"What we see here is absolutely amazing, fantastic," Jordan team boss Eddie Jordan said of the US $240 billion circuit.

"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. We don't have that anywhere else, and these people have set the benchmark," he added.

Renault team boss Flavio Briatore echoed Jordan's compliment and compared the state-of-the-art track with Bahrain's.

"Everybody has said the circuit is fantastic. This is an example," he said.

"To beat this one is really, really difficult. For me, Bahrain was already impressive but this one is better."

Bahrain circuit was hailed as the most modern circuit on the Formula One calendar when it made its debut in April, but Shanghai seemed gone a step further.

While Bahrain put in US $150 million for the circuit, there have been more lavish spending in Shanghai. The 5.4-kilometer-long track, designed by prolific German Hermann Tilke, was built at the cost of US$ 320 million dollars according to the latest report.

New and modern circuits clearly have raised the bar for old ones in Europe. "In Asia, we see Malaysia, Bahrain, and Shanghai, it is much better than Europe," Briatore said.

"The circuits in Europe are now looking really bad. We should invite promoters from Europe to come here. We have six or seven circuits in Europe that are not for Formula One any more. There are no facilities at all, and we pay the same price anyway."

The Shanghai circuit was built within 18 months under extreme conditions. The swampy terrain posed a real challenge for contractors.

The futuristic pits and grandstands on track emulate traditional Chinese design features. Other symbols represented in the architecture originate from Chinese history, such as the team buildings arranged like pavilions in a lake to resemble the ancient Yuyuan Garden in Shanghai.

The circuit seats up to 200,000 spectators and the Main Grandstand, with 29,000 seats, provides a spectacular view of almost 80 percent of the track.

China has tried for many years to stage a Grand Prix. The first circuit built for Grand Prix racing was in Zhuhai in the south of China, but it never became a Formula One venue.