China GP demanding 'changes' in F1

Organisers of the Chinese grand prix are demanding "changes" within formula one.

The annual Shanghai race is promoted by Juss Event, whose marketing manager Yang Yibin has revealed concerns about the state of the sport.

He said while the local fan base is stable, the overall drawing power of the Chinese grand prix has been in decline.

"There are various reasons," he told Shanghai Daily, "like one team dominating several seasons (and) smaller teams finding it hard to challenge the bigger constructors, etc.

"The races are not as brilliant as they were a decade ago," Yang added.

Shanghai's F1 race contract runs until 2017, and Yang said the grand prix is just one of "a lot" of international events in the sprawling city every year.

As for whether the F1 deal will be extended, he insisted: "Changes have to be made to the sport.

"UBS was the title sponsor of last year's Chinese GP, but they didn't extend the contract this year, and there must be a reason for it.

"Maybe we can expect something new when we go into the post-Bernie (Ecclestone) era," Yang added.

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