Formula One’s Chinese Grand Prix is likely to be postponed from its scheduled April date due to the coronavirus outbreak.

The race, in what is an important market for Formula One, was originally set to be held in Shanghai on April 19, but several media reports said the event was due to be called off, with an announcement expected as early as Wednesday.

“Clearly we recognise that the postponement of the event is certainly a possibility and you could probably go even further and say a likelihood just given what seems to be transpiring,” said Formula One Group chief executive Chase Carey.

The flu-like virus has killed more than 1,100 people and infected more than 44,000 in China after it first emerged in the central city of Wuhan late last year.

A host of international sporting events have been cancelled due to coronavirus, including the all-electric Formula E motor racing series that abandoned plans for a race in the Chinese city of Sanya next month.

Formula One’s motorsport managing director Ross Brawn said the sport would look to reschedule the Chinese race rather than cancel it altogether.

But Carey said fitting the race back into an already packed calendar with few spare weekends would pose a challenge.

“At this point it’s tough to make too many specific plans when there are so many unknowns around it,” he said.

He also said the sport was keeping an eye on the spread of the virus outside China to other countries in the region such as Vietnam, which is set to host its first race on April 5.

Hosting fees make up a significant portion of Formula One’s revenues, with some races paying as much as $US40 million ($A59 million) a year.

A cancellation as a result could mean a financial hit for the sport’s U.S. owners Liberty Media.

The last race to be cancelled was the 2011 Bahrain Grand Prix, due to social unrest in the island Kingdom. But the country still paid the hosting fee despite the cancellation of the race.

If it can’t be rescheduled, the cancellation of the Chinese race will pare the calendar back to 21 races from the record 22 Formula One was set for this year.

It would also leave a four-week gap between new addition Vietnam and the returning Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort on May 3.