The Top 5 Moments in Chinese Grand Prix History
This weekend's Chinese Grand Prix will only mark the 12th running of the race. The Shanghai International Circuit does not have the glamorous, mystical, dangerous history of older Formula One circuits like Monza or Silverstone or Monaco.
Still, the 11 Chinese Grand Prixs to date have produced some great moments and some dangerous ones, some humorous moments and some sublime ones.
As the F1 circus continues to rack up the frequent flier miles, heading to the far side of the world for the third time in a month, we have scoured the proverbial archives to bring you the top five moments in Chinese Grand Prix history.
They are not necessarily the best or the greatest—how do you compare a driver's first win with a podium faux pas or a warm-up lap collision? Rather, these are the moments that might make you smile or shake your head or that had a significance beyond that one race.
Here they are presented in chronological order.
Michael Schumacher and Christijan Albers Collide on a Warm-Up Lap
1 of 5Michael Schumacher is one of the most talented drivers in F1 history—but that does not mean he was above the occasional on-track screw-up.
The 2005 Chinese Grand Prix was the last race of that season. After winning his fifth straight championship in 2004, Schumacher had won just once in 2005 and was sitting a distant third in the drivers' standings when he arrived in Shanghai.
Meanwhile, Minardi's Christijan Albers was in his rookie season and had not finished in the top 10 apart from the six-car U.S. Grand Prix. He qualified 18th in China (Schumacher was sixth) and was in the middle of a warm-up lap on his way to the grid, when suddenly a Ferrari appeared in his path.
With no time to react, Albers drove over the side of Schumacher's car. Both drivers were unhurt and actually able to start the race—in those free-spending days, each team had a backup car ready to go.
It's not every day you get driven into by a seven-time world champ, and Albers seemed bemused by the incident, telling Crash.net:
"I was pushing a little bit on the out lap, doing normal driving, because we need to have the right tyre pressure on the grid. The higher we can get it, the better it is. I think Michael just started to weave, and maybe he didn't see me.
You shouldn't always try to blame somebody, I think its both our faults a little bit. He said he just made a mistake. Once in a million it happens, and it happened. It was not good for him, and it's a shame for me, because I had a good race car.
"
"Good race car," it should be noted, is a relative term. Albers had qualified more than five seconds off Fernando Alonso's pole time.
Lewis Hamilton Throws Away a Title in His Rookie Season
2 of 5Lewis Hamilton arrived at the 2007 Chinese Grand Prix, the second-to-last race of his rookie year, with a 12-point lead in the drivers' standings. That was considered a substantial margin at the time for those of you who don't remember the days when a win was still worth a proper 10 points.
Sitting second in the race, with worn tyres on a drying track, Hamilton lost control coming into the pits and beached his car in the gravel trap.
As you can see in the video, McLaren team principal Ron Dennis looked ready to jump onto the track and push Hamilton into the pits himself. Perhaps he should have.
After retiring in China, Hamilton still could (or should) have won the title in Brazil. But a gearbox problem early in the race dropped him almost to the back of the field, and he could not recover.
Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen, who was 17 points behind Hamilton before the Chinese race, won the championship by one point.
Red Bull Wins Its First F1 Race but Gets the Wrong Anthem
3 of 5
In 2009, Jenson Button won six of the first seven races on his way to the Drivers' Championship. The one missing win from that streak was the Chinese Grand Prix, where Red Bull finally took its first F1 victory in its fifth season as a constructor.
Sebastian Vettel secured his first win in 2008 during a wet Italian Grand Prix, driving for Red Bull's sister team, Toro Rosso. Moving up to the big team in 2009, it took just three races for the German to make his mark.
As Red Bull had never won a race before, the organisers of the Shanghai race were unsure which anthem they should play for the winning constructor. Instead of asking someone, it seems they took a guess, landing on Britain's "God Save the Queen" (not unreasonable, considering Red Bull's factory is in Milton Keynes).
Unfortunately, the team is registered in Austria, so "Land der Berge, Land am Strome" would have been a more appropriate choice.
It's always nice when F1's overly orchestrated podium ceremonies hit a snafu. Regrettably, there doesn't seem to be a high-quality video of the podium ceremony, but if you have to see it for yourself, check out the 10:20 mark of this video—Vettel doesn't seem to know or care.
Following the win in China, Vettel would score three more victories in 2009 and finish 11 points behind Button in the championship race. Building on that success, Vettel and Red Bull would go on to win the next four drivers' and constructors' titles.
.jpg?w=256 "Colts Jaguars Football")
Sebastien Buemi Loses 2 Wheels Without Hitting Anything but His Brakes
4 of 5Sebastien Buemi suffered one of the weirdest-looking (and perhaps scariest) accidents you will ever see during free practice at the 2010 Chinese Grand Prix.
Travelling at over 300 km/h down the Shanghai circuit's long back straightaway, Buemi hit the brakes, and his front suspension broke on both sides. His front tyres broke free and continued down the track while Buemi slid on towards the corner.
Despite his best efforts to continue steering, the Swiss driver was just a passenger at that point. He did, however, provide a strong endorsement for all that extra run-off room at modern F1 circuits when he walked away from the crash unharmed.
Displaying a Christijan Albers-like cool head, Buemi said, per the BBC, "From in the car it was not a problem. I just lost both wheels."
Nico Rosberg's 1st Win—and Mercedes' 1st in Almost 60 Years
5 of 5
Nico Rosberg's first F1 victory came in his seventh season at the 2012 Chinese Grand Prix. The reason this moment makes our top five, though—narrowly edging last year's early chequered flag debacle—is that it was also Mercedes' first F1 win since 1955.
"We are proud to deliver the first victory for a works Silver Arrow car in 57 years," team principal Ross Brawn said, according to The Telegraph's Tom Cary. "I was just one year old when Juan Manuel Fangio won in Monza in 1955—but this victory is something I will remember, and savour, for a very long time."
More importantly, though, that victory may have helped convince Lewis Hamilton that Mercedes could be a contender, and it set the stage for his move from McLaren to Mercedes, which his new team announced later that year.
That worked out pretty well for everyone (except McLaren and Rosberg):
"Wow! This is the greatest day of my life! Thank you everybody for all your support #bestfansintheworld #AbuDhabiGP pic.twitter.com/cOCSTDtHUM
— Lewis Hamilton (@LewisHamilton) November 23, 2014"
Follow me on Twitter for updates when I publish new articles and for other (mostly) F1-related news and banter:
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
