Formula One: Chinese Grand Prix: Shanghai Surprise for Schumacher

Tourist guides warn visitors that personal space is not highly valued in China, where bumping, barging and queue-jumping is an acceptable facet of daily life. It is a message that ought to be passed to the drivers ahead of Michael Schumacher as he starts this morning's Chinese Grand Prix from the back of the grid. The world champion is unlikely to stand on ceremony after spinning away the expected chance of pole position by making a mistake at the first corner of his qualifying lap yesterday.

The local audience did not know what to make of an indiscretion by the best-known international sportsman in the country. On the one hand, the absence of anticipated perfection was puzzling, given that Schumacher was the only driver to submit to the cunning layout of a race track that possesses 10 times more imagination than Bahrain, the other new entry to the 2004 calendar.

On the other hand, the prospect of having Schumacher carve his way through the field seemed perfectly logical to speeding motorists who pass on either side and constantly change lanes with frightening intensity. As one bewildered punter - clearly not familiar with the sport's nuances - admitted: 'What's the point in having the fastest guy at the front? He's bound to win. Is not more fun to have him at the back?'

Schumacher inadvertently gave the man his wish while, at the same time, ensuring that Rubens Barrichello was able to save Ferrari's honour by taking his second pole position in succession ahead of Kimi Raikkonen's McLaren and the BAR-Honda of Jenson Button.

Another tip in the tourist literature simply states: 'Traffic: dangerous. Priority: to the biggest.' In other words, if today's race fails to provide suitable entertainment, the 150,000 spectators can generate their own thrills on the way home. The chances are, however, that the biggest international sporting event to be staged in China will have satisfied a crowd desperate to see Formula One in the flesh for the first time.

Tickets have been advertised on the internet for $1,000 (£590), nearly 10 times their face value. Such outrageous inflation is in keeping with a venue on which the government has lavished £150 million to provide a facility that has raised the standard even further than Bahrain and Malaysia.

The penalty is an absence of atmosphere in a paddock where the team buildings have been placed on stilts in a lake in order to create, according to the literature, 'an island of peace and meditation for the fast world of formula one'. There is rarely much time for gentle contemplation in an area that actually resembles a theme park without children. But even that is debatable given the intransigent, foot-stamping attitude of some team principals as they agree only to disagree on whatever suggestions are put before them.

Max Mosley, the president of the sport's governing body, admitted yesterday that there is little the FIA can do to prevent deadlock created by rules - not due to expire until 2008 - that call for unanimity in the decision-making process. Mosley is anxious to cut costs and save teams such as Jaguar, Jordan and Minardi, all of whom are struggling with financial difficulties but whom, contrary to the view expressed by Bernie Ecclestone, Mosley feels will survive and are worthy of a place in F1.

This event has made the local motorsport fans question why there is not a Chinese driver in F1. The answer is that the country does not possess the racing heritage and nursery formulae in countries such as Britain where the British F3 championship reaches its conclusion at the Brands Hatch Indy circuit on Sunday.

The favourite may be Nelson Piquet Junior, son of the three-times world champion, but the 19-year-old Brazilian will be in a head-to-head contest with Adam Carroll on the difficult Kent track. Carroll may be 26 points in arrears but, with victory being worth 20 points, the Ulsterman needs a repeat of his impressive win at Spa two weeks ago. With each round consisting of two separate races, Carroll's chances are not as slim as the points difference might suggest.

Despite working on a shoestring when compared with Piquet's lavish budget, Carroll, 21, has demonstrated the sort of tenacity that any aspiring Chinese drivers would be advised to follow. Perhaps, though, they might wish to avoid the sort of basic error demonstrated by Schumacher. Or, more important perhaps, a reluctance to admit it.

'I don't feel that it was much in my hands,' said Schumacher. 'If they don't find anything wrong with the car, then maybe it was something to do with what is between the fuel tank and the steering wheel.' Even the most bemused spectator would work out eventually that Schumacher was referring to the driver.