Shanghai International Circuit
Designed by Hermann Tilke, the track layout is distinctive, and turns one through to four are quite interesting, and by all accounts quite challenging.
But like Bahrain, the straights are ruler straight, the track is flat, and the end result is a circuit that seems uninspiring, in spite of the impressive main grandstand, and the distinctive bridges over the main pit straight
I know that just like Sakhir, I'm being very fussy here, particularly bearing in mind that both are very impressive facilities. But for me, the best race tracks are born of a place, and created almost organically from the landscape. Perhaps having Sakhir, and Shanghai next to each other on the F1 calendar emphasises the similarities. Two flat "Tilkedromes", both inaugurated in 2004, and both sharing certain characteristics, both good and bad.
Winners
The comparisons with Sakhir continue here, since Shanghai joined the F1 calendar in the same year. So again, the history is short enough for us to list every winner.
Lewis Hamilton has the best record in Shanghai, with five victories, and also holds the lap record. Fernando Alonso, and Nico Rosberg have two wins each.
Mercedes are the most succesful constructor with five wins, Ferrari have four, and McLaren three.
There is one note in the history of F1 which will always belong to Shanghai. It was the venue of the 91st, and final victory for the most succesful F1 driver of all time, Michael Schumacher.
Crowds
The Chinese Grand Prix is surprisingly well attended, with 125,000 fans turning up on race day 2015. Practise and qualifying don't seem to have the same interest for the Chinese though, with only 20,000 attending.
