McLaren keen to tap China market

McLaren, one of F1's top teams, says it's still looking for new opportunities in the Chinese market, despite being one of the early-adopters when it came to marketing its Formula-1 presence in China when the sport first arrived in 2004.

McLaren CEO Zak Brown admits conditions in Shanghai this weekend were not ideal for Grand Prix racing, but says one weekend of bad weather isn't going to diminish the Chinese F1 market.

"It's not great weather but it's a great race. The Chinese market is very important to Formula One. They built a fantastic circuit. I think from a business stand point, McLaren in particular, the Chinese market, not only for McLaren Grand Prix, but for McLaren technologies and McLaren automotive, is a very important market," he says.

The McLaren Technology Group provides services and products to companies around the world, based on F1 technology development.

Zak Brown says they hope to keep this trend going in China.

"That's something we're very eager to do here. Not only is it good for Formula One it's good for our applied technologies business. China is a very important market. Our headquarters for this region is in Singapore but we're hiring so China is a territory that we wanna have a bigger presence in, it's a strategic priority for us," the CEO says. 

Brown says one of the keys to working in China is having local representatives.

McLaren used to have Chinese driver Ma Qinghua as a test driver, even though Ma never cracked the F1 ranks.

"We were one of the first movers that developed a Chinese driver, he ended up not making it, but I think it would be good to see a Chinese team, a Chinese driver, more Chinese sponsors, and we need to do a lot of little stuff right as opposed to just one thing. Now is the time for change," Brown says. 

McLaren was one of the first F1 companies to actively court opportunities in China when F1 arrived here over a decade ago, teaming up with companies such as computer giant Lenovo to help promote the sport in China.