Motorsport
Formula 1 return to the largest car market “important moment”
There was no racing in Shanghai in 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023. photo
© Andy Wong/AP/dpa
Corona and the zero-Covid strategy recently made Formula 1 guest appearances in China impossible. 2019 was the last time the race took place in Shanghai. The country is the car market par excellence.
Mercedes Motorsport Director Toto Wolff (52) described the return of Formula 1 to China as an “important moment”. “As the world’s largest automobile market and second-largest economy, China is of crucial importance for the global presence of the sport,” said the Silver Arrows team boss before the first Chinese Grand Prix since 2019. In the following years, the corona pandemic with the strict requirements of the Chinese zero Covid policy a start Motorsport premier class in the country with around 1.4 billion people prevented.
In 2019, Sebastian Vettel started for Ferrari, Mercedes itself was the sporting dominant force and Lewis Hamilton was on his way to his sixth of seven world championship titles that year. Five years ago he won the race – it was the 1000th in the history of Formula 1 since 1950 – at the Shanghai International Circuit.
Driving in China for the first time in five years also gives additional motivation, Wolff told the German Press Agency when asked how important it is to be successful, especially in the country with the largest car market in the world. In 2012, the German factory team achieved its first victory since returning to Formula 1 in Shanghai. At that time, Nico Rosberg won, but teammate Michael Schumacher did not finish.
Tickets were sold out within an hour
There was no racing in Shanghai in 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023. In the USA, Formula 1 experienced a boom at the time thanks to the Netflix series “Drive to Survive” – the streaming service cannot be received in China.
The return of Formula 1 still sparked enthusiasm. According to official information, the tickets were sold out within an hour when advance sales started on January 9th – despite prices of up to almost 500 euros.
“Formula 1 offers fans an opportunity to engage with the brand on a more human level and to understand the values and what we stand for,” said Wolff before the Grand Prix weekend, referring to the promotional value of the formula 1 for sales, especially of electric cars, in China. “This can often be just as important when making a purchasing decision as the product itself.”