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F1 holding early talks over second China race on a street circuit

Formula 1 is holding exploratory talks with government officials from six Chinese cities over the prospect of adding a street race to the calendar.

F1 owner Liberty Media has ambitions to add another F1 race in China to complement the current race at Shanghai.

Speaking at last weekend's Chinese Grand Prix, commercial chief Sean Bratches had said that a street circuit would be ideal.

There have been rumours that Beijing - which hosted a Formula E event in 2014/15 - could be one of F1's targets.

In an interview with news agency AFP, Bratches said: "In terms of interest, we would be highly interested in a street race.

"It would be a nice juxtaposition to the purpose-built, extraordinary facility that we have here.

"Our intent is to bring our show to the people."

Bratches cautioned that the talks were about evaluating the possibility of a second race rather than committing to it.

He said that meetings planned for this week were exploratory, to try to evaluate exactly what would be possible.

"There's meetings set up in each with government officials to talk about identifying a second city to host a grand prix," Bratches said.

"We think there's an opportunity to grow from that perspective."

F1 has shown an increased interest in street races with the Vietnamese Grand Prix planned to take place in 2020.

The race is set to take place in a suburb of Hanoi.

Zdroj: autosport.com