In the round-up: Anticipation for the first Chinese Grand Prix in five years is so high fans crashed a website selling tickets for the race, says Zhou Guanyu.
In brief
Zhou expects “memorable” first home race
Sauber driver Zhou is poised to become the first Chinese driver to compete in their home grand prix when F1 returns to the Shanghai International Circuit in April. He said interest in the series has ballooned since F1 last visited the track in 2019.
“I was at the dinner table at eight o’clock, that was when the ticket was selling, and then people was just texting me that my grandstand had been sold out in four minutes,” he said. “In reality, the first 10 minutes, because the app was shutting down by too many users trying to buy the tickets.
“So it’s great news, I think, especially for China, coming back after five seasons, to finally have the grand prix there and just to see the whole audience, how much it’s been growing, has been built over the last past few years.”
Zhou said his arrival in F1 two years ago as China’s first race driver to enter the series has “made a massive impact” on its popularity. “It is great to see. Also a lot of the young generations, they are starting go karts, racing abroad more often compared to the age I was, moving out to try to do racing in motorsports or to gradually get into Formula 1.
“So it’s exciting, not just my grandstand, the whole ticket has been sold out for the grand prix, so can’t wait for that. And it’s a sprint race weekend so I think the fans can have definitely more entertainment and there will be more racing action going on so it’s going to be a memorable weekend.”
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Leon leads F3 test
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