The Chinese Grand Prix is always a special race filled with drama and excitement. But this year, it holds more significance than perhaps ever before.
As the 20 teams head to Shanghai, Formula One is preparing to celebrate its 1,000th official race on Sunday, a milestone that some thought it would never reach after the controversial switch to hybrid engines in 2013.
But here we are in 2019, where F1 is still thriving and fittingly, the Chinese Grand Prix is sold out with more than 200,000 spectators making the trip to the Far East.
There is one man who has tasted the action both from the cockpit, where picked up nine podiums, and the commentary box as a broadcaster for the past 22 years. Martin Brundle has been there to see it all.
Having worked for ITV Sport from 1997 to 2008, Brundle hopped over to terrestrial rivals BBC in 2009 when they picked up the rights.
Now at Sky Sports after the broadcasting giant bought the rights in 2012, Brundle is one of the most respected voices in the F1 sphere.
Standard Sport asked the Sky Sports F1 Expert Analyst to reflect on his best memories and Brundle recalled the race where Lewis Hamilton was crowned Formula One world champion for the first time 11 years ago.
"It has to be the crazy 2008 Brazilian Grand Prix, with its changeable weather and multiple pit stops," Brundle said.
"It seemed that local man Felipe Massa was crowned world champion, only for Lewis Hamilton to pass a car [Timo Glock] in the last corner to snatch the championship away 20 seconds later."
Unsurprisingly, the 59-year-old recalled the 1998 Belgian Grand Prix as the craziest race he has witnessed.
It was Spa-Francorchamps where the Scot David Coulthard spun while leading away from the first corner taking out 13 cars with him.
After the race was red flagged and restarted, Michael Schumacher emerged in the lead but was unsighted in heavy rain and crashed into the back of Coulthard in his spare car. Eventually allowing Damon Hill to win a remarkable Jordan team one-two at the flag.
Looking back nostalgically on his days as a driver, where he entered 159 races for teams such as Tyrrell, Jordan and McLaren, Brundle says there are three men in particular who he remembers fondly.
"The special personal days I remember were sharing podiums in Monaco, Monza and Silverstone and suchlike with legends like [Ayrton] Senna, [Michael] Schumacher and [Nigel] Mansell," he added.
"But [there are others], when I survived three huge career crashes to race on. The darkest day was competing in the race where Senna died on May Day in 1994 [at Imola]."
Now that Formula One has reached the 1,000 race landmark, there are concerns over how much longer the sport will go on.
Rule changes planned for 2021 will impact team's budgets with the desire for a more level playing field, risking a breakaway from F1 pioneers Ferrari and Mercedes. But Brundle insists the sport can live on, adapt to the new rules and make new memories along the way.
"F1 has a global momentum and awareness with ever increasing history and heritage," he said.
"It will evolve with the times, but mankind will always want to race each other at the highest level, and another 1,000 races will be no problem."
