Japan visa problem for Chinese F1 driver

HRT’s Chinese test driver Ma Qing Hua might have to sit out next weekend’s Japanese grand prix.

According to Speed Week, the Spanish team intended the 24-year-old to drive Narain Karthikeyan’s car during Friday morning practice at Suzuka next week.

But he is apparently having trouble securing a visa for entry to Japan.

China and Japan - Asia’s two biggest economies - are locked in an escalating row over the disputed Diaoyu islands in the East China Sea.