Toto Wolff remains hopeful that the Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix will go ahead as planned in April, believing it would be a “shame” to lose a popular event.
The race remains in doubt as the Coronavirus continues to spread across the world, with the latest figures showing that over 1,000 Chinese citizens have died and more than 42,000 have been infected as the Asian country battles to contain the virus.
Formula E has already postponed its Chinese round in Sanya, which had been scheduled for late-March and the Shanghai Sports Federation has advised that all sporting events should be suspended for the foreseeable future until the situation improves.
F1 has yet to make a final decision on its fourth round, scheduled for mid-April, and Wolff is pressing ahead with preparations for the race as if it were going ahead.
“In terms of China, Formula E was cancelled,” he said. “They are about three weeks before us and they cancelled last week so I would very much hope that we go to China.
“I am actually going to the Chinese embassy [today] for my biometric scan.
“At the moment it looks like we are going to China but not going would be a shame. We had full grandstands last year, it was sold out.
“China starts to become a really important market in terms of the fan following where we have activities in Shanghai around the race and not going there would obviously not be great for the fans and ourselves but health comes first and I hope that they get in control of that. That has priority.”
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