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[f1ea]

So those fans in bahrain and barcelona are not real fans or "real people"?

Oh they are real... its just they're just too few (in Bahrain at least)
But if it brings money, then by all means keep it up. Except I am sure an empty GP is not sustainable and in the end these unsustainable tracks will be dropped anyways.

So, i think it should be the job of FOM to look for sustainable and long term tracks/investment. Its healthier.

[Big Azza]

Crap.

[Robert12010]

what i was saying that bernie should listen carefully to what the fans want so that we get the best value from the sport!

[nish2280]

But the problem is that we probably wont loose Barcelona because almost every race it is packed to the brim which means Bernie is getting his money which means he isnt going to drop the track.

I guess thanks to the popularity of F1 in Spain we wont be loosing Barcelona however, if we can convince all the spaniards to only go to barcelona and not valencia at all, we might be able to get rid of it!

[What's Burning?]

I had heard Barcelona is pretty loose, but I've never been there.

[darwin dali]

I had heard Barcelona is pretty loose, but I've never been there.

A bit harsh

[texasmr2]

http://en.rian.ru/russia/20101014/160949069.html


Russia
Sochi to host Formula 1 Grand Prix - paper


Russia's Black sea resort city of Sochi will host a Formula-1 Grand Prix races in 2014-2020, a business daily said on Thursday.
Vedomosti daily said the governor of the Krasnodar region, Alexander Tkachev, will sign a contract on Thursday with the president and CEO of Formula One Management and Formula One Administration, Bernie Ecclestone. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin will also take part in the ceremony of signing the contract.
Russia has been trying to host Formula-1 races since the late Soviet era.
"All the private projects that have been proposed until recently, failed. They lacked money as well as management," Vedomosti cited F1 veteran commentator Alexei Popov as saying.
"Such an ambitious project became possible only due to the political will of high-profile officials."
"After the Olympic Games and the World Cup, this is the most spectacular sports event." Popov told Vedomosti.
Some of Russia's largest companies, including Rostekhnologii, mobile provider Megafon, LUKoil, and RusAl, may invest $300-$600 million in the construction of an F1 track, Vedomosti said.

MOSCOW, October 14 (RIA Novosti)

[Big Azza]

Taken from http://www.planet-f1.com/editorial/6448115/23-Into-20-Just-Won-t-Go

Jean Todt has said that he doesn't see a grand prix in Africa any time soon. Which is probably a good job considering the number of countries that want to host them compared to the number of dates available...

Having dragged their feet for years about the expense of doing more races, the teams have finally agreed to do 20 and absolutely no more. This expansion from the typical 16-race season of the 1990s has been eased by the reduction in testing. Even with 19 races on the calendar, as we've got in 2010, the teams are doing a lot less overall mileage than before.

This week the Russians signed a deal to host a grand prix in 2014, and as fellow hack Andrew Davies has commented, that'll probably be about the same time that Vitaly Petrov stops crashing.

The Russian race will be a potential 22nd on the calendar. If you add India and the USA to the 19 venues we are going to this year we get 22. And it can't be long before France finds a home for F1 racing and wants to be scheduled in again. Considering the nation invented the grand prix and held its first race in 1906, they have a very persuasive argument to be included

Admittedly there are those who would say that the Monaco Grand Prix is a default

French GP. Those in the south of the country can head to Monte Carlo; those in the north can hop over the border into Belgium, but it must be a bit strange having the FIA set up in grand buildings in Paris and no home event.

The French argument aside (right now they're having trouble getting petrol, let alone a race), there are going to be two unhappy bunnies from the 22 tracks that might expect to hold a grand prix in 2014.

So, contracts aside, who's going to drop out in 2014?

Future GPs
You can pretty much guess that if a circuit has just signed a multi-year deal that it will go ahead. So providing the Koreans haven't messed up the planning of this year's event and the FIA impose drastic financial penalties, then they're safe. Following the debacle of the Commonwealth Games, the Indian government will be very anxious to keep an eye on the company developing the Delhi GP circuit, as the country can't afford two sporting bad news stories in successive years. So that should be okay.

The USA GP in 2012 has a lot of question marks over it as there have been rumours circulating that no new road planning has been greenlighted yet. One of the biggest bugbears for any new track is the road infrastructure and the need to get 120,000 fans out of the venue in three hours. However if Korea fail to meet that target, then that might let Austin off the hook.

Recent GPs
Singapore is well-established after three events and easily the best new GP to grace Formula One in the last 20 years. They are financially sound, and what's more the organisers don't sit on their laurels. With Abu Dhabi it's still too early to tell, but in F1 money (not spectators or a large f1 fanbase) counts. And they have enough of it.

China and Turkey are two different kettles of fish. Putting fish into kettles isn't much fun but probably a lot more fun than attending a grand prix in Shanghai or Istanbul, judging by the number of bums on seats. After the initial rush of enthusiasm for the event, the spectators have failed to rush in and support the race. And that's hardly surprising as there are no home racers in F1 and no prospect of.

The Ottodromo at Istanbul Park is one of Herman Tilke's best designs and it would be a shame to stop going there because of the challenge and the exciting races, while the commercial imperative of visiting China for the teams has never been stronger. China is now the biggest market for new cars in the world.

Bahrain (2004) - great pit complex, nice place to test but as a televisual treat of F1 racing it's way up there with the Caesar's Palace car park in Las Vegas. Malaysia, though dating back to the last century (1999) is still in much the same bag as China and Turkey with a spectator base stubbornly resistant to the charms of F1 and no home driver to cheer on.

