With F1 satisfied that its three races in the United States are enough for that market, attention has shifted to other regions to capture a growing worldwide interest in grand prix racing.
Speaking at an F1 in Depth event in Monaco on Thursday night, which was co-hosted by Autosport Business, Maffei said that the successful return of the Chinese Grand Prix showed what was possible.
“We’re lucky that we were able to get a Chinese race this year after four years,” he said. “It was very successful. The interest in China has exploded in part because we now have a Chinese driver.
“Critically, you see cultural identity so much when you have drivers from a country, and when you have teams from a country. And so that’s been great to see the growth in China.
“But there’s a lot of interest across Asia, as we have interest from many cities. But in Asia, as you rightly point out: Thailand, Seoul, and we’ve had interest from Indonesia. There are lots of places which want a Formula 1 race.
“We have really looked at the intersection of where our fans are, where they could be, who could run a great race, and who can frankly afford a race – and all those sorts of intersections of those three circles.
“I think you could very easi
