Chinese Grand Prix: 5 Weird and Wonderful Moments

One of the strangest and certainly most spectacular accidents not to involve another driver (or even a mistake) befell Sebastien Buemi in 2010 when his Toro Rosso shed its front wheels and left him tobogganing towards the barriers. During free practice, the Toro Rosso driver was coming to the end of the back straight at 200 mph when he hit the brakes, only for both of his front wheels to burst off his car.

Despite his inevitably futile efforts to stop the car without several key components to do so, Buemi was ultimaterly saved by the long run off areas despite the high speeds involved and walked away unhurt. Toro Rosso revealed after the smash that a re-designed front-right upright on its car had led to one wheel to break free, with the other almost immediately following suit when it couldn't cope with the additional stress.

It is an incident Toro Rosso most likely wants to forget even if it goes down as one of the most unintentionally memorable moments in the Swiss driver's relatively short F1 career.

He hadn't had the best of first seasons as a McLaren-Mercedes driver, but Juan Pablo Montoya would not have been able to believe his luck when his 2005 Chinese Grand Prix was scuppered by a loose drain cover that had become dislodged on the exit of turn 10. Though woeful fortune, Montoya could in one way count himself lucky he struck the metal grate - weighing 20kg - directly with his wheel and didn't flick it back towards himself. In fact, the incident didn't even end his race but it did lead to some serious questions in the direction of the organisers...

Though he has an excellent record in Shanghai, a return to China is something of a bittersweet experience for Lewis Hamilton who all but said goodbye to winning the F1 title in his rookie season when he slid off in bizarre circumstances. Knowing a win would clinch the title with one round to spare, the Briton upheld his side of the deal by taking pole and leading the early part of the race on a damp track, but began to struggle as conditions dried.

Keen to limit the number of pit stops Hamilton would make, McLaren opted to keep the 22-year-old out on-track despite losing chunks of time - and the lead - such was their faith in their original strategy. When Hamilton finally got the call to pit, his left-rear tyre was already baring canvas, with the lack of grip causing him to veer into the gravel at pit entry.

Despite Hamilton's best efforts to dig himself out, and even with a push from the marshals, the McLaren was stuck. Hamilton suffered the first DNF of his career, and would go on to suffer a heartbreaking title defeat in Brazil.

Buemi's crash may have been odd, but it has nothing on the unfathomable nature of the collision between Ferrari's Michael Schumacher and Minardi's Christijan Albers at the 2005 Chinese Grand Prix.

With the race set to begin in around 30 minutes' time, both drivers left the pit lane to complete an installation lap on their way to the grid. Schumacher slowed through the first sector, veering to one side to get some heat in his tyres, only for Albers to go flying into him as he attempted to pass the slowing Ferrari.

Both drivers were fuming, with Schumacher left to hitch a lift on a moped back to the pits and get in the T-car. Both drivers were able to start from the pit lane, but it marked a sorry end to a sorry season for Schumacher and Ferrari... not to mention Minardi's very final F1 race.

One year later, and Schumacher was back on the top step in China. Embroiled in a bitter fight with Fernando Alonso for the drivers' title in 2006, Schumacher was on the back foot in Shanghai after qualifying down in sixth in a rain-affected session.

With the race also a wet affair, Schumacher's title hopes looked sunk as Alonso headed up a front-row lock-out for Renault, but the Spaniard struggled for grip following the first round of pit stops, allowing team-mate Giancarlo Fisichella and Schumacher to close. Both passed with relative ease in the lead-up to the final stops, setting up a final fight.

Schumacher pitted one lap earlier than Fisichella, allowing him to get the jump before pulling clear. Alonso regained second as his tyres came good in the closing stages, but fell three seconds short of Schumacher, who moved into the lead of the championship with his 91st - and, ultimately, final - grand prix victory.