Red Bull continues to be the dominant team in 2024, but its race performance was less convincing in last month's Australian Grand Prix, in which Ferrari looked to edge ahead.
The Melbourne race was marked by heavy front graining, which is believed to be a factor in why Ferrari was so strong relative to Red Bull.
Max Verstappen's early retirement meant it was much harder to make comparisons, but team-mate Sergio Perez finished a distant fifth as Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc secured a 1-2 finish for the Scuderia.
Shanghai could be another venue where Red Bull might struggle more to show the RB20's full potential, with lower temperatures and uncertainty over the state of the tarmac all factors that could see the tyre graining phenomenon return.
As the first sprint weekend of 2024, teams will only have one practice session to get a handle on their set-ups and won't have time to try out all tyre compounds, so their understanding will be limited.
But Perez believes the experience from Melbourne means the Milton Keynes team is in a better position to mitigate the issue, which makes surface rubber shear off and stick to the tread, causing a loss of grip.
"There are so many uncertainties with the tarmac, it's been five years since something has been here," Perez said when asked about whether or not graining could return to be an obstacle for Red Bull.
Source: Autosport