Max Verstappen: It was great to bring home the win in Suzuka and it has been good to spend some more time in Japan with family and friends. We are looking forward to China as it is going to present a challenge ahead of us, especially with it being a Sprint weekend.

As we have not raced at this track since 2019, and with the one practice session, it will be all about ensuring we have set the car up in the best way we can and managing our tyres. This added element creates more excitement for the fans, which is good, and the Team has been working hard to prepare.

It is a great racing track in China and has a unique layout, with trickier corners and the long straights presenting lots of opportunities for overtaking. I have always loved driving at this circuit so we look forward to seeing what this weekend brings.

Sergio Perez: It's exciting to be heading back to China again, it feels like a long, long time since we were last here. I've never driven a Red Bull around this circuit so that'll be good fun.

This is a challenging circuit but I think we've shown we have a car to compete in most places with the RB20. Japan really proved to me how confident I feel with this car and the performance I can extract from it, in places I struggled last season.

I've been back in Milton Keynes this week, working hard with my Team to prepare for the next few weeks of racing. Preparation is very important when you have a Sprint weekend, as we get so little practice time in the car. The new format will be tricky for everyone to get their head around but we are all in the same position, my aim is to get as close to maximum points as I can across the weekend.

Stats & Facts

• Friday of the Chinese Grand Prix weekend marks the 15th anniversary of the first victory for Red Bull Racing, as it celebrates its 20th season in Formula One. Seb Vettel led home teammate Mark Webber in wet conditions to simultaneously score the Team's first one-two finish.

• The 2009 Chinese GP also saw Seb Vettel claim the Team's first pole position. Coincidentally, Oracle Red Bull Racing has the chance to reach 100 poles here this weekend.

• If Max scores pole this weekend, it will make him the first driver in the 21st Century to take the first five poles of the season. The last driver to achieve it was Mika Hakkinen in 1999.

• China is the first Sprint weekend of 2024 - Max (4) and Checo (1) won five out of the six Sprint races last season, with Max finishing in the top three every time.

• If Max wins this weekend, he will have won 50% of all F1 races since the last Chinese GP in 2019. It will be his 53rd victory since then, which equals the number of wins by the rest of the grid combined in that time.