Marseille, Shanghai and Miami among planned F1 Live venues

Formula 1 is set to expand its successful live event format that debuted in London last year by taking it to five new cities through 2018: Marseille, Berlin, Milan, Shanghai and Miami.

F1 Live London saw the majority of the sport's stars and a number of iconic cars hit the streets of the city centre, attracting a crowd of more than 100,000 fans days before the British Grand Prix at Silverstone.

F1 is now set to expand its live demonstrations through 2018, with commercial boss Sean Bratches confirming the planned cities for events during the coming season.

"We plan something similar in Marseille, Berlin, Milan, Shanghai and Miami, but not with so many cars," Bratches told Auto Motor und Sport.

"We believe that this contact of Formula 1 with the audience outside the racetrack is important. It also carries our message to people we would not otherwise reach.

"Formula 1 has been so exclusive over the years, that it was only accessible to interested people. The same applies to sponsors.

"There is a lot of interest from companies for these events that are not yet in F1."

Liberty has faced criticism from some quarters for its investment in expensive events such as F1 Live, but Bratches stressed it would prove profitable in the long-term to both teams and sponsors.

"If there is a business that has been so poorly marketed as Formula 1, then everyone first of all understands that you have to invest in infrastructure," Bratches said.

"There used to be no department for sponsors, for digital platforms, for marketing, for communication, for the rules.

"This will one day pay off to the extent that everyone will appreciate the investment."

All five of the cities named by Bratches are in countries hosting grands prix through 2018, making it possible to stage the events in the days leading up to the race weekend.

Should F1 follow this plan, Shanghai would be the first city to host a live event in 2018 ahead of the Chinese Grand Prix on April 15.