Pride and hype as F1 returns to China after Covid
Two years ago the Shanghai International Circuit hosted a Covid hospital, but this weekend it will stage Formula One once more as the sport returns to China for the rst time since the pandemic.
Adding to the excitement of fans, they will see Shanghai native Zhou Guanyu drive at his home track in Formula One for the rst time. “I’m extremely excited, in these 5,000 years of (Chinese) history there has only been one Zhou Guanyu,” said fan Wang ◣iaotian.
Shanghai last witnessed an F1 race in 2019, before Covid and China’s travel restrictions put a halt to almost all major international sport in the country.
Tickets sold out
Tickets for the actionpacked Formula One weekend — which begins with Friday morning practice, sees a sprint race on Saturday
and ends with the Grand Prix on Sunday — sold out within minutes of going on sale in January.
Ma Qinghua, the rst Chinese to drive an F1 car when he took part in a 2012 practice session, said the sport’s return will have a “very good impact”, especially on younger fans who did not have the chance to see their heroes.
“This group of people are very much anticipating the chance to witness a race personally,” Ma, a pioneer of China’s motorsport industry, said.
It was almost exactly two years ago, at the height of the city’s lockdown, that the Shanghai circuit became the site of a makeshift 13,000-bed Covid hospital.
That was just a few weeks after Zhou had his rst Grand Prix drive in Bahrain, nishing 15th, but the pandemic delayed 24year-old Zhou’s home F1 debut until this week.
“It’s an opportunity to inspire and pave the path for future generations being interested in the sport. My country loves racing and has been waiting for this moment for years,” Zhou said on Monday.
Shanghai staged the country’s rst F1 Grand Prix in 2004 and, prior to the pandemic, the sport’s decision-makers had talked about the possibility of a second each year in China.
Ma, who was the rst Chinese driver to take part in a Formula One practice session at the 2012 Italian Grand Prix, has witnessed the growth in motorsports rst hand. “It is a lot more popular now,” said Ma, adding that, when he started, “I didn’t even know where I could do a test or that there was such a thing as a racing licence”.