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Event Information:
The
Chinese Grand Prix is a round of the
Formula One World Championship. It
is currently held at the Shanghai
International Circuit, Shanghai,
designed by Hermann Tilke. When
completed in 2004, it was the most
expensive Formula One circuit
facility, costing $240 million. The
track is 5.451 km long and features
one of the trickiest corners
combinations on the Formula One
calendar, comparable to that of
Istanbul Park's turn 8, also
designed by Tilke. Turn 1 and 2 are
a very demanding 270 degree,
right-handed corner combination that
requires a lot of speed whilst
entering and it tightens up towards
the end. The Chinese Grand Prix has
been notable for having a different
winning driver at every one of its 7
races.
The
vision of a Chinese Grand Prix
started in the early 1990s. The
Chinese government had originally
planned for an F1 circuit to be
located in the city of Zhuhai in
Guangdong Province, southern China.
The Zhuhai International Circuit was
designed and built and was
provisionally added to the 1999 F1
World Championship calendar, but the
track failed to meet certain
standards set by the FIA. However,
the Chinese government did not give
up and eventually, with assistance
from the organizers of the Macau
Grand Prix, held the first ever
Formula One race in China in 2004.
In
2002, it was announced that the
management of the Shanghai
International Circuit had signed a 7
year contract with the Formula One
Management to host the Chinese Grand
Prix starting from the 2004 season
until the season. The Chinese
Grand Prix debuted on September 26,
2004, and was won by Ferrari's
Rubens Barrichello. The following
year, it hosted the final round of
the Formula One championship, in
which the newly crowned world
champion Fernando Alonso won and
claimed the constructor's title for
Renault F1. In 2006, the Chinese
Grand Prix was won by Michael
Schumacher - his last victory in
Formula One before his initial
retirement at the end of the season.
It was only in February that a
deal was agreed between F1 and the
organisers of the Chinese round of
the world championship. Reasons for
the delay appear to have been over
the fee paid to F1 to host the race.
After racking up losses year after
year, the organisers of the race
refused to pay the fee required,
reported to be amongst the highest
paid to host an F1 race. F1 bosses
appear to have reduced the fee and
the new agreement to host an F1 race
runs to 2017.
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