Getting the final nod of approval from F1 supremo Ecclestone was the last stage in a 10-year journey
Shanghai's right to host a round of the F1 championship was not won overnight, but only after years of hard work, frustration and disappointments.
China had spent almost 10 years developing a circuit in the southern city of Zhuhai and was set to join the F1 Grand Prix family in 1998. Months later, it was taken off the calendar and another date was fixed for March 1999, following the Australian Grand Prix.
But celebrations were again short-lived when the Zhuhai International Circuit was removed from the list after failing to meet international standards.
It was back to the drawing board for the mainland's ambitious entrepreneurs, but anybody involved in motor racing knew it was just a matter of time before China would make another audacious attempt to be part of the Grand Prix circus - and this time become successful.
And that day came on October 21, 2002, when F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone signed a seven-year deal with the Shanghai International Circuit Co Ltd.
