The Singapore Grand Prix was a huge success for Mercedes, with George Russell claiming pole before picking up a surprise victory around the Marina Bay circuit.
With Kimi Antonelli picking up a fifth place finish of his own, team boss Toto Wolff can take a significant amount of positives out of Mercedes’ performance in South East Asia.
In a recent interview, Wolff revealed that growing F1 in Asia even more would be ‘great’ in his eyes, with one country in particular deserving of a Grand Prix.
Toto Wolff wants a South Korean Grand Prix back
Mercedes’ George Russell was victorious at the Singapore Grand Prix. | Mercedes Press Image
Speaking to Reuters after the Singapore Grand Prix weekend had concluded, Wolff spoke on how important F1 capitalizing on its current worldwide momentum is.
“[Eastern Asia] has been a little bit of an untapped market for a while now, considering that Formula One has grown very strong over the last few years, particularly in the younger target group.”
Wolff on racing more in Asia
He proceeded to elaborate by specifying one country that could be huge in the sport’s future success – South Korea.
The South Korean Grand Prix has already been a part of the F1 calendar, from 2010 to 2013, and was called ‘unusual but enjoyable’ by Sebastian Vettel in its final year.
The South Korean Grand Prix ran for four years, and was won by Sebastian Vettel three times in a row from 2011 to 2013. | Wikimedia Commons
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It had its fair share of drama, including the 2010 race featuring a Fernando Alonso victory as well as a double Red Bull retirement, which temporarily put the World Championship that season in the Spaniard’s hands.
There were, however, off-the-track issues, with Natalie Pinkham recently telling a story of how Bernie Ecclestone helped her out after one edition of the Grand Prix in a shocking reveal, as well as financial problems that eventually led to the race dropping off the calendar.
Wolff states that it is important for the Korean fanbase to be mobilized, implying that time has healed any issues that the circuit organizers and F1 have had.
“South Korea is an extremely social-media-connected country and so it would be great if we could come back and show how Formula One has changed over the last 10 years… I believe that we have a little bit of a blank spot in (East) Asia.”
Wolff on a South Korean GP
Plans for a Vietnamese Grand Prix back in 2020 would have meant that there were four East Asian races in recent times, alongside China, Japan and Singapore, but the race was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic and has never materialized since.
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