McLaren boss Andrea Stella has downplayed his team’s chances of a strong weekend on F1’s return to China.

F1 will race in China for the first time sinceꦚ 2019, but the Woking outfit is unsure the Shanghai International Circuit will suit the strengths of this year’s McLaren.

The Shanghai circuit consists of several low-speed hairpins👍 and medium-speed corners - something McLaren have struggled with over the last couple of years.

Unsurprisiꦕngly, Stella is worried about McLaren’s competitiveness he🌜ading into China this weekend.

"I have to say that of this first part of the season, China is the track that worries me the most from a competitiveness point of view," Stella said. "You have so much low-speed ha💎irpins. Even in corner two, corner three, you spend so long in long corners.

"And I think it's been a theme I've been repeating. So far, we haven't been able to improve the car enough in these low-speed, medium-speed long corners. So from a competitive competitiveness point of view, I would expect a more difficult ♑situation than here in Suzuka, Australia and the first part of the season."

"China may be a bit of🤡 damage limitation for us. And then from Miami onwards, hopefully we start kind of a better stage of this 2024 season and more to come in the second part of the ✤season."

F1’s sprint format makes a return this weekend - the first🌊 of six events in 2024.

Orgaꦏnisers have tweaked the format slightly with the sprint action taking place immediately, while qualifying keeps his conventional spot on Saturda♐y afternoon.

Given tᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚhat there will be just one practice session ahead of the sprint shootout on Friday, Stella is confident there will still be opportunities to spring a surprise given the nature of the format.

"Definitely i✃t's going to be a challenging event, from several🐓 points of view,” he added. “What is the tarmac situation will we find?

"At the same time, let's not forget that China was onꦯe of the most severe tracks for graining. So how will tꦆhe tyres be able to cope with this?

It's also a tricky track in terms of balance between some very high-speed corne♈rs, like entering corner one, and then many low-speed sections.

"Seeing it in isolation, it gives a headache. But once you see it from a competitiv🌃e point of view, I think you need to think: 'If I do not do a perfect job, but a little bit better job than others, then this could be a big opportunity."