AGI – Two years ago the Shanghai International Circuit hosted a Covid hospital, but this weekend the Formula 1 cars will return to racing there. The Grand Prix returns to China for the first time after the pandemic and local fans will see native Zhou Guanyu from Shanghai, driving on his home track in Formula One for the first time.
Shanghai last saw an F1 race in 2019, before Covid and travel restrictions imposed by China put an end to almost all of the country’s major international sporting competitions.
Tickets for the action-packed Formula 1 weekend – which starts with free practice on Friday morning, sees a sprint race on Saturday and ends with Sunday’s grand prix – they sold out within minutes of going on sale in January.
But Qinghua, the first Chinese to drive an F1 car when he took part in a practice session in 2012, said the sport’s return will have a “great impact”, especially on younger fans who haven’t had the chance to see their heroes on the track during the pandemic.
Almost exactly two years ago, at the height of the city’s lockdown, the Shanghai circuit became the site of a Covid hospital with 13,000 beds. It’s only been a few weeks since Zhou contested his first Grand Prix in Bahrain, finishing tenth and scoring one point, but the pandemic delayed the 24-year-old’s home F1 debut until this week.
Although he is unlikely to challenge for the podium, Zhou is desperate to put on a show in Shanghai. “I can’t wait to give my all, share the passion with our entire team at the track and at home, and start a new chapter of Chinese motorsport together with the public,” he said, “It’s an opportunity to inspire and open up the path for future generations to be interested in this sport. My country loves racing and has been waiting for this moment for years.”
Underscoring the excitement surrounding Zhou, who is in his third F1 season, fans greeted him at the airport when he arrived last week and a documentary about the driver, “The First One”, opens in Chinese cinemas this weekend in conjunction with the race.
Ma, who was the first Chinese driver to take part in a Formula 1 practice session at the 2012 Italian Grand Prix, has witnessed the growth of motorsport first-hand. His F1 adventure did not go further with the now disbanded HRT team due to contractual problems but he drove in other classes such as Formula E and the World Touring Car Championship. Now, at 36, he runs a go-karting joint in Shanghai where would-be speed demons whiz around a two-story track in the basement of a shopping mall. During the five-year absence of Formula 1, China continued to invest resources in motor sport. The island province of Hainan has invested five billion yuan ($691 million) in an electric vehicle racing circuit in 2022, and Formula E will return to China next month, with Shanghai hosting it for the first time.
