The inaugural Chinese Grand Prix took place at Shanghai International Circuit in September 2004. The new facility with its massive main grandstands, amazing media facilities and unparalleled team facilities set a new standard that other race circuits must now aspire to.

The facility has enough room around the circuit to host 200,000 spectators, including more than 29,000 in the grandstand opposite the pits. The facilities reached new heights in Shanghai, even if the circuit itself is rather on the dull side.

Rubens Barrichello scorched to Pole Position in 2004 while Michael Schumacher spun his Ferrari on his qualifying lap and started the race from the back of the grid.

Barrichello could not be denied the race win as the Brazilian crossed the line ahead of Jenson Button and Kimi Raikkonen, but the story of the race was of Michael Schumacher who actually finished out of the points for just the fifth time in his career with 12th position after a catalogue of rare mistakes.

Hosting the finale of the 2005 season, China's second Grand Prix proved to be a scrappy affair. Champion-elect Fernando Alonso strolled to a comfortable win to give Renault its first constructors' title while Kimi Raikkonen took the runner-up spot after being held up for much of the race by a tactical Giancarlo Fisichella in the second Renault.

Juan Pablo Montoya was minding his own business and running just ahead of his team-mate when inexplicably he struck a drain cover that had worked lose. The impact was enough to force the McLaren driver to retire the car. A late race drive through penalty for Fisichella promoted Ralf Schumacher to the lower step of the podium.

While the first two events in Shanghai were frankly pretty dull, the 2006 event was one of the best races of the season thanks to the close championship battle between Alonso and the retiring Michael Schumacher. Throw in changeable conditions and the Chinese were treated to a fantastic event.

Starting sixth on a wet track, Schumacher seemed to have it all to do as his Bridgestone-shod Ferrari had not shone in the wet qualifying session compared to the Michelin rivals. Starting from Pole Position Alonso was pre-race favourite by a large margin. Alonso did indeed lead 30 laps but critically opted not to change his intermediate tyres and the result was a dramatic fall off in performance. Schumacher struggled initially but the race came to the German and he would take the win by three seconds from the recovering Alonso and Fisichella in the second Renault.

The 2007 edition will be remembered as the day when rookie racer Lewis Hamilton probably lost the championship. Light rain made the race a tricky affair with everyone opting to start the race on the intermediate tyres. Lewis Hamilton led away from his pole position, quickly establishing an eight second advantage over Raikkonen before pitting on lap 16. Raikkonen remained on track another four laps and when he emerged from the pits he was just four second behind Hamilton.

This was the critical phase of the race as the rain had stopped and the intermediate tyres were struggling on the fast-drying circuit. Soon it became apparent that in not changing his tyres, Hamilton was in severe grip difficulty as Raikkonen swept by and into the lead. Heading to the pits on lap 30, Hamilton lost rear-end grip in the slippery pit lane and as he corrected the wheel, he soon found himself beached in a small gravel trip on the right hand side of the pit lane.

Raikkonen took the victory for Ferrari from Fernando Alonso in the McLaren and Felipe Massa in the second Ferrari. Sebastian Vettel finished a superb fourth for Toro Rosso, the team's best result of the season while Jenson Button made best use of the awful Honda RA107 to finish fifth, his best result of the season.