Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, yesterday visited the racing circuit in Shanghai that will host China’s first Formula 1 Grand Prix on September 26^th. The  track is located in Jia Ding, about 60 kilometres to the west of the city and a 90-minute drive from the Pu Dong international airport.

The Duke described his visit as, “a great opportunity to see a place at which the UK will display its leading technology: seven out of 10 F1 teams come from the UK and nearly three-quarters of all single-seater racing cars are built there.”

In his role of Special Representative of United Kingdom Trade and Investment the Duke had also visited Bahrain during the construction of their new circuit earlier this year. He will have recognised the style of buildings that come as part of Bernie Ecclestone’s vision for modern Grand Prix circuits.

In Shanghai’s case the dusty local landscape of two-storey factories is dominated by a huge structure which straddles the main straight of the circuit. A football stadium-style grandstand on one side and pit buildings on the other are connected – at each end – by huge wing-shaped bridges which contain the media centre and a restaurant. Prince Andrew, whose nephew Peter Philips works at the BMW Williams F1 team, appeared impressed by the scale of the buildings: “congratulations on what you have achieved here. I hope it is all completed on time – and to budget!” 

For some of the local media the reason for Prince Andrew’s visit was not entirely clear. Jim James, from F1 Racing magazine, helped solve the mystery. “Britain is rightly proud of its position in Formula 1, but that’s not the most important thing here. The Chinese Grand Prix will be the biggest sporting event ever to happen in China. That’s hugely significant. It’s why the Duke came and it’s why the attention of the world’s media will be focussed on Shanghai in September.”