It seems only a short time ago that we travelled to Bahrain for the opening Grand Prix of the 2006 season, but we are already close to the end. On Wednesday I will fly out to Shanghai for the Chinese Grand Prix; followed only a week later by the Japanese Grand Prix in Suzuka. After that, all that remains is the Brazilian Grand Prix in Interlagos and the 2006 Formula One World Championship can go into the history books.

But first the Chinese Grand Prix. Panasonic Toyota Racing enjoyed a strong race at the Shanghai International Circuit last year with Ralf Schumacher finishing on the podium. This year, Panasonic Toyota Racing is fighting hard for fifth place in the Constructors´ World Championship - a position BMW “stole” from the team in the Italian Grand Prix in Monza a couple of weeks ago. But going into the final three races of 2006, Panasonic Toyota Racing is only three points behind BMW and with last year´s strong Chinese result, a home race at Suzuka and the promising test at Silverstone last week in mind, there is every reason to expect a close race for fifth place between Panasonic Toyota Racing and BMW.

The Chinese Grand Prix is one of the newest in the F1 calendar. The first race at the spectacular Shanghai International Circuit came in 2004 and 2006 will see the third Chinese Grand Prix. At 5,451 km the circuit is one of the longest in the F1 calendar and it features seven left-handers and seven right-handers. It is shaped like the Chinese character “shang” which I am told means “high” or “above” and that probably refers to the media centre, which is located on the ninth floor in one of the big “bridges” above the start and finish straight.

Shanghai International Circuit offers quite a few overtaking opportunities, in particular at the multi-apex turn one and at the end of the back straight. Average speed is close to 200 km/h and the cars reach their maximum speed on the straight, which at more than one kilometre is the longest in F1 today.

The circuit is quite some distance away from the city centre, and foreigners are not allowed to drive cars in China - not without a Chinese driving license, at least. That means we have to go to the circuit in media shuttle busses provided by the organisers, and from a downtown hotel that is likely to take more than an hour - and probably closer to two hours going back during the rush hour. The organisers have also organised a “media hotel” closer to the circuit, and I will stay there. Still, it will take at least half an hour to reach the circuit in the Chinese traffic, which is the wildest I have experienced in my 25 years of working in F1. Panasonic Toyota racing driver Ralf Schumacher agrees with me: “I still have not seen much of the city of Shanghai but I do remember that the traffic is crazy,” he says.

I will be back on Friday with my first diary entry from Shanghai - traffic permitting, of course!

The first practice day for the Chinese Grand Prix here at the Shanghai International Circuit saw Alexander Wurz fastest ahead of Sebastian Vettel (third drivers for Williams and BMW respectively. Panasonic Toyota Racing´s Ralf Schumacher and Jarno Trulli were 17th. and 18th. in the final session.

Shanghai International Circuit (SIC in short) is one of the newest circuits in the Formula 1 calendar (only Turkey´s Istanbul Park is newer). When the Chinese government decided they wanted a Grand Prix, Shanghai was the obvious location, because the city is by far the most “western” in the country (and capital Beijing was busy with the 2008 Olympic Games anyway). Shanghai is also the powerhouse of the rapidly growing Chinese economy - in fact, I am told the Chinese economy will be the largest in the world by 2050!

The site that was chosen for the new circuit was in the Jiading district; more than one hour´s drive away from “downtown” Shanghai and the famous “Bund” on the estuary of the Yangtze River. (I went into the Bund yesterday and it is a beautiful and very lively area but just too far from the BIC. This year, the BIC´s “media hotel” is in the city of Jiading and it only takes us 15 minutes to reach the circuit by shuttle bus. Nice!).

German circuit design expert Herman Tilke headed the project of building the BIC and he came up with a great layout, that among several interesting features offer a 320 km/h back straight leading into a hairpin (a classic recipe for overtaking!)

Once the construction plans had been approved, there were only 18 months to build the circuit and its infrastructure, requiring a workforce of 7000 to work around the clock. And if the time scale wasn´t trouble enough, the site provided further problems as it was a swamp requiring specialist building techniques to make it stable: 40.000 support piles - from 40 to 80 metres in depth - plus a lawyer of polystyrene were needed to transform the swamp into probably THE most modern F1 circuit in the world. I am told that to fulfil the need for polystyrene, the company had to purchase the entire stock available in the Asian market! Still, SIC was finished in order to take China into the 2004 F1 calendar and it immediately proved popular with drivers and teams,

Less than half of the 5,4 square kilometre site is covered by the circuit, with the rest developed for other recreational uses. SIC also includes a large area with souvenir and merchandise stalls, and I had to go out there this morning to buy a fleece jacket - the air condition had made the Media Centre freezing cold!

The Media centre is on the ninth floor in one of the big “bridges” which cross the track high above the start/finish line. Tilke made sure the design of SIC has a distinct Chinese flavour with local themes incorporated everywhere. Some of the grandstands have a roof based on a lotus leaf and in the paddock, the team offices are built on stints above a lake - an imitation of the water gardens in Shanghai´s Yu-yuan.