Modern GPs
Japan, Australia, Spain, Hungary, Brazil, all have strong fan bases, it's just a question of whether individual organisers can make their event pay. Interlagos needs a lot of updating, but judging from the strength of the Brazilian economy, that shouldn't be a problem. In this group Spain and Brazil are strongest and Hungary and Australia weakest, with the Aussies unable to move their race into a more global-TV-friendly timeslot.

Traditional GPs
Britain, Germany, Italy, Monaco, Belgium. These should all be safe despite the odd negotiating whinge that Monaco should pay more money or that Belgium should update its facilities.

So which are the ones that could go?

Likely casualties:
1. USA - F1 has always been the third-rated motorsport event in America behind NASCAR and Indy and so the potential for cancelation seems high in a country where most would not view it as the pinnacle of motorsport. The mood music around Austin sounds a bit like the kind of stuff we heard around Donington Park and the USGP team. Everything's going fine...

2. Valencia - Bernie once said that no European country should have two GPs and then gave two to Spain. The European GP at Valencia has a contract for 2014, but with 20% unemployment in the country and Spain tottering on the brink of financial catastrophe, how long can they run at a loss?

3. Australia - with global cutbacks in public funding and the Aussie GP losing a substantial amount of money per race, coupled with pressure from Albert Park's environmental lobby, the Melbourne Race is being squeezed. Can a World Champion in Mark Webber turn round public opinion?

4. China - the Chinese are nothing if not hard-headed businessmen and the experiment to import F1 hasn't come off.

5. Turkey - As with Valencia, the showcase event relies heavily on regional backing and the moment that is withdrawn the show is over.

Frank Hopkinson

It looks like Bahrain won't go, Australia looks like it could go - which would be stupid. China - looks likely that will disappear, and maybe Valencia and Catalunya will rotate?

We better not lose Turkey, that's one of the best tracks. I cannot see the French having a Grand Prix anytime soon. If we do, maybe the French and Beligum GPs will rotate? I think rotating GPs would be fantastic, we could see some very interesting seasons - this would maybe encourage some struggling GP countries - like Australia, to maybe consider hosting 2 GPs to split the costs.

So maybe we could alternate between Albert Park and Adelaide, or maybe Shit-ney might consider hosting a GP. The commute to work seems to be one big circle - so we'd be natural at hosting one. A Sydney street circuit in Granville would be very fitting - these Crazy Lebs (not meant to sound racist) and their Subaru WRXes drive me nuts at night...

[smokin]

It looks like Bahrain won't go, Australia looks like it could go - which would be stupid. China - looks likely that will disappear, and maybe Valencia and Catalunya will rotate?

We better not lose Turkey, that's one of the best tracks. I cannot see the French having a Grand Prix anytime soon. If we do, maybe the French and Beligum GPs will rotate? I think rotating GPs would be fantastic, we could see some very interesting seasons - this would maybe encourage some struggling GP countries - like Australia, to maybe consider hosting 2 GPs to split the costs.

So maybe we could alternate between Albert Park and Adelaide, or maybe Shit-ney might consider hosting a GP. The commute to work seems to be one big circle - so we'd be natural at hosting one. A Sydney street circuit in Granville would be very fitting - these Crazy Lebs (not meant to sound racist) and their Subaru WRXes drive me nuts at night...

Bahrain's no loss but Albert Park has to stay. And don't get me started on Valencia... You're right about Turkey. It may be a 'Tilkedrome' but it makes for good racing. Shame about France, too. FIA headquarters in Paris and no GP? Reverse favouritism, maybe. Rotating could be the answer but I'm not sure the incumbent circuits would want give up the exclusivity.

[Robert12010]

turkey must stay...not sure about bahrain as theyve gone back to the old circuit from next year...albert park is good but isnt looking too good in terms of it staying for much longer which would be a gay.....

[spankyham]

There's so much that can happen between now and 2012 (the next F1 calendar not yet determined). Let alone looking ahead to 2014.
But, I'm still not convinced that this "20 race" per year limit will be adhered to. Firstly, it's not even a hard-&-fast a rule anywhere.

There are so many things that could change. Rest assured, if they have more than 20 viable/paying circuits for a year, they will find a way to fit more races in. Perhaps they will revisit two-day GP's again (that's basically what we had last weekend in Susuka), at least for part of the season (European leg)? Saturday practice session (1 long or 2 short depending on TV schedule for Qualifying) then Qualifying. Sunday practice and race. And get past the stupid no practice/testing rule by allowing teams 1 days practice, between races, at their nominated home track.

They could schedule more races a week apart, as well as more races in the year - sounds good from an F1 fan viewpoint.

[CarBore]

I hope they alter certain rules to fit, like more than 8 engines if they are going to keep stretching out the number of races. Unless the 2013 spec engines get designed for more mileage and less performance... who wants that?

More QUALITY races is good for us the fans, but we will see how Korea, India and US pan out first. I certainly don't want to see Suzuka or Spa etc get dumped for some track no one cares about

[Robert12010]

I hope they alter certain rules to fit, like more than 8 engines if they are going to keep stretching out the number of races. Unless the 2013 spec engines get designed for more mileage and less performance... who wants that?

More QUALITY races is good for us the fans, but we will see how Korea, India and US pan out first. I certainly don't want to see Suzuka or Spa etc get dumped for some track no one cares about

agreed with the above qoute

[vlad]

How about this?

[youtube]GDGPEYrUEFw&feature=related[/youtube]

[Hammer278]

They should make it a snow-race. Pirelli, in all their wisdom and flexibility could be convinced to produce snow tyres where F1 cars get to race in anger for Mother Russia in snow covered tarmac!!