[Race] Indian GP could be cancelled!!!!!

[Marbot]

This weekends GP could be cancelled.

http://eurosport.du.ae/formula-1/cou...63/story.shtml

http://www.gpupdate.net/en/f1-news/3...cel-indian-gp/

[wnut]

[Paradise City]

Don't worry guys the Indian GP 2013 is 100% going ahead.

[Bononi]

Uhn... I wonder what goes behind the scenes.

[bella]

nothing - there's an interesting quote i think from will buxton by vicky chandhok who points out it's part of the democratic system in india. anyone can file a complaint against anyone else, but in reality it's highly unlikely to lead to the cancellation of the event, the judges won't do that. it's just their legal system.

[Sodemo]

I bet Maldonado wished he had stayed at home...

[bella]

i bet paul di resta does, hasn't he rang in sick for fp1 tomorrow with delhi belly?

[Marbot]

Crisis averted.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/1...otorSportsNews

[Paradise City]

See? Daddy Paradise was right.

[Bononi]

Originally Posted by bella

nothing - there's an interesting quote i think from will buxton by vicky chandhok who points out it's part of the democratic system in india. anyone can file a complaint against anyone else, but in reality it's highly unlikely to lead to the cancellation of the event, the judges won't do that. it's just their legal system.

That's it, I was suspecting of something like this. Pretty much like here.

[Marbot]

Originally Posted by Paradise City

See? Daddy Paradise was right.

Thanks Dad.

[Bononi]

Originally Posted by Paradise City

See? Daddy Paradise was right.

India is in debt with you.

[Peat]

I read a pretty disparaging article and subsequent comments by Joe Saward basically saying he'll be glad to never go to India again as they are just 'not ready' for F1 because 'don't understand it's value'. In the comments he goes onto say that they are fools for biting the hand of 'those who come to try to help'. Urgh! Sanctimonious b******!

Reinforced my judgement that he's a bit of a tit.

[bella]

i can understand the perception that the sport is valuable, and that it's a real bonus for a country to have a grand prix.

but it strikes me that f1 isn't really in a position as a collective to beat a country over the stick for ridiculous rules, bribary and corruption when they are the masters of that particular game...!

[Beetle]

Originally Posted by bella

i bet paul di resta does, hasn't he rang in sick for fp1 tomorrow with delhi belly?

When in Delhi, don't eat anything.

Interesting bit of news. I'm sure they'll be all over that in the pre-race show.

[chillibowl]

Originally Posted by bella

but it strikes me that f1 isn't really in a position as a collective to beat a country over the stick for ridiculous rules, bribary and corruption when they are the masters of that particular game...!

true. is this a case of F1 being beaten at its own game?

Originally Posted by bella

i can understand the perception that the sport is valuable, and that it's a real bonus for a country to have a grand prix.

i have to agree with peat's assessment of Joe's article.

in a country of 1 billion people does a poorly attended sport event have any impact on the country as a whole? im sure it has some regional importance but even so it must still pale in comparison to the draw of the various other tourists attractions in the region.

[bella]

Originally Posted by chillibowl

in a country of 1 billion people does a poorly attended sport event have any impact on the country as a whole? im sure it has some regional importance but even so it must still pale in comparison to the draw of the various other tourists attractions in the region.

i was trying to be a bit more balanced. it's wayyyyy too easy just to go in waving a bat declaring that f1 is a long way up it's own bum and that the views from inside the f1 goldfish bowls are very... er... goldfish bowly.

but it DOES have a lot of value to bring to a country, IF it's willing to invest its own time and money into doing so. unfortunately the culture in india isn't going to change any time soon, and f1 has to either cut its losses and run, or adapt to those differences and try and make the most of them.

if the sport was serious it would promote itself. it isn't. it doesn't. it's a cash raking exercise, not a sport trying to enrich the lives of everyone involved.

i would imagine the realities of the sport are difficult to deal with, and so the safest course of action is to just view it within the context of those who aspire to be a part of it, be they fans, drivers or trainee engineers. if you start to look at the veeeeery tenuous state its in then i imagine it can get a bit stressful and invoke a series of thoughts that are difficult to get out of or unthink.

if you get what i'm trying to say.

[Biscuits In A Red Bull]

Originally Posted by Beetle

When in Delhi, don't eat anything.

Interesting bit of news. I'm sure they'll be all over that in the pre-race show.

Because Paul di Resta missing practice (mediocre driver in mediocre car) is a huge deal...

[bella]

adding to my previous post one of the parts of joe's post that peat is talking about:

Originally Posted by joe saward

The impression is, once again, that India does not understand the value that such an event will give. Instead the F1 teams and organisers, not to mention the media, are made to jump through bureaucratic hoops to visit the country.

well, the bureaucracy is a tit-for-tat response to british bureaucracy for foreign visitors. anyone with any experience of travelling at all understands that. until we make life easy for indians visiting here, they will not help us out, special event or not. the on-the-ground stuff IS silly, i'm not going to argue with that, but that's how it is, and if you're expecting every single country to homogenise its culture and experience so privileged westerners feel comfortable and unchallenged when they breeze in with their multi-million pounds worth of circus then you're doing life wrong.

however. he has a point. hosting big western circuses is important. but the circus has to meet the country in the middle. you have to spend a bomb on a visa? you should try visiting the uk, son.

[chillibowl]

fair points and as usual spot on, but i just see it differently.

to me Joe is making a point that their culture (using the word to refer to their modern climate of bureaucracy and corruption) is preventing India from seeing the bigger picture that F1 can help them promote their country while not accounting for the fact that it is specifically their culture (using the word to refer to their 10K years worth of tradition) which is what is actually drawing visitors and business people to their country. they dont need an F1 sized megaphone to tell people to come visit the Taj Mahal for example.

Indian doesnt need to change for F1 and frankly F1 doesnt need to change for India either. its just not a good match.

personally i could do without this race but i dont need feel the need to paint India as a failed state because they appreciate their race about as much as we do. anyway, like Peat i also got the sense that thats what Joe was doing in his article and comments.

[bella]

i can't argue with that

it's frustrating that on the one hand you have f1 people singing the praises of the country and enjoying their stay and working *with* the people and the culture, and on the other hand you have the people who demonstrate clearly that they're not comfortable with the demands of the sport nowadays.