Having a grand prix in China in 2004 was a dream come true for Bernie Ecclestone and Max Mosley.

The same can be said for China, which spent over nine years trying to get on the F1 calendar.

The circuit is another Hermann Tilke design, and features the standard fare of tight complexes, wide expanses, ultra-modern facilities and occasional fast corners that he has become notorious for.

But while Shanghai has its challenging elements and plenty of overtaking chances, it is not in the same class as Tilke's Istanbul masterpiece.

Still, to create any kind of circuit was a triumph given the challenge that Tilke faced on this site.

What is now the Shanghai track was once a very flat, 300m-deep swamp.

The load on the soil would be too heavy to take so the entire track foundation is made out of polystyrene and built on 40,000 piles, all 40m to 80m deep.

The shape of the final circuit design was modelled on the Chinese sign of ‘Shang', meaning ‘rising'.

In 2004 and 2005 it looked like Shanghai would prove to be the one track that Schumacher could not master – for the modern legend made a series of schoolboy errors on his first two visits to the circuit.

But he put all that right in 2006 with a shock victory in wet conditions that left title rival Fernando Alonso reeling and seemed to put Schumacher in pole position for the world championship…

Shanghai also played a dramatic part in the 2007 title battle, as Lewis Hamilton's error in a slippery pit lane and Kimi Raikkonen's commanding victory set the stage for the Ferrari ace to steal the title at Interlagos a fortnight later.

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