Formula One is seeing a surge of interest in China and could “very easily” add a second race in Southeast Asia, the boss of the sport’s owners Liberty Media said on Thursday.
Chief Executive Greg Maffei said at the Monaco Grand Prix that Thailand, South Korea and Indonesia were all interested in hosting an Asian round, with the championship already consisting of a record 24 races.
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South Korea previously hosted a grand prix in Mokpo but local organisers are now interested in bringing racing to the capital Seoul.
Thailand Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin attended last weekend’s race at Italy’s Imola circuit, with talk of a race in Bangkok, while Liberty Media recently acquired MotoGP, which has races in Thailand and Indonesia.
F1 returned to China this year after a four-year absence due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with Sauber‘s Guanyu Zhou making his home debut.
“We’re lucky that we were able to get a Chinese race off this year after four years [away],” Maffei told an event attended by Las Vegas Grand Prix promoters.
“It was very successful. The interest in China has exploded in part because we now have a Chinese driver.
“There’s a lot of interest across Asia… Thailand, Seoul, we’ve had interest from Indonesia.
“There are lots of places which want a Formula One race and we really look to the intersection of where our fans are and where they could be, who could run a great race and who can frankly afford a race.
“I think you could very easily see a second one in Southeast Asia,” he added.
Singapore is the only Southeast Asian race after Malaysia’s round was dropped. Thailand is represented on the F1 grid by British-born Williams driver Alex Albon, whose mother is Thai.
Maffei also said that F1, which has invested heavily in Las Vegas, hoped to build on last year’s inaugural night grand prix on the famed Strip in which problems with loose drain covers halted practice.
“We would surely like to make more money in Las Vegas but over time, I expect we will,” he said
“I think we’ll be smarter next time. And we’ll be more efficient and will probably be less disruptive to the community and understand better what the fans want,” Maffei said.
Source: www.espn.com