F1’s Chinese Grand Prix has been canceled for the fourth consecutive year as the country continues to grapple with the COVID-19 lockdown.

Following the cancellation of the 2023 round last December, F1 decided not to replace the Shanghai round, opening a four-week gap between Australia and Azerbaijan on a calendar already filled with 23 rounds.

A fixture on the F1 calendar from its inception in 2004 until 2019, races at the Shanghai International Circuit have featured some of the championship’s most memorable moments in recent years.

Fernando Alonso, Renault, Michael Schumacher, Ferrari and Giancarlo Fisichella, Renault

Photography: Glenn Dunbar/ motorsport pictures

2006: Schumacher’s final victory

Before Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes formed a devastating partnership, few would have predicted that Michael Schumacher’s victory record would be beaten, with his 91st and final victory in a Fascinated by the 2006 Chinese Grand Prix.

In mixed conditions, Schumacher beat Giancarlo Fisichella’s Renault and his title rival Fernando Alonso to a win for Ferrari that would prove to be his last.

He was level with Alonso in the standings with just two rounds to go as Shanghai hosted the 16th round of the season. But the German couldn’t stop Alonso from winning his second consecutive title before he retired from the sport for the first time.

Lewis Hamilton, McLaren MP4-22 Mercedes

Photography: Andrew Ferraro / motorsport pictures

2007: Hamilton’s rookie pain

With Schumacher retired, rookie Hamilton swept the F1 world the following year. The Briton joined Alonso at McLaren and entered the penultimate race in Shanghai with a 12-point lead (the winner was awarded just 10 points).

But in a chaotic wet race, Hamilton ran into trouble with badly worn wet tires left on the dry track and hoped for more rain. Eventually he relented, but he left the road in a slow left turn at the pit entrance on broken rubber and retired in the gravel pit.

A disheartened Hamilton watched his best chance at the title come to naught, with his missteps in Shanghai proving costly given a memorable season finale in Brazil.

Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull Racing RB5

Photography: Sutton Images

2009: The rise of Red Bull

In a Red Bull-dominated 2023 season, Milton Keynes’ first win feels like a long time ago. To be precise, it was the 14th year of failure in the 2009 Chinese Grand Prix.

The Brawn GP team took the lead with its dual diffuser, giving Jenson Button the win in the first two races. But another rainy race in Shanghai, the third round of the F1 season, gave the opponent a chance to fight back.

Leading Renault’s Alonso and team-mate Mark Webber in qualifying, Vettel smashed the race after the safety car released the field into heavy rain. He won Red Bull’s first win with an 11-second lead over Webber, helping the energy drink giant 1-2, with Button trailing by as much as 44 seconds.

Red Bull failed to stop Brown’s challenge for the title in time, but set the stage for a four-peat dominance between 2010 and 2013.

Sébastien Buemi, Scuderia Toro Rosso STR5 crashes in first practice session

Photography: Sutton Images

2010: Lost the wheels

A special feature of the Shanghai circuit is its 1.1 kilometer straight, which at the time was the longest on the F1 calendar. High-speed stretching is the last place you want to have serious mechanical problems, but that’s what happened to Sebastien Buemi in 2010.

After his Toro Rosso suffered a front suspension failure in the braking zone, Buemi’s two front wheels came off in spectacular fashion during free practice.

Fortunately for the Swiss, his car continued straight into the runoff instead of swerving into the barrier. No, thanks to Buemi’s heroic efforts in the cockpit as she continues her attempt to drive a wheelless car.

Podium: 2nd Jenson Button, McLaren, Nico Rosberg, Mercedes-AMG F1, Norbert Haug, Mercedes sporting director, 3rd Lewis Hamilton McLaren

Photography: Sutton Images

2012: The silver arrow hits the mark

Before Mercedes faltered out of the gate at the start of the hybrid era in 2014, the Brackley team, then still led by Ross Brawn, faced a rebuild in the early years after the Brawn GP buyout.

Its first victory under the new look, and first for the Mercedes team since 1955, came from China. Nico Rosberg’s first win in his 111th race puts him behind Button and Gianca on the longest waiting list for a first grand prix victory between Giancarlo Fisichella.

Rosberg started from pole, a first for both the German and Mercedes, with team-mate Schumacher alongside Hamilton after he was given a grid penalty.

With Schumacher out of the race, Rosberg and McLaren’s Button engaged in an intense race, with Button resorting to a quicker three-stop strategy. Rosberg struggled through the two races, but a delayed pit stop by Button gave him breathing room to take the checkered flag.

Podium: winner Nico Rosberg, Mercedes AMG F1 Team, second Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, third Daniil Kvyat, Red Bull Racing

Photography: Red Bull Content Pool

2016: Kvyat Torpedo

Daniil Kvyat, still a Red Bull driver before Max Verstappen took over in 2016, angered Sebastian with an opportunistic pass at the start Sebastian Vettel, which forced Vettel to take on team-mate Kimi Raikkonen.

The cool-room fit between Vettel and the Russian instantly became a classic viral moment as both took the podium behind champion Nico Rosberg, with the German torpedoing Kvyat Tag of.

Kvyat’s second F1 podium came after the drama of team-mate Daniel Ricciardo, who blew a tire when he was attacked by Rosberg while leading the race.

Hamilton finished seventh after starting from the back and receiving a penalty to give Rosberg an early win in what turned out to be a worrying fratricidal battle.