A grey and sometimes wet day in Shanghai produced an interesting grid for tomorrow´s Chinese Grand Prix. Fernando Alonso is on pole position with his team-mate Giancarlo Fisichella alongside him on the first row with Panasonic Toyota Racing drivers Ralf Schumacher and Jarno Trulli 16th. and 17th. on the provisional grid.

Yesterday I told you about the history of the Shanghai International Circuit (SIC), which only made its debut in the F1 calendar in 2004. Today, Panasonic Toyota Racing General Manager Chassis Pascal Vasselon reveals what SIC means to the F1 cars.

“In most areas it is an average circuit but there are two very special corners, both long right-handers,” he says. “The first is T1 at the end of the main straight, which tightens up as it progresses and the other is out onto the straight at the back of the circuit. Those corners are unique to SIC and the main consequence in terms of tyres is that they put the emphasis on graining or wear of the front left. Last year one or two cars had a difficult time finishing the race because of the left front tyre,” Pascal explains.

A number of drivers has told me that the first corner seems to go on forever and Pascal says: “In terms of technical data the first corner has an interesting consequence in that you see the highest steering loading of the whole season there. This is due to the very high speed cornering with simultaneous braking.”

The two corners Pascal mentions is what makes SIC special - the rest of the circuit is fairly conventional. “Yes - I would say that in other respects Shanghai is average in terms of brakes, tyre compounds and downforce - but again with its unique features related to those two special corners.”

The start/finish straight at SIC is impressive but the back straight is even longer - in fact it is the longest straight in the F1 calendar these days. The combination of long straights and a lot of different types of corners means the set-up of the car is a compromise. “Yes - another special feature of Shanghai is the compromise between downforce and end-of-straight speed. The exit of the second long right-hander is the dominant factor regarding the following straight. We have seen some strange things - surprisingly the car went faster on average down the straight with more downforce. It is simply because the exit of this very long right-hander is so vital.”

So much about the circuit. Another spectacular feature of the SIC is the enormous paddock. “It is one of the most extraordinary paddocks anywhere,” Pascal says. “You have all that space and the team bungalows on stilts - it is amazing! It seems as if there has been a kind of competition among the new circuits to who can make the most extraordinary circuit and paddock!”

Tomorrow SIC will host another, more official competition. It is called the 2006 Chinese Grand Prix and I will be back with my final diary entry from Shanghai after the race.

The Chinese Grand Prix here in Shanghai saw Michael Schumacher win in front of Fernando Alonso. In the fight for the 2006 World Championship, the result means that Schumacher and Alonso are equal on points before the Japanese Grand Prix next week.

Panasonic Toyota Racing drivers Ralf Schumacher and Jarno Trulli had a disappointing Chinese Grand Prix; both retiring shortly before the end

In the paddock mechanics are now busy packing up, because in a few days we will all be in Suzuka for the Japanese Grand Prix. And from Suzuka, most of the equipment will travel to Sao Paulo for the Brazilian Grand Prix, which brings the 2006 Formula 1 season to its end. F1 used to be a very “European” affair with only a few “fly-away” races but not any more: This year, nine of the 18 races are outside Europe. (Turkey is a special case as the Istanbul Park is just across the Bosporus bridge - technically it is outside Europe but it is not a >fly-away< race. In fact, the trucks, motor homes and all the equipment travels to Turkey by sea).

Being “on the road” for more than a month is a huge logistical task for the F1 teams. Top teams have taken between 30 and 40 tonnes of equipment to Asia for the the Chinese and Japanese Grand Prix and most of this will travel on the Brazil (certain parts like gearboxes, uprights, steering racks, dampers and front and rear wings may go back to the team H. Q.s between the Japanese and the Brazilian Grand Prix for service).

Here in Shanghai, the Panasonic Toyota Racing general manager Richard Cregan, has told the paddock newspaper “The Red Bulletin” about the logistics of the “fly-away” races.

“With fly-away races taking up half the calendar, the way we look at the season as a whole is different. It concentrates our efforts keenly and makes us more conscious of the effort and time it takes to install everything, particularly the pit equipment. At Toyota we have developed our pit equipment to prioritise the needs of overseas races: It is quicker to install and easier to pack-up. And that certainly doesn´t hurt when we are back in Europe either!”

As the equipment is sent as air freight, weight is obviously important. “When European racing dominated, we weren´t so concerned with the weight of the equipment, tools, cabinets and the other general equipment that we would use in the garage. But the minute you start thinking about half a year of overseas races, weight features very strongly in your calculations: You start to look at things by the kilo and keep them as light as possible for the freight,” Richard says.

Even for the poor F1 journalists weight is an issue. As a (very!) frequent traveller I am allowed to take 40 kilo of luggage, but going straight from China to Japan means I have to bring clothes for 12 days - plus computers, cameras, lenses and so on. It is actually quite a struggle to keep my luggage under the 40 kilo limit, and I face a busy night packing my bags. Tomorrow I am off to Tokyo - and on Tuesday or Wednesday I will have my preview of the Japanese Grand Prix on-line!