F1 facing step into unknown in wet Chinese GP

Although cars ran on an artificially soaked track on one of the Barcelona pre-season tests, Pirelli has subsequently changed the specification of the wet tyre, producing a softer compound that is intended for less abrasive circuits such as Shanghai.

But experience of the new specification is limited because teams ran only a few laps in wet conditions on Friday before the session was abandoned.

Red Bull, Force India and Sauber didn't run the wet tyre at all, while most drivers completed only a single installation lap, and thus have virtually no knowledge it.

The only drivers to log more than one lap were Stoffel Vandoorne (four) and Valtteri Bottas (three).

It was a similar story with the intermediate – which has not changed since the Barcelona test – as the Ferrari drivers did just one lap between them.

Although weather conditions on Sunday in Shanghai are not as bad as had been feared earlier in the weekend, showers over the morning are likely to lead to a damp but drying track for the race.

Although the drivers will be able to use the reconnaissance laps to the grid to get a feel for the tyres and the conditions, there will be much to learn during the race, especially in relation to the crossover to intermediates and finding the right operating window.

"We haven't run the full wet at all," said Mercedes boss Toto Wolff. "It's a new full wet which hasn't been tested. It's a complete, how do you say in English, 'fishing in the dark?' Exciting!"

The team that ran the most miles on Friday was Williams – albeit with just 14 laps across both drivers and tyre types – because the team wanted to catch up after missing the wet test day at Barcelona.

Williams technical chief Paddy Lowe said: "We ran a reasonable number of laps [on Friday] in the wet for exactly the reason that we hadn't run with this car in the wet in Barcelona. We wanted to understand how the car would behave.

"We were quite encouraged from the that limited amount of running. We'll see how it happens in the race itself. There were no obvious issues with how it looked yesterday."

Drivers further down the field see the prospect of a wet race as an opportunity to make progress up the order.

"Mixed conditions will be welcome," said Fernando Alonso, starting from 13th. "To try to take any opportunity or tricky conditions out there. If the full race is dry it is difficult to be in the points, and we need help from the others.

"If the whole race is in wet still also a lot of the problems we are having will hurt us, I think wet/dry/wet/dry, multiple changes in the pit stops will be a gamble for everyone, but for us out of the points, it is [a chance] only to win and gain from those conditions."