AS the curtain fell on the inaugural Chinese Formula One Grand Prix on September 26, one question was asked repeatedly over the fading roar of F1 car engines: "When will China have its own F1 driver?"

There has been an almost overwhelming enthusiasm for a local F1 driver, with local newspapers running stories on the topic every day and fans discussing it everywhere.

This obsession has made Cheng Congfu, Jiang Tengyi and Dutch-born Tung Ho-pin - three ethnic Chinese contenders for the role - the most frequently noted names during the Shanghai tournament.

There might well be others following their lead. Plenty of parents took their children to the Shanghai International Circuit on Sunday, hoping to give them an early education on the sport.

"There is probably more than one Michael Schumacher walking around the streets of Shanghai who has yet to drive a car," teased Max Mosley, president of the FIA (International Federation of Automobiles) upon witnessing the city's enthusiastic motor-racing fans.

European aid

For China's immature motor sports and automobile manufacturing industry, however, creating a Chinese F1 driver is too daunting a mission to bear alone. Support from Europe, the birthplace of the sport, is badly needed.

"My European background has helped me a lot," said Tung, who was brought up in the Netherlands. "It has meant that I understand European racing standards, the motor-sports mentality and everything surrounding it."

Although Tung's fellow ethnic Chinese, Cheng and Jiang, started their motor-racing careers in China, it has been their European-based training and racing experience that has lifted them to star status.

"I felt that I made a breakthrough after arriving in Europe," said Cheng, who went to England in 1998 and now competes in the British Formula Renault Championships.

"It not only concerned my skill, but also my mentality, because the competition with top European drivers made me feel that I was one of them.

"It has given me a lot of confidence," added the 20-year-old, a star member of the F1 team McLaren's youth programme, who plans to become an F1 test driver within two years.

Successful F1 drivers who have been raised in the competitive racing atmosphere of Europe have deep feelings about it.

"Asia does not have a great motor sports history; we have only just started," said BAR's Japanese driver Takuma Sato, the only Asian driver on the F1 circuit at present.

"It may well be possible for China to have its own F1 driver, but they will need to travel to Europe to gain experience," suggested Jenson Button, the Shanghai GP runner-up from BAR.

A smart combination of Chinese resources with European experience is seen as a recipe for realizing China's F1 driver dream.

"Setting up an F1 team will be a big challenge for China," said David Richards, BAR's team principal. "First, you need to get the support of car manufacturers and then the most practical approach would be to make use of technical facilities in China, but with a training base in Europe."

Starting with karting

For most Chinese people, a European trip seems out of reach, so many local racing fans need to find a more practical approach to the world's most-watched and most-expensive sport, a sport which only has space for 20 elite drivers to drive on its prestigious Grand Prix tracks.

The answer, according to Tung, is the closest any ethnic Chinese has come to F1 after testing the Williams F1 BMW24 last December: Go-karting.

"Go-karting is probably a necessary first step," he said. "Look at all 20 top F1 drivers. Without exception, they have karting experience."

Karting, a rudimentary form of the real F1 sport, is seen as a common starting ground for many successful drivers.

"I went karting since the age of 14 and I learned a lot from it," said Juan Pablo Montoya, a driver with BMW Williams.

"Just go with some friends to have fun at first and if you find you're getting better than them and you really like the sport, you could try moving up to junior Formula racing and finally to F1," said Tung, who based the comments on his own experience.

This comparatively inexpensive sport has been favoured by China's Federation of Automobile Sports (FASC), which has spent much time trying to popularize karting in China.

"It is much easier for Chinese to get involved in motor sports through go-karting," Shi Tianshu, FASC president.

More than F1

For Shi, the national motor sports head, there is something more than F1 itself lying behind Shanghai's hosting of the world's most-watched sporting event.

"When will China have a prosperous motor sports industry?" Shi asked.

It is true that without a Chinese F1 driver, the just-concluded Shanghai tournament looks a little bit shy of a full-blown success, despite its amazing facilities, drama-packed races and enthusiastic spectators.

With China's recent triumphs in the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, where its athletes won a record 32 gold medals and lifted the country to second place in the medal standings, as well as the national soccer team's entry into the 2002 Japan and South Korea World Cup finals, the F1 track remains the last of the world's most prestigious sporting fields bereft of high-level Chinese participation.

However, with the support of Europe - where Cheng, Dong and Jiang are developing fast - it is highly possible that China could realize its F1 dream in the near future. Cheng and Tung have already been tested out in F1 cars.

But Shi plans on a 10-year approach to his own dream - a decade-long project that began in 2001 to develop Chinese motor sports from a grass-roots level.

"We need to develop the sport from basic factors," he said.

Shi suggests establishing racing academies as part of an overall training strategy, combined with a busier overseas competition schedule for potential drivers associated with the project.

"We plan to foster some stars who can represent China in the international field," Shi said.

Racing schools are seen as an effective way to raise local drivers. Sato was aided in his career by a scholarship to the Honda Suzuka Racing School in 1998.

China already has a racing school in Zhuhai - the Formula Racing Development (FRD) Racing School - whose goal is to promote up-and-coming Asian drivers internationally.

Cheng is the school's star graduate so far. He was recruited by McLaren after winning multiple national and international titles in both karting and car racing during his time at the school.

In Shi's eyes, getting a Chinese driver into F1 is the natural end result of the project.

"Having an F1 driver would be fantastic for China, but I think it is more realistic for us to focus on the basic development of China's overall motor sports," said Shi.

Motor sports are not yet widely popular in China, where table tennis and badminton play a far more dominant role in the nation's sporting life. Motor sports are also very expensive by Chinese standards - the cost to run a full season Formula BMW Championship, a junior racing event, runs up to US$250,000 a year, while the country's per capital average disposable income for urban residents barely reaches US$1,000.

But Shi still believes the sport has a bright future.

"Motor sports have a close link with people's living standards," Shi said. "Ten years ago, even playing tennis was rare among ordinary Chinese people, but now the sport is played everywhere in China. So there will be a growing need for motor sports along with the improvement of living standards in China."

Others agree.

"Car racing is getting ever more popular in China. Now you can watch F1 and perhaps get excited and want to race yourself," said Tung. "I really think that in China, it's possible to learn how to race - for sure we will see talented Chinese drivers in a couple of years."