F1 'highly interested' in China street race

Formula 1 officials are “highly interested” in holding a second grand prix in China in the near future, with talks set to be held with as many as six cities over a potential street race.

The Chinese Grand Prix debuted on the F1 calendar in 2004 at the purpose-built Shanghai International Circuit, and staged the sport’s 1,000th world championship round last weekend.

China is the largest car market in the world, making it an ideal nation to stage multiple grands prix as F1 looks to expand its reach and add rounds to calendar in the future.

A report from AFP claims an event in Beijing is under consideration, with F1 commercial chief Sean Bratches saying a future Chinese street race would be of significant interest to the sport in addition to the existing Shanghai event.

“In terms of interest, we would be highly interested in a street race,” Bratches told AFP.

"It would be a nice juxtaposition to the purpose-built, extraordinary facility that we have here. Our intent is to bring our show to the people.

"There's meetings set up in each with government officials to talk about identifying a second city to host a grand prix.

"We think there's an opportunity to grow from that perspective.”

The F1 calendar currently stands at 21 races, with a new race in Vietnam set to be added to the schedule for 2020. A street race will be held in the nation’s capital, Hanoi, next April.