Future Grands Prix?

[Biscuits In A Red Bull]

Originally Posted by Mike Harte

See yesterday's posts; not quite so "Ta da"!

Damn it thought I'd got in there...

...quite telling though.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by Biscuits In A Red Bull

http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/ma...nister-852486/

Ta da.

According to the BBC, Malaysia is off the 2018 menu.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/...ource=facebook

[Mike Harte]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

According to the BBC, Malaysia is off the 2018 menu.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/...ource=facebook

BJ, it's the same as in other media reports that they will not be renewing after the 2018 race.

[BSchneiderFan]

Sepang will be a loss; it's a good track, even if the weather can be tricky.

[S griffin]

If the locals aren't interested it's not gonna be going anywhere, no matter how good the circuit

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by Mike Harte

BJ, it's the same as in other media reports that they will not be renewing after the 2018 race.

I might have been a little late to the party.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by S griffin

If the locals aren't interested it's not gonna be going anywhere, no matter how good the circuit

The same thing happened with Turkey. One of, if not the best Tilkedrome but the locals weren't interested. You have the same problem in China and with India and S. Korea. No motorsports heritage, therefore no fan base and no race. The same will happen with Baku. The only reason I can think of for Bahrain still being on the calendar, is due to Shaikh Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, throwing money at it.

[BSchneiderFan]

Istanbul was a huge loss. It still seems odd that, if manufacturers are in F1 to shift units, we don't have a race in India. There's even an Indian team, for goodness' sake!

[chillibowl]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

The same thing happened with Turkey. One of, if not the best Tilkedrome but the locals weren't interested. You have the same problem in China and with India and S. Korea. No motorsports heritage, therefore no fan base and no race. The same will happen with Baku. The only reason I can think of for Bahrain still being on the calendar, is due to Shaikh Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, throwing money at it.

in fairness though, countries which do have this heritage and fan base are also having the same problems maintaining or justifying the expense of an F1 race.

to me that means there is a different problem at play here...namely how the high sanctioning fees translates into higher ticket prices.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by chillibowl

in fairness though, countries which do have this heritage and fan base are also having the same problems maintaining or justifying the expense of an F1 race.

to me that means there is a different problem at play here...namely how the high sanctioning fees translates into higher ticket prices.

True but the problem faced by countries with a heritage fan base is twofold. First there's the already exorbitant sanctioning fee and secondly the very costly upgrades to track facilities, to cater for the F1 Circus, which Bernie demands. So they are hit doubly hard.

[Moneyseeker]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

True but the problem faced by countries with a heritage fan base is twofold. First there's the already exorbitant sanctioning fee and secondly the very costly upgrades to track facilities, to cater for the F1 Circus, which Bernie demands. So they are hit doubly hard.

Yep and from what we have heard so far from the new owners, they seem to be wanting to make it more viable for the teams, but no word on the circuits. Call me stupid, but without circuits they have no where to race, or does F1 think that they will get a continuous stream of governments wanting to fling $250m at a circuit and $100m per year in rights fees?

[Sodemo]

Well I imagine that the British GP has some of (if not the highest) ticket prices of the whole calendar? Strangely there is always a massive crowd which doesn't seem to have any sign of diminishing just yet.

[JABWOA]

Korea has a decent motorsport base, two other permanent facilities and a few domestic series and club events.

However, the F1 contact was purely political unfortunately. Placed in the wrong place among people who didn't care for that thing with promises of corporate spending to build a new city.

BE played them expertly.

[bella]

the problem is it's almost always the wrong people with enough money to pay for bernie's circus.

[Moneyseeker]

Originally Posted by bella

the problem is it's almost always the wrong people with enough money to pay for bernie's circus.

And I think even they are getting few and far between, the world has changed (and still is changing) a lot since 2008 and the those to which you refer above , are often based on old commodity econonmies where the global fall in oil (for example) has savaged their economy, so they are no longer to peel out rolls of dollar bills on a vanity project that will gather dust for 360 days a year.

Globalisation has it's good and bad points in that people are now more empowered and it is less easy to justify public spending on things like F1.

[NaBUru38]

As far as I know, Sepang gets decent crowds, both for F1 and MotoGP.

[Mike Harte]

Originally Posted by NaBUru38

As far as I know, Sepang gets decent crowds, both for F1 and MotoGP.

Not quite so!

The 2016 GP attracted approximately 83,000 attendees over the three days, whilst the 2016 MotoGP saw 161,000 through the turnstiles.

You can see why the circuit might wish to carry on with the bikes, whilst dropping the cars.

[Metzo]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

The same thing happened with Turkey. One of, if not the best Tilkedrome but the locals weren't interested. You have the same problem in China and with India and S. Korea. No motorsports heritage, therefore no fan base and no race.

malaysia had unlike a decent history for motorsport as they hosted events like the motorcycle world champioship since 1991.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by Moneyseeker

And I think even they are getting few and far between, the world has changed (and still is changing) a lot since 2008 and the those to which you refer above , are often based on old commodity econonmies where the global fall in oil (for example) has savaged their economy, so they are no longer to peel out rolls of dollar bills on a vanity project that will gather dust for 360 days a year.

Globalisation has it's good and bad points in that people are now more empowered and it is less easy to justify public spending on things like F1.

Don't forget all that tobacco money. It fueled motorsport.

[Mike Harte]

It would seem that the German GP at Hockenheim is being dropped from the 2017 calendar, reducing the number of rounds back to twenty. BCE is being quoted as saying that they cannot subsidise that race and not others, and that the matter will be confirmed at the WMC meeting on the 30th November.

[bella]

in all honestly i think the german one is a difficult one to justify. either circuit is only a couple of hours from several other f1 circuits which means they're all chasing the same crowd who can't necessarily afford too many races in a year. and if they can a cold and wet germany is usually at the bottom of their list. it's a shame from a motorsport history point of view but right now it doesn't really fit.

[Sodemo]

No Germany, no France. Wow...

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by Sodemo

No Germany, no France. Wow...

And in 2018 no Malaya, possibly no Singapore and Montreal.

[wolfhound]

It will be interesting to see how F1's new owners deal with the situation. It is clear that CVC/Bernie had been pushing circuits to the limits of what was affordable for some time. Every other week we are learning about another GP on the doubtful list, and the reason is usually the figures do not add up.
Is it time for the circuits to get together and deal with Bernie as a group?
Even if you had the European GP's working as a group it could get them a better deal.
Don't forget that there has to be a certain percentage of European GP's in the season.

[BSchneiderFan]

With Mercedes riding high and Rosberg, Vettel, Hülkenberg and Wehrlein on the grid, it would seem odd not to have a German GP. And both the Nürburgring and Hockenheim are good tracks.