Drivers and Formula One fans are revving up for the Chinese Grand Prix this weekend, the 10th F1 race at the Shanghai International Circuit. The past two races of the 2013 season have shown that this season is shaping up be to a classic. If last year's story was the six world champions lining up against each other, this year's talking point looks like being the intense competition between teammates.

After finishing third in the Australian Grand Prix and winning the Malaysian Grand Prix, Sebastian Vettel leads the Drivers' Championship with 40 points. At 25, Vettel is the youngest three-time world champion. He showed his ambitions of making it four in a row during the Malaysian Grand Prix last month, when he disobeyed team orders and overtook Red Bull teammate Mark Webber to take the checkered flag.

Although Vettel later apologized for the manoeuvre, the sometimes fraught relationship between the young German talent and the Australian veteran should be one of the hottest topics over the weekend. Looking ahead to the Shanghai race, Vettel and Webber praised the city.

Vettel mentioned that he loves the view from the Bund across the Huangpu River to Pudong, while Webber said he is a fan of the city's food.

But on Sunday, Vettel's goal will be to win the Chinese Grand Prix for the second time, after his 2009 triumph, to secure his lead in the table, while Webber will be eager to make up for the Malaysian Grand Prix.

"My favorite memory of the Chinese Grand Prix is my first win with Red Bull Racing in 2009. We had a good qualifying, followed by an amazing race. There was a lot of rain, but we held it together and got our first team win and one-two," said Vettel. "The circuit has lots of corners, making it hard for the tires and tricky for the drivers. I really like the middle sector. Turns 12 and 13 are difficult to get right, as they demand a lot of technique, especially Turn 13 which leads into a really long straight."

Webber, 36, currently third in the championship, has never won the Chinese Grand Prix. Like Vettel, he also likes the middle sector of the Shanghai circuit.

"The middle sector of the circuit is my favorite - Turns 5 and 6, it's a nice and flowing section and it's very important to get the technique right there," said Webber. "My best memory of the Chinese GP is coming from the back of the grid to finish on the podium in third place in 2011."

Behind Vettel in the championship is Kimi Raikkonen of Lotus on 31 points. The 33-year-old Finn won in Australia and finished seventh in Malaysia. The Iceman has taken first, second and third places in Shanghai in previous years, and believes upgrades to his Lotus E21 car may help him claim another podium place, and make up for his disappointment last year.

"Unfortunately, I didn't achieve any points in Shanghai last year, so we can only improve from that," he said. "There's no reason why we shouldn't go well there; we have some new parts for the E21 and the last upgrades we had seemed to help so it will be interesting to see what will happen if it doesn't rain.

"We had the race pace in 2012, but we tried to carry on with our tires for too long. They dropped off, and that was it," he said. "If you look at last year we didn't have a bad car for China, and if we get the car working as well as we did at Sepang in Malaysia, we should do well in Shanghai too.

"I won there in 2007 and that was a good feeling as it was the year I won the World Championship. It's a proper race track and there are good opportunities for overtaking," added Raikkonen.

Lewis Hamilton, currently fourth in the Drivers' Championship in his first year with Mercedes, should be in the thick of the action in Shanghai.

After a bad start - a prominent memory of the Briton in Shanghai remains his helpless slide into a gravel trap during his rookie year of 2007 - Hamilton has claimed two memorable victories at the circuit in the intervening six years.

"My first two races with my new team have been a great experience and everyone has made me feel so welcome. We've had a better start than we expected and to have finished in fifth and third places so far is really positive," he said. "I know there is much more to come, so we will keep working hard and pushing the development of the car."

The 2008 world champion was left red-faced during the Malaysian Grand Prix after he instinctively drove into his former team McLaren's pit for a tire change. But he is a Mercedes man now and the competition between Hamilton and teammate Nico Rosberg is no less intense than that between Red Bull's Vettel and Webber.

The Mercedes duo were neck and neck during the last few laps of the Malaysian Grand Prix but Rosberg obeyed team orders and did not attempt to overtake Hamilton - who took third place - even though the German-Finn's car was faster.

Rosberg, who won in Shanghai last year, is looking forward to returning to the scene of his first - and to date only - F1 victory.

"China has good memories for me - winning my first Formula One race in Shanghai last year, and having led the race for the past three years. I enjoy the Shanghai track a great deal and I have a positive feeling going there with the car that we have at the moment," he said.

"The team has been working very hard to develop our car since returning from Malaysia. We've had a strong start to the season and I'm confident that we can keep pushing and hopefully score some good results in China and then Bahrain."

As well as the Red Bull, Lotus and Mercedes teams, Ferrari will also fancy its chances of victory in Shanghai, following good performances in Australia and, to a lesser degree, Malaysia.

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