Toto Wolff has called for China to host more Grands Prix ahead of F1 returning to the country in 2023. The Shanghai International Circuit hosted 16 consecutive races between 2004 and 2019, the last of which was won by Lewis Hamilton en route to his sixth world title that season.
The 2020 version was originally scheduled to take place in April that year, but it was postponed and later cancelled due to the Covid pandemic. Both the 2021 and 2022 editions were also omitted from the F1 schedule for the same reason.
However, the contract of the Chinese Grand Prix has been extended to 2025, and it has already been confirmed that the venue in Shanghai will return for the next campaign. Also included for 2023 is a night-race in Las Vegas, which will mean three US Grand Prix's alongside Texas and Miami.
The latter will make it's debut on the F1 circuit this weekend, despite a chaotic build-up which saw Florida residents mount a legal challenge to try and get it cancelled, citing noise pollution. A specially fabricated marina, erected by organisers especially for the weekend, has also been ridiculed by F1 fans.
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But speaking at the ABB FIA Formula E Championship in Monaco, Mercedes boss Wolff suggested F1 should be expanding in China as well as America: "We've been in Shanghai before and couldn't be there the last two years, but this is an important market for us," he told Xinhua.
"I'd like to not only race in Shanghai, I'd also like to race in Beijing. 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
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