Organisers cast doubt over Chinese GP future

The Chinese city has been part of the F1 calendar since the 2004 season, and its current contract expires after the 2017 event.

However, ticket sales have declined in recent years and the race lost UBS as its title sponsor after 2014, organisers failing to find a replacement for 2015.

Promoter Juss Events has cast doubt on the future of the race.

"Changes have to be made to the sport," Juss Events marketing manager Yang Yibin told the Shanghai Daily when asked if Shanghai will extend its contract.

"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 believes less exciting races is one of the main reasons for the declining audience.

"There are various reasons, like one team dominating several seasons and smaller teams finding it hard to challenge the bigger constructors." Yang said.

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