Liu Yao knew this year's Formula One Heineken Chinese Grand Prix felt different long before the race began.

As a Tencent Sports F1 commentator, he heard that fans had already gathered at the Shanghai International Circuit at 6 am on March 13 — two hours before the gates opened. By 7 am, long queues had formed, many hoping to secure spots at the fan stage.

For Liu, who has followed the sport's growth in China for years, the change was unmistakable.

He remembers buying a student ticket for just 200 yuan ($29.10) in 2017, when Friday practice sessions were sparsely attended. By contrast, the main grandstand was full on Friday at the 2024 Chinese Grand Prix, headlined by China's first full-time F1 driver, Zhou Guanyu.

"The number of people who love this sport has grown so fast. I was also amazed by fans' passion — and their spending power," Liu said.

His observation is reflected in the numbers. Official figures show that the 2026 race, held from March 13 to 15, drew more than 230,000 spectators and generated 190 million yuan ($27.64 million) in ticket revenue — a 35 percent increase from 2025, according to Xinhua News Agency. F1 data from 2025 estimated that China now has more than 221 million fans, with over half joining in the past five years. Among them, 40 percent are aged 16 to 34.

Angela Liu noticed the same shift.

Attending her first Chinese Grand Prix since 2019, she was struck not only by the size of the crowd, but also by its creativity — fans in DIY outfits, holding playful signs, and expressing themselves more openly than she remembered.

Despite the surge in attendance, the event remained well organized. Even an hour after the race ended on March 15, spectators were still lining up in an orderly way for the subway.

Angela worked in management consulting after college and was drawn to F1's mature global business model and its fast-paced, team-driven environment. She volunteered twice at the Chinese Grand Prix and then went on to pursue an MBA in the UK. After internships, she joined the then Renault F1 Team full-time in 2019.

At the time, however, there were far fewer Chinese professionals in the field. "I was often the only Chinese staff member in the room," she said — an experience that sharpened her cross-cultural communication skills.

Returning to Shanghai this year, Angela noticed more Chinese engineers and commercial professionals were entering the paddock, suggesting that passion for the sport is increasingly translating into career opportunities.

"Early pioneers showed it's possible. Now the road is clearer for those coming after," she said.

Liu Yao's own journey into F1 also began with a passion. As an automotive engineering major, he started by sharing F1 content online before taking on part-time commentary work in 2015.

"Although the pay barely covered my costs, I could feel I was moving closer to what I loved," he said.

In 2018, he became Tencent's first signed F1 commentator and entered the Shanghai paddock as a professional for the first time. "It was a dream come true when I finally swiped my pass to enter after being a racing fan for 12 years," he recalled.

Over the past decade, Liu has witnessed not only the growth in crowd size but also a shift in how fans engage with the sport. It is no longer just about lap times or race results: audiences are increasingly drawn to drivers' personalities, fashion, and the human stories behind the competition.

"That's how F1 moves from a niche sport into the mainstream," he said.

For Jiang Haoyan, a former team member of Zhou Guanyu, the significance of this change goes beyond rising popularity.

She began her career in 2011, working in logistics and local translation for the Marussia F1 Team during its China visits while still a university student.

Having spent years inside the paddock, Jiang has witnessed a new generation engaging with F1 in a more outward-looking way — not just consuming the spectacle, but actively finding ways to express themselves within it.

She points to Zhou's helmet designs as a telling example. Over the years, he has incorporated distinctly Chinese visual elements — including blue-and-white porcelain motifs, calligraphic patterns, and imagery inspired by Shanghai — into a design language that remains legible on a global stage.

This same energy is reflected in Chinese fans who travel overseas for races.

"In the past, Chinese fans mostly kept to themselves, coming simply to watch the race as spectators," she said. "Now, more young people are stepping forward, eager to engage and connect with others."

For Jiang, this reflects a generation that is increasingly comfortable with its identity — one that sees global platforms not as something distant to admire, but as arenas in which it can participate and contribute.

"The cultural heritage passed down by our ancestors carries far more power than we realize. We should be more confident in it and share it with the world," Jiang said.

Contact the writers at xiongxinyi@i21st.cn