Chinese car manufacturers have been urged to enter Formula 1 and use the sport as a platform to accelerate their knowledge and development of technology and sustainability.
F1 is dominated by constructors and drivers from Europe, but Chinese carmakers are yet to enter the sport. Now, a pivotal figure behind F1 team Alfa Romeo says carmakers could yield significant benefits if they join.
Alessandro Alunni Bravi, Managing Director of Sauber, the manufacturer of Alfa Romeo's F1 car, told CGTN: "It's important for a Chinese car manufacturer to join F1 because they can then use this as this platform to develop their technologies for future road cars."
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He added: "In Formula One, we are at the pinnacle not only of motorsport, but also of technology, especially for the future of mobility. Since 2014, we've used the most efficient hybrid fuels in the world. Now we are using 10% bio fuel and soon our cars will run on 100% sustainable fuels."
Alessandro Alunni Bravi says Chinese firms could gain a competitive advantage by entering the sport with access to technology such as Sauber's wind tunnel./CGTN
A Chinese team may still be some years away, but the country is already having an impact on the sport. A Chinese artificial intelligence firm Sensetime has been working with Alfa Romeo for the past three years to develop AI for the team's simulation department.
"AI is helping us to develop race strategies," says Alunni Bravi. "It helps us to make predictions by analyzing data to predict tire degradation, for example. They're also teaching us how to apply AI in performance related areas - they are really important and functional to us."
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China has hosted 16 F1 races between 2004 and 2019 but the annual Chinese Grand Prix has been canceled four years in a row because of the pandemic. The sport will finally return to Shanghai in 2024 and Alunni Bravi believes its growing popularity across the country is helping people to understand the potential of F1 for other industries.
"Chinese people are starting to understand more and more the potential of F1," he says. "We are a technology platform, we are a promotional platform, we are a sustainable platform. I think that there are all the elements for investors or companies in China to be in Formula One and to use this platform."
Zhou Guanyu became F1's first ever Chinese driver in 2022 when he joined Alfa Romeo but a Chinese team is yet to enter the sport./CGTN.
In 2022, Zhou Guanyu joined Alfa Romeo and became F1's first ever Chinese driver. The 24-year-old declared that his arrival in the sport represented a "breakthrough for Chinese motorsport history".
But Zhou says he's unsure if carmakers in his homeland will enter the sport in the coming years. "I couldn't imagine seeing a Chinese constructor, which is a little bit of a disappointment, but I think it is the reality. In the next two or three years I don't think anything is coming of course it could be a brand that's maybe named buying after Formula One team."
But Zhou is excited about the prospect of racing in his homeland next year. "It's been a little bit frustrating (not racing in China) but it's good that it's coming back in 2024, "he added. "It's going to be a special moment and I think the Chinese fans have been waiting a long time for this. The last race (in China) was the 100th anniversary of F1 and tickets sold out very quickly."
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Cover image: Alfa Romeo F1 team