Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton comes to the Chinese Grand Prix, which takes place on 12 April, as the points leader - but Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel is the new danger.

Hamilton won the opening race in Australia almost as he pleased, but Vettel came back with a surprise win at the second Grand Prix in Malaysia to open up the championship.

Mercedes driver Hamilton comes to the Shanghai track with 43 points and Vettel, driving his first season for Ferrari, is second with 40. Third is Hamilton's Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg with 33.

"China has been a race that I have very much enjoyed over the years," said Hamilton in a preview to the race.

"The fanbase they have there seems to be growing every year so it makes it an exceptional weekend for me."

"But the circuit is incredibly tough. It's a lot of right-handers, very, very tough on the front tyres so front graining is the biggest issue. So it is really, really important to find a good balance," he said.

Graining on the tyres comes when the rubber starts giving under the force and heat of cornering. The tyre surface gathers into lumps that break up the smooth surface and the driver loses grip.

"It's one of the circuits where you have to put the balance to a point where you have lots of front, which suits my driving style because I like a car that is oversteering," said Hamilton, "So it is actually a circuit that suits my attacking style that people talk about."

A feature of the Shanghai track is turn one, which goes around and around then turns back on itself.

"This is a circuit," said Hamilton, "where you need to be really aggressive, very attacking, on the braking points. Turn one is one of the crucial parts. The reason that is so difficult is that it is a long, long turn one. It goes turn one all the way to two and it goes on forever. So when you are attacking turn one there's a big bump on the way in and if you don't get the line quite right you just understeer off the track. So you just run out of road."

"I look forward to going out there and seeing the fans," Hamilton told his supporters, "and hope that we can have a chance of winning. Keep your fingers crossed."

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