pffff, Indi is usually a dull race. At least this year there's a good chance of a full grid.
Ultimately though Bernie Ecclestone is right, lots of US cities wouldn't mind the Grand Prix - although American race fans are not really interested and American money isn't flowing into F1 - whereas lots of developing nations have been begging for the chance to run Grand Prix for years.
As long as it's not replaced with Hangaroring I dont mind. That's one race i'm glad to see the back of *yawn*.
Nah, blame Michelin . Seriously, that corner might want some tyres put on the wall but other than that it's fine.
Come to mention it I could think of places where a street circuit GP would be good and viable - Foxboro or Boston, bearing in mind that the North East gets no GP2 ripoff, sorry CCWS or IndyCar.
If it ain't flowing in to F1 at the moment, it won't be when the US GP is dropped.
Talk about US fans not being interested? Bahrain is generally rather empty bearing in mind it's in the middle of nowhere. Even if Indy were to have no one turn up, it has one great feature - time zones. It's an afternoon race over there - it's prime time TV in Europe. More fans (period) could be brought in rather simply - running some European races under floodlights. I'd get flamed by the purists and Tristan, but F1 should consider running all races in Europe under floodlights. NASCAR have made Sunday afternoon races in to Saturday night races.
I'm comparing motorsport to football here, but think of the Champions League - TV laps it up as more people will watch it - weekday evenings. F1 could run one or two races on Wednesday or Thursday evenings under floodlights. Quali could be run earlier in the day and shown on a tape delay before the race. There may be some issues with that, but it's deffo a possible.
I can see it perfectly possible to run the weekend two days with a few less support races. That way, the friday could be mainly open track testing which would cut costs - mid season testing could be banned or restricted even more.
This GP in India hare brained scheme is doomed to fail. It pisses of European TV, and in India it will be novelty value as there has never been any real fan base for motorsport and the country is obsessed with cricket anyway.
It's a crap track and for central Europe there are plenty of better venues (Brno?) that aren't that slow.
I believe that Indy is the only US circuit that has the facilities to host an F1 Grand Prix. The other option is to run on a street circuit which historically has been a disaster in the US as far as F1 is concerned. Unless a US curcuit undergoes a major upgrade or one is purpose-built, you won't see Bernie giving a toss about a US GP.
I expect the Australian GP to die as well, despite its popularity and high standard, Burnie wants to run the races at night here, that kills F1 for me right there. He also expects Melbourne to pay for it, or pay more than they are doing now. Good luck with that Noddy.
Pump the fans, please the fans, sell the show, make the cash. Hey, does anybody remember motor racing? Those were the days!
In all seriousness, I think you are missing the point. Bernie is a notoriously tough and effective negotiator; playing down the importance of a US GP is all part of the negotiation process.
By getting your feathers all ruffled over press like this, you are simply confirming your status as an F1 "mark".
For your sake, hopefully Tony George and the IMS aren't so gullible...
Tony George is worthless as a contributor to open-wheel motorsports (in the US anyway), and thats with his help of getting the USGP.
Bernie doesn't have his facts straight either, he was quoted saying the US only broadcasts 4 races live. Utter nonsense, we get Every GP live on Speed (minus 4 we get live on broadcast tv, Fox).
Not shown live? Only because they are running Big Brother late. Europe's fan base? Who gives a toss about that? Not the people paying for the race (Melbourne), that's for bloody sure!
Wrong. FOX has a contract for four races this year. Canada was shown live. Indy will be shown live. Silverstone and Magny-Cours will be shown on tape-delay. The rest of the races are live on Speed.
No time will be alotted for pre-race buildup or post-race interviews/podium/etc.
But it's immaterial. I think the only ones who would be willing to put up the cash is vegas. At which point it will stop becoming a race and start becoming a show.
Bernie's never made much sense in the past... why should he start making any sense now? His antics/decisions/general behaviour trickle down through the series, and are a part of why much of the US market doesn't understand/like formula 1.
No. The people who pay for the race is the TV broadcasters. They pay for that by commercials. Sensible time for countries with large numbers of F1 fans (I.E. European countries) ==> more money for the broadcasters ==> money to run the race. Simple economics - Bernie gets more from TV than from paying to host races.
LVMS couldn't host F1 really without a decent road configuration. LV couldn't host it it unless it is a street circuit, which CCWS do. Maybe CCWS and F1 could coheadline there - with the F1 race earlier in the day (midday start or so) so that it can be shown live at a sensible time in Europe.
Melbourne pays millions every year to F1 for their spot on the F1 calender. If our race is going to be turned into a novelty event don't expect us to hold the event at all. There won't be a race for Bernie to **** up. I've barely missed an F1 race in over two decades despite having to watch most of them in the middle of the night.
If non-European races are forced to cater solely to European audiences, then it isn't an international sport at all, it's a European spectacle that vaguely resembles a motor race.
Having checked, the race would be OK for timing if it was done at Midday or 11am as it would be 7pm or 8pm WET. I think the NA F1 races are ran at a slightly different local time to facilitate European TV at the moment anyway.
also because laguna seca just isnt any good, Toyota's test driver got round in 1:04 or something, so if the full series went there, it wouldnt surprise me if they got very close to a sub 1 minute lap time. Its also a bit dated and wouldnt be anywhere near suitable for F1 atm. the Corkscrew would be amazing though.
. Seriously, that corner might want some tyres put on the wall but other than that it's fine.
, well it is but its in the middle of the night?