Shanghai Circuit Officially Opens

Shanghai officially opened its Formula One circuit on Sunday with a ceremony featuring Austrian Gerhard Berger driving Michael Schumacher's title-winning F2003-GA Ferrari.

Hundreds of Chinese braved light rain and cheered when Berger, who raced for Ferrari for six years in a career spanning 210 grands prix, took to the track for three laps.

The city will host China's first Grand Prix on September 26.

"It was incredible. The track is beautiful and I can't wait to see the race in September," said Gao Huayang, who brought his family of four to the track located about an hour away from Shanghai.

Construction of the 5.45-km (3.39 mile) circuit - designed by German racetrack engineer Herman Tilke, who was also responsible for the acclaimed Sepang track in Malaysia - started in October 2002 and was completed last week. State media said the project cost $325 million (USD).

It is designed to look like the Chinese character 'shang', meaning 'to rise', can accommodate 200,000 spectators and will also include a theme park.

Visiting technical officials from Formula One's world governing body gave their approval after a final inspection on Thursday, state media said.