Formula One is moving closer to agreeing to a double-header of Grands Prix in China this autumn, marking an improbable return to a country whose race was the first to be postponed because of Covid-19.

With events in Azerbaijan and Singapore already cancelled, the sport is desperate not to lose another of its highest payers, and has offered Shanghai the chance to host two races in October.

While F1 is looking at extending its eight-race European summer with further races in Portugal and San Marino, it is the late-season Asian “fly-aways” that contribute much of the greater hosting fees, with China understood to pay more than £30 million annually for its place on the race calendar.

Given the country’s low rates of coronavirus infection, it is now the leading candidate to arrange a race outside Europe, before the championship’s planned finale in Bahrain and Abu Dhabi in December.

Xu Bin, head of the Shanghai Sports Bureau, confirmed F1’s offer of a two-race format. “We would be allowed to hold the events at a suitable time in the pandemic,” he said.

The Daily Telegraph