I got a message out of the blue this week from Patrick McEnroe – the former US Davis Cup captain turned ESPN commentator and, yes, brother of John – to go on his Holding Court podcast to talk about tennis and China, plus everything in between. It was a lot of fun – you can find that episode here (and see the video clip below). Just days earlier, I had the chance to talk to Chinese F1 driver Zhou Guanyu on my own China Sports Insider Podcast – and he had a lot to say (full show blurb below). We also talked on the show about China losing its hosting rights to the 2023 Asian Cup – and see some of my comments I made on the topic to Reuters here.
Tag Archives: Chinese Grand Prix
Weekly Wrap: F1 F-up, Becks is back, Ding’s title bid and Perfect Pitch
The World Snooker Championships have begun in Sheffield, UK, with world number 2 Ding Junhui looking to add the only major title missing from his resume. Having won five ranking tournaments already this season, he continued his good form, taking a 6-3 lead over Michael Wasley in their best-of-19 first round match, and making the highest break of the tournament so far (136). Continue reading Weekly Wrap: F1 F-up, Becks is back, Ding’s title bid and Perfect Pitch
China’s F1 antipathy a constant in season of flux
Formula 1 is a state of flux right now. Aside from all the massive rule changes for this season, Ferrari boss Stefano Domenicali quit this week, there’s due to be a new US-based team from 2015 and three of the existing teams are reported to be meeting in Shanghai on Thursday to discuss how to make their engines louder, after those new regulations sucked some of the noise out of the sport.
But the one constant that remains is China’s antipathy to Grand Prix racing. The race at the Shanghai International Circuit on Sunday will be the 11th consecutive Chinese Grand Prix held there, with current or former world champions winning eight out of the previous 10 races. But after the initial buzz, reality set in.
Here are some of the problems:
Continue reading China’s F1 antipathy a constant in season of flux