Shanghai's design, facilities and layout have impressed F1

Former world champion Jacques Villeneuve said the 3.39-mile Shanghai track was "gorgeous".

"It includes a bit of everything, with quick and slow corners, and it is challenging for the drivers," he said.

Renault team boss Flavio Briatore said the facility was "fantastic" and set a new standard to which other tracks would have to aspire.

Pictures from Shanghai GP

Michael Schumacher said it was "the best race track I have ever seen".

He added: "It's very challenging as you can make a lot of mistakes but at the same time there are opportunities to make up a lot of time."

All the drivers highlighted the first corner as one of the reasons the track stood out.

It turns through more than 180 degrees, starting with a relatively open entry and then tightening.

Circuit guide: Shanghai Preview: New dawn for F1

McLaren driver David Coulthard said the corner was "slow, but very technically demanding".

Villeneuve's Renault team-mate Fernando Alonso added: "The thing that really makes this track different to the others is the long corners at the start of the lap and before the main straight; you don't find this kind of corner at any other track.

"I think it will be a tough circuit to get right."

McLaren boss Ron Dennis said Shanghai was a "wonderful facility".

The track can hold 200,000 spectators and is sold out for Sunday's race, despite complaints that the �25 minimum ticket price equates to a week's wages for an average Chinese worker.

The circuit has been built in two years on marshland on the western outskirts of China's business capital.

The Shanghai track features a space-age bridge housing the media centre

The track features aluminium grandstands and an aerofoil-shaped bridge housing the media centre over the pit straight.

But Jordan team boss Eddie Jordan said it was the little details in Shanghai that made the difference.

"What we see here is absolutely amazing, fantastic, and they need all the congratulations that you can imagine because it's the detail, it's things like the teams rooms and the facilities there and we dont have that anywhere else," he said.

"These people have set the benchmark."