Credits: IMAGO / Andreas Beil

F1 returns to Shanghai for the first time in five years, with the Chinese GP making a return to the calendar. The circuit, which hosts the fifth round of the 2024 season, is special for several reasons, including the fact that it was where Michael Schumacher won the final race of his illustrious career.

2006 was Schumacher’s last season with Ferrari, as he announced his first retirement at the end of the campaign. He was dueling with reigning World Champion Fernando Alonso at the time, and the latter prevailed come the finale. But in China that year, Schumacher emerged victorious, claiming an astounding 91st Grand Prix win.

Alonso may have won the title, but Schumacher added win number 91 to his tally, a record that remained unbroken for over a decade until Lewis Hamilton passed him in 2020. The German driver started the 2006 Chinese GP from P6, which made winning the race difficult. However, he showed the rest of the grid why he was a seven-time world champion and drove a brilliant race to take the chequered flag first.

Unfortunately, failing to chase down Alonso in the Championship battle in both 2005 and 2006 made Schumacher want to quit the sport. He left Ferrari and didn’t drive in F1 again until 2010 when he came out of retirement to drive for Mercedes.

18 years after Schumacher won his final F1 race, a new generation of F1 drivers travel to Shanghai for the 2024 Chinese GP. It has been a while since they competed at the Shanghai International Circuit, with some also set to make their first appearance at the track.

Michael Schumacher’s return to F1

Michael Schumacher came out of retirement in 2010, not to win races or compete for titles, but to help Mercedes settle into F1. Being a German driver, helping a team representing his nation in F1 was an appealing idea for the former Ferrari driver. However, back then, Mercedes wasn’t the dominant force it became post the onset of the turbo hybrid era in 2014.

Schumacher stayed with Mercedes until the 2012 season but never managed to win a race in that time. The only form of silverware he won was in 2012 when he finished P3 at the European GP in Valencia.

Schumacher stayed away from F1 for three seasons, which was almost similar to the Chinese GP’s absence, a race that missed out on a spot in the calendar for four seasons. His former team Ferrari is making huge progress, but just like at the time of his F1 return in 2010, Red Bull is at the top.

Max Verstappen and teammate Sergio Perez remain the favorites to finish 1st and 2nd, respectively, in China, just like the duo did in three of the four races so far this campaign.