F1: Toto Wolff wants China to also host 3 GPs

“I’d like to not only race in Shanghai, I’d also like to race in Beijing,” Mercedes Motorsports boss Toto Wolff told Xinhua.

“It’s a fantastic market for us as Mercedes, and I believe we should be embedded there with a strong footprint.

“We have three races in the US now, Las Vegas, Miami and Austin and if we can do the same thing in China, that would be great.”

The China market is important to more than just Mercedes, but the entire sport.

When Alfa Romeo signed Chinese driver Zhou Guanyu in November, team principal Frederic Vasseur called the decision “crucial for the future of the company”.

“It was not only based on the fact that he is Chinese, but it will be a mega-push for the company, for sponsors and I also think for F1 in general,” he said.

Zhou, China’s first full-time driver in F1, has done his part too in raising the sport’s profile in his home country, putting in a string of impressive performances in the first four races of his rookie season.