Formula One remains a tough sell in China

                       When it was added to the calendar nine years ago, the Chinese Grand Prix was supposed to give Formula One a path to a vibrant new market that offered access to millions of racing fans and big name sponsors.

It hasn't worked out that way.

                   The race, which takes place this weekend in Shanghai, has struggled to fill the stands in recent years, and F1 found that Chinese viewership fell steeply last year. Sponsors also have been slow to sign on to the series with only a handful of Chinese companies endorsing any of the 11 teams.

"I'm worried about China," McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh told The Associated Press.

"The potential is huge, the importance is massive and we must make it successful there," he said. "But we haven't done enough to say, 'Hey, we are here and come have a look.' F1 improves with knowledge. It's a complex sport and you have to go out there to promote interest, promote the knowledge and the enthusiasm for the sport."

The Chinese market at first would seem an ideal match for F1.

It is the world's largest market for motor vehicles and has a growing middle class flush with money to spend on the latest exotic trend. There are also plenty of Chinese companies looking for international exposure, and F1 is desperate for new funding to offset the losses of several big names including ING and Credit Suisse due to the global financial crisis.

The growth of the series has been hurt by the fact China has one of the youngest fan bases of any country, with 10 percent of fans under 16 and a quarter under 25. As a result, the young fans often don't have the nearly $500 for a three-day pass to the races — or for that matter money to spend on F1 merchandise, according to Frankie Mao, a Shanghai-based journalist who covers F1 for Sohu.com.

"At the end, it is all about culture of motorsport in China," Mao said in an email. "We have fans, but they are young and can't afford the high expenses of luxury goods and F1 is luxury. China does have rich people. They love sport cars but they don't understand what motorsport really is."

Whitmarsh and other team principals also said the series has suffered from its failure to reach out and educate fans from the moment it arrived in 2004. Unlike basketball or football, F1 requires an understanding of the latest technology and often the arcane rules that can decide a race.

"If you take a new product into a new market, ordinarily you have a marketing plan and you advertise," Whitmarsh said. "We've put ourselves outside of Shanghai and we expect them to come and find us. We need to work a little harder. We as a sport are a little big arrogant. We're F1. We arrive and people will want to come to see us. But China doesn't need us."