Published>Wed, Apr 14 10 05:49 PM
Sebastian Vettel and Michael Schumacher both return to the scene of milestone triumphs at this week's Chinese Grand Prix but it is the younger German who looks more likely to be sipping champagne again on Sunday.
Vettel, who clinched Red Bull's first Formula One race victory in Shanghai last year, will take the lead in the drivers' title race for the first time if he can win back-to-back races after his Malaysia triumph two weeks ago.
Seven-times world champion Schumacher, however, returns to the circuit where he won his last race four years ago fully aware that win number 92 looks anything but likely.
Vettel's victory in Malaysia finally converted the blistering early season pace of the Red Bull into the win that reliability problems had denied him in the first two rounds in Bahrain and Australia.
Even the rain that was lashing down on the Shanghai International Circuit on Wednesday will hold no fear for the confident 22-year-old as it was his imperious drive in similar conditions last year that secured Red Bull their maiden victory.
Schumacher, by contrast, has looked off the pace after three years of retirement, out-qualified by his team mate and compatriot Nico Rosberg in all three races and failing to finish the last.
The 41-year-old did not dominate Formula One for so long by being a quitter, however, and remains resolutely optimistic that improvement is just around the corner.
"Admittedly the last two races have not been very fortunate for me but I am very much aware of the reasons for it," he said in a team release.
"I know how things go in F1 and if you look into the detail of the two races, I think everything is still going according to plan."
Early championship frontrunners Ferrari and McLaren were undone by a torrential downpour in qualifying at Sepang that left their cars battling from the back of the grid but they may look in vain for more predictable weather patterns this weekend.
Brazilian Felipe Massa leads the title race by two points from team mate Fernando Alonso and Vettel, with the Spaniard's engine failure in Malaysia concentrating minds at Ferrari over the last two weeks.
While Lewis Hamilton declared his love for his McLaren car after driving from 20th to sixth in Sepang, his team mate Jenson Button has been less effusive, despite clinching the team's only win of the season in Australia.
The world champion said he had spent the two weeks since finishing eighth in Malaysia working with engineers on the balance of his car.
"I think I've made some real progress," he said. "Of course, it's a continuous process, but the overall feeling is that we're moving forwards."
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