In Shanghai, the first two practice sessions have been remarkably similar to those in Fuji - pretty much what you would expect in the first and then a strange mix in the second. With Hamilton comfortably ahead in both, however, he looks to have more than a reasonable chance of upsetting Ferrari's usual run of form in the Chinese GP.
Lewis Hamilton
That will annoy some of the drivers, given their decision to put his driving style on the agenda for the drivers' meeting today. This comes at an interesting moment for them all as they begin to realize that their previous support for the FIA's regular penalties for Hamilton begins to backfire on them.
No doubt the Brit's moves on Webber and Glock at Monza will be brought up in that meeting and there will be nothing said about Webber himself squeezing Massa into the pit exit area in the Fuji race. It will probably not occur to any of those so ready to criticize Hamilton that each of them has used similar tactics in the past. Hard but fair, it is called and, according to the unwritten rules of F1, it is all quite legitimate.
But F1 drivers rarely accept the blame for their own mistakes, Massa's crass reasoning for his collision with Bourdais in Fuji reminding one of David Coulthard's occasionally one-sided view of his own foul-ups. Those who will raise their hand with a sheepish "mea culpa" are rare indeed but they are the ones who are beginning to understand that the stewards have opened a Pandora's box in their eagerness to penalize Hamilton.
Sebastien Bourdais has had this forcibly pointed out to him with his penalty for Massa's error and is, no doubt, a convert now. Nick Heidfeld, too, has said that he thinks two of the three Fuji penalties were undeserved. So the apparent solidarity of drivers' opinion against Hamilton is beginning to crack, even as they decide to lecture him on the issue. When the danger of completely unjustified penalties is extended to oneself, it becomes much easier to believe that others have been unfairly judged in the past.
The fact is that, by upholding the stewards' decision on the Hamilton/Raikkonen incident at Spa, the FIA have released a flood of penalties in succeeding GPs. Once precedent, convention and the regulations are ignored in the quest to handicap Hamilton, the stewards are empowered to interfere with races as and when the result does not suit them. And the suggestion that they went against the recommendation of Charlie Whiting in the Massa/Bourdais incident merely underlines this. What is surprising is the length of time it has taken for the drivers to realize the implications for themselves.
I do not think it will do Hamilton any harm to hear the other drivers' opinions in that meeting, however. With the championship so nearly within his grasp, anything that helps to control his natural impulse to take chances can only assist him in the final two races of 2008. It may well be that the drivers are giving the young Brit exactly the wake-up call that he needs at this stage.
But they would be better employed to be discussing Heidfeld's call for professional stewards. The FIA have been notoriously difficult to deflect from their worst excesses of late and nothing less than a united front is likely to get Mosley to improve the way stewards are selected. When the FIA president can openly get rid of the one decent steward in the system and replace him with one of Max's cronies, the hope that the FIA are interested in fairness seems forlorn indeed.
The FIA is rumored to be considering changes to the stewarding system for next year. Those who are expecting that these will be changes to make things more equitable and professional have my admiration - they have somehow retained some faith in an administration that has repeatedly demonstrated its incompetence and bad judgement. Me, I have become too cynical for that.