.77 103.671 103.81 103.827 104.57 105.084 105.26 106.124 Valtteri Bottas 104.941 105.073 106.422 107.514 106.378 106.097 Jean-Eric Vergne 105.636 105.515 105.55 106.474 105.132 104.668 107.065 107.09 105.301 105.198 105.453 105.949 106.292 106.83 Daniel Ricciardo 105.254 104.16 104.266 106.359 104.862 104.844 104.535 104.273 104.946 104.738 105.221 106.717 106.512 106.358 106.864 110.285 Charles Pic 108.601 107.632 110.362 112.006 107.801 108.424 108.254 108.411 110.36 109.919 Giedo van der Garde 106.178 106.201 108.247 109.437 108.177 109.807 Jules Bianchi 105.993 106.078 106.926 106.847 106.934 107.777 109.389 Max Chilton 103.227 108.593

Sector times and ultimate lap times

Complete practice times

Speed trap

2013 Chinese Grand Prix

Images ?�?� Red Bull/Getty, Lotus/LAT