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F1 1000 matters - but it's the 1001st race staged

The 1000th world championship race that Formula 1 is celebrating this weekend may be problematic in terms of its semantic meaning, but the fact that it has reached such a milestone is well worth celebrating

The Chinese Grand Prix - Formula 1's 1000th 'birthday' - is no more or less important than the one in Bahrain that preceded it or the one in Baku that follows. But while the 1000th world championship race has no greater intrinsic value than the other 999, it does have a wider significance that makes it worth celebrating.

Because we have a combined total of 10 fingers and thumbs and therefore created a base 10 mathematical system, 1000 is a nice round number and people can't help but enjoy celebrating such milestones. And it's worth marking as a remarkable feat of endurance, one that has defined motorsport for the past 70 years.

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