CRI听力:When Will China Get Its First F1 Driver?

Just one week prior to the Chinese Grand Prix, Formula One team HRT signed Chinese driver Ma Qinghua to their "young driver development program". The deal has brightened the hope of a Chinese breakthrough in the F1 world.

24-year-old Ma began racing when he was eight. The Shanghai native emerged in international motorsports in 2004 by winning the Asian Formula Renault Series. He continued to race and achieved success in Formula 3 and the Touring Car Championship.

The outstanding performance of the Chinese prodigy has aroused the interest of the HRT F1 team. Antoni Cuquerella is the engineer for HRT:

"He will drive in the young driver's test so we have hopes of him, and of course, he's a part of our young development program. We don't know how much we can expect from him, but, of course, there are big hopes."

For Ma Qinghua, to become an F1 driver is a goal that has long been on his mind, but he confessed that it is still a long way to reach it.

"My main objective now is to study hard and learn a lot. I must extract as much information as possible, because F1 is a sport with more high-tech ingredients than formula races. The more you've paid, the more success you will achieve."

Ma Qinghua is one of many Chinese drivers struggling for a spot in the F1 starting grid.

As early as 2003, China's Cheng Congfu was involved in the McLaren's driver development program. In 2010, Dutch-Chinese Tung Ho-Pin was named as official reserve of the then Renault F1 team. However, both of them failed to make it to the F1 circuit.

As the new hope for China, Ma is realistic about his career path:

"It is better to work hard and learn more than worry unnecessarily. There are a lot of outstanding drivers all over the world, but only 24 of them can join the final competition. You not only need strong capabilities, but also a good fortune."

For CRI, I'm Sun Yang in Shanghai.