How many Formula 1 fans watched the 2024 China Grand Prix in Shanghai at the race track and how the race was received compared to others
For the first time since 2019, Formula 1 raced in China again. And according to the organizers, the Grand Prix at the Shanghai International Circuit in Shanghai was a complete success: Even during the introductory lap to the race on Sunday, the “sold-out” event was announced on the TV world signal
In contrast to other Grands Prix, however, the organizers refrained from providing concrete figures for this broadcast. Instead, there was only the information that it was exactly “20 years [since] the first Chinese Grand Prix” of Formula 1 in 2004.
So how many visitors were there? There was a separate statement on this later: 60,000, only on Sunday. The open grandstands at the Shanghai International Circuit were indeed very well filled at the Grand Prix, especially the large main grandstand at the start and finish and the equally spectacular grandstands at the hairpin bend. Many fans cheered on their local hero Guanyu Zhou.
However, some spectator stands were not used at all at the weekend in Shanghai: The grandstands at the second snail curve at the entrance to the back straight, for example, have been covered for years and were not open last weekend either.
The reported total audience raises questions
Despite this, the Shanghai promoters are now reporting a total audience that is only exceeded by the early years of the circuit, when the full capacity was used – for 260,000 spectators in the 2004 season and 270,000 in the 2005 season. After that, the Chinese numbers fell sharply and leveled off at around 145,000 at the start of the turbo-hybrid era from 2014.
In 2024, however, “more than 200,000 spectators” are said to have been in attendance. This was reported by Chinese media citing the local organizers.
If you subtract the 60,000 Sunday visitors from this figure, that leaves 140,000 for the remaining days of the event from Thursday to Saturday. And these must have been just as well attended as the race day.
However, there is no precise breakdown of the individual days and some Chinese sources even explicitly refer to only “three event days”. With only three days, however, there would have been even more visitors to the race track on Friday and/or Saturday than on Sunday, which would be very unusual by Formula 1 standards.
Where Shanghai stands in international comparison
With around 200,000 spectators at the weekend according to official figures, Shanghai is currently in the midfield of the 2024 Formula 1 season. Sachir in Bahrain currently brings up the rear with 100,000 spectators, while Melbourne in Australia is clearly at the top with over 450,000.
And it is only the other Grands Prix in the Arab region that are below the Shanghai figures: Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates announced 170,000 fans last year, Lusail in Qatar 120,000 visitors. The figure for Jeddah in Saudi Arabia in 2023 was around 150,000. The organizers there have not yet provided any information for 2024.
As always, the total number of spectators is calculated by adding up the daily totals. In other words, anyone who attends the event on three days is included in the spectator statistics three times and is counted three times.
