Reserve drivers in action on Friday
Four reserve drivers will be in action for three teams in first practice this morning in Shanghai, stepping in for the race drivers in the first session of the weekend. At Force India, Nico Hulkenberg will be in action instead of Adrian Sutil, while Daniel Ricciardo steps in for Jaime Alguersuari this morning.

Meanwhile over at Team Lotus, both race drivers Heikki Kovalainen and Jarno Trulli will be out of action until the afternoon's practice session, with test drivers Davide Valsecchi and Luiz Razia taking over at the wheels of the two T128s this morning. It will be Razia's first mileage in the new car, with Valsecchi having run in Malaysia.

Pirelli brings extra tyres to Shanghai
As in Australia three weeks' ago, teams will have an extra set of Pirelli's hard compound tyre to complete their Friday work today. The addition of an extra set of the prime brings to four the number of sets available to each driver during Friday's two practice sessions – three prime (hard) and one option (soft). One set of the hard compound must be returned to Pirelli after first practice.

Upgrade works completed in Shanghai
Minor upgrade works have been completed at the Shanghai International Circuit ahead of this weekend's race. Track subsidence and drainage problems pushed the FIA to require circuit officials to carry out some repair work ahead of the race weekend.

Fans may notice a new track surface on the approach to turns 1, 8, 11 and 14, while drainage improvements have been made to turns 5 and 16. One final alteration is the installation of a 4.5m debris fence at turn 14.