Soon two Grands Prix in China?

While Shanghai will host the 1th Grand Prix in history next April, Liberty Media would like the F1 travels to the Middle Kingdom twice a year. Continuously present on the calendar since 2004, China recorded a sharp increase in its audience in 2018 after the return of the Grands Prix on the free-to-air channel CCTV, with a reach three times greater than the previous season and a cumulative audience up 69%, the best result of the twenty biggest F1 markets.

With 68 million unique viewers, the country has the second largest contingent of people affected, behind Brazil. Murray Barnett, Head of Global F1 Sponsorship, recently visited Beijing as part of a conference on F1 marketing strategy and took the opportunity to unveil Liberty's plans in China, a key market for all manufacturers involved in the premier category. “We would love to have a second race here, Barnett told the Xinhua news agency. 

Probably not in the short term because the calendar is already busy, but it is certain that we would like to find a solution to have another race in the country. We are looking at a lot of different solutions to generate more interest locally. We can't just be in China for the three days of the Grand Prix. We need to establish a year-round presence with events that speak to the local population to grow and establish the Chinese fan base.”

The US organization organized one of its four “fan festivals” in Shanghai last year on the sidelines of the Grand Prix, while Xinhua also reports that Liberty Media seeks to open office in Beijing. One way to increase interest in China would be to have a local pilot. The country has never had a representative in F1, although Ma Qing Hua took part in several free testing sessions for HRT and Caterham during the 2012 and 2013 seasons. The current best national hope is none other than Guanyu Zhou, who has just joined the Renault Sport Academy. “We would like to see it (in F1), added Barnett, speaking of the young 19-year-old driver, who will drive in Formula 2 this season. The final decision is up to the teams, but I think they recognize the fantastic opportunities that China offers them. Who knows, maybe we’ll see him in F1 soon.”