'It was a radical solution because polystyrene had never been used on such a project'
It's difficult to imagine the circuit was once a swampy backwater of the city - lifeless and unwanted.
When the northern district of Jiading was first considered as a site, it resembled nothing more than a wasteland. For years, the Shanghainese government did not know what to do with the boggy expanse.
The city had been dreaming of joining the F1 circus for many years, with Shanghai International Circuit Co Ltd general manager Mao Xiaohan suggesting it was as early as the 1980s that the idea came to build a racetrack.
'Things didn't get going until 2001. Government officials came up with the idea, hoping it would promote Shanghai's reputation and standing throughout the world,' said Mao. Less than two years after plans were drawn up to build a state-of-the-art facility, that wasteland has been magically transformed into the most modern racing circuit in the world.
What set Shanghai apart from Wuhan and Beijing - the other two cities considered as venues - was Shanghai's long-standing reputation as the mainland's financial hub, good infrastructure and a willingness by its people to work towards building their dream.
German track designer Hermann Tilke recalled the challenges that were presented to engineers. 'The swampy ground presented a real challenge because we had no other choice and it was the only site that was available,' recalled Tilke, who had been given another huge undertaking in building an F1 circuit in desert conditions in Bahrain.