Formula 1 has announced a weekend attendance of 220,000 at the 2025 Chinese Grand Prix, an increase of around 20,000 on the previous year’s figure.
The 2025 Chinese Grand Prix attracted a weekend attendance of 220,000. The 3-day event saw Lewis Hamilton claim his maiden win with Ferrari in the Saturday Sprint race and Oscar Piastri take his third Grand Prix victory on Sunday, leading home McLaren’s 50th 1-2 finish in Formula 1.
Attendance has grown at the Chinese Grand Prix by around 20,000 compared to the 2024 figure. Additional tickets were made available for the 2025 race compared to the 2024 event. The total attendance of 220,000 spectators is being cited as an “all-time high” for the Shanghai event, despite International Services Shanghai stating that 260,000 spectators attended the inaugural race at the track in 2004.
In addition to the on-track Formula 1 action, the 2025 Chinese Grand Prix race weekend also featured races from the SRO GT Cup and Porsche Carrera Cup Asia, as well as the all-female F1 Academy support series, which held the first races of its 2025 season at Shanghai International Circuit. Away from the track, a free fan festival – titled the Checkered Flag Carnival – took place in the city across race week.
More Tickets Made Available for 2025 Chinese Grand Prix
Huang Ming, General Manager of race promoter Jiushi Group, said that more tickets were made available for the 2025 Chinese Grand Prix compared to the 2024 event. Last year’s race was the first F1 event in China in five years, with Shanghai International Circuit having taken an extended break from the calendar as a result of travel issues relating to the coronavirus pandemic.
Speaking to Yicai ahead of the race weekend, Huang Ming said that there were 17,000 more tickets on sale for the 2025 Chinese Grand Prix and the event was projected to attract 20,000 more spectators than in the previous year.
No official attendance figure was released for the 2024 Chinese Grand Prix, but media reports suggested figures of somewhere between 180,000 and 200,000. It is believed that 95% of attendees at last year’s Chinese Grand Prix were local with 5% being international visitors. International visitors grew to 10% of the overall attendance in 2025.
Attendance grew at the 2025 Chinese Grand Prix despite the fact that local driver Zhou Guanyu departed the F1 grid at the end of 2024. Driving for Sauber, Zhou became the first Chinese driver to race in his home Grand Prix last year. Although not racing, Zhou was present at the 2025 Chinese Grand Prix. He is currently the reserve driver for Ferrari.
Shanghai International Circuit has capacity for 200,000 fans in total, though it does not run at full capacity on Chinese Grand Prix weekend. There are large grandstands at the banked Turns 12 and 13, for example, which have not been used since the earliest races at the track. It is believed that the race promoter intends to add 3,000 additional grandstand seats to its ticket offering for the 2026 race.
The vast main grandstand, opposite the pit lane, has space for up to 30,000 fans. The other grandstands utilised for F1 events can hold around 20,000 fans and there are additional general admission areas.
The Chinese Grand Prix holds a contract to remain on the Formula 1 calendar until at least 2030, having signed a new five-year contract extension in December 2024. Yicia reports that the event generates economic benefits of around $193 million USD.
A Record-Breaking Start to the 2025 Formula 1 Season
The 2025 Formula 1 season has kicked off with two strong attendance figures. The season-opening Australian Grand Prix, at Albert Park, had a 4-day weekend crowd of over 465,000 – the largest in the Melbourne event’s history and one of the best-attended F1 race weekends in history.
Next on the agenda is the first triple header event of the 2025 season, with three Grands Prix on three consecutive weekends in April. First is the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka on April 4-6. It is followed by two night races, with the Bahrain Grand Prix and Saudi Arabian Grands Prix set to take place on the following weekends.
Last year, Formula 1 posted a total attendance of 6.5 million across the 24 races in its 2024 season. It was a 9% increase on the previous year, when 22 races took place. Tickets continue to sell well in 2025 and with the first two races of the year posting higher figures than in 2024, F1 could be on for another record-breaking season.
