Zhou Guanyu finished a distant 14th in last year’s Chinese Grand Prix, but Formula 1 highlighted his achievement as if he’d won the championship.
The Sauber driver was given a dedicated spot on the grid to park on after the race so he could celebrate with his home fans. The justification for this peculiar moment was that Zhou had just become the first of China’s 1.4 billion citizens to compete in an F1 race before their home crowd.
Surely someone at F1 reckoned there was a good chance it would also be the last home appearance for a Chinese driver for several years. Zhou hadn’t set the world alight in his previous two seasons at Sauber, and he duly lost his drive at the end of the year.
That was one half of a double blow for Liberty Media. China is one of two nations it is especially keen to do business in, but both it and the other – America – lost their representatives on the grid during last year.
When last season began, the presence of Zhou and Logan Sargeant ensured Liberty’s two priority markets each had a face on the grid. That is no longer the case, and moreover, F1’s 2025 grid has become conspicuously less diverse in terms of nationalities during the off-season.
Of course the kind of long-term, dedicated F1 fans who read RaceFans are less likely to be drawn to the sport through shared nationality with a driver or team. But it does help pull new viewers in, and that is Liberty’s priority.
Simply put, more nationalities represented on the grid means more obvious points of contact for potential new fans. But while 15 different countries were represented on the grid at the start of last year, that has fallen to 13 this season, the lowest in five years.
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Arguably, that figure could be regarded as even lower. Four drivers have British licences but Alexander Albon, who raced under a Thai licence, has dual Thai-British nationality, was born in London and schooled in Britain. Classifying him as British would make this the least diverse grid at the start of a season since 2013.
How has the United Kingdom, home to 68.3 million people, come to account for one-quarter of the F1 grid? This is clearly not just a matter of driving ability, but also the superior opportunities available for aspiring racing drivers in Britain. As 70% of current F1 teams have at least part of their base in Britain, and English is the paddock’s lingua franca, the pathway into F1 is undoubtedly smoother for British talents than those outside.
Still, it bears pointing out that Britain’s newest F1 driver, Oliver Bearman, arrived via Ferrari. He joins Lewis Hamilton, Lando Norris and George Russell (plus Albon, depending on how you slice it). Others are waiting in the wings, notably Red Bull junior Arvid Lindblad and Williams’ Luke Browning, both of whom will race in Formula 2 this year.
Marketing aside, it wouldn’t matter if F1’s 20 seats all went to drivers from the same country, or 20 different nations. What matters most is how well F1’s grid measures up to the ideal of containing the 20 best drivers on the grid. How far that may be the case will always be a bone of contention.
Realistically, a field of 20 cars are never going to accurately represent almost 200 countries. But it’s striking that while the championship increasingly reaches out to audiences beyond Europe, its competitors remain predominantly drawn from there.
But taking all that into consideration, if we take it as read that the best drivers in the world are likely to be scattered across it, it’s noteworthy that the mix of countries represented by F1 has shrunk this year. The departures of Sergio Perez, Kevin Magnussen and Valtteri Bottas leave Mexico, Denmark and Finland respectively without representation. The latter doesn’t have a driver in the field for the season-opener for the first time since 1989, during which time it has produced champions such as Mika Hakkinen and Kimi Raikkonen.
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However, two countries with storied F1 histories which have been without regular competitors in recent years, return this year. Italy’s Andrea Kimi Antonelli debuts for Mercedes and Brazil’s Gabriel Bortoleto is one of Zhou’s replacements at Sauber.
Liberty Media have been quick to pounce on opportunities to access new markets through additions to the grid. Last year’s temporary arrival of Franco Colapinto, the first Argentinian driver for more than two decades, prompted a renewal of interest in F1 there, and the series duly capitalised, announcing its official Exhibition will visit Buenos Aires next month.
No doubt Liberty would prefer F1’s mix of driver nationalities to look more like the upper end of the Olympic medal table. But it may face a long wait until it can point to competitors from both the USA and China again.
There is a lack of Chinese names in the upper echelons of F1’s feeder series, though there are a few in the lower levels. Zhou therefore remains F1’s best chance for Chinese representation in the short-to-medium term, though he is yet to announce his 2025 plans.
There are a few more American names working their way up through the levels. But as always it remains to be seen whether any opportunities will appear for them. F2 driver Jak Crawford is part of Aston Martin’s young driver programme – but so is Felipe Drugovich, who won that title three years ago and has been on the sidelines ever since.
Liberty Media’s best chance of getting an American driver on the grid again may therefore rest on a change it previously resisted. This time last year FOM resisted pressure from the FIA to allow an 11th team to enter, but since then it has relented, and US brand Cadillac looks set to gain admission next year.
Mario Andretti, America’s last F1 champion who is now serving as consultant to Cadillac’s operation, named last year’s IndyCar runner-up Colton Herta as a leading driver under consideration for a seat. Liberty Media may therefore finally see an upside to their grudging acquiescence.
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