Ferrari breathed new life into Formula One as Sebastian Vettel outpaced the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton in Australia, but the Chinese Grand Prix could play into the Brit's hands.

Hamilton enjoys a formidable record in Shanghai, where overtaking will be in the spotlight after F1's new regulations took flak on the street circuit in Albert Park.

Here we examine the top Opta numbers ahead of the Chinese Grand Prix.

62 - Lewis Hamilton (62) is now only three away from equalling Ayrton Senna's tally of 65 pole positions and six away from Michael Schumacher's record of 68.

426 - No active driver has more points without having won a single race (426) than Valtteri Bottas.

8 - Max Verstappen has never finished better than eighth place in China but has not yet raced there in the senior Red Bull outfit.

2 - Nico Hulkenberg set the fastest lap in China last year, it was the second time in his F1 career he had managed this, both times were with Force India.

0 - For the first time in the last three years, Mercedes are not leading either the drivers' or constructors' championships.

4, 5, 3, 7 - Hamilton has the most wins (4), pole positions (5), fastest laps (3) and podiums (7) in China.

7 - However, he finished seventh last year, his worst position excluding retirements in his last three seasons for Mercedes.

8 - In China, the driver on pole has won eight out of the previous 13 races. The last driver to win there without starting on pole was Fernando Alonso in 2013, starting from third.

2, 4 - Daniel Ricciardo has started second and finished fourth in two of his last three races in China (2014 and 2016).

11 - Sergio Perez has finished in the points in each of his last 11 races, his best streak in F1. However, he has finished in the points only once in six races in China (9th, 2014).