You got that right. Just imagine the "atmosphere" at an electric F1 "race": They'll have to play some Beethoven over the loudspeakers to have some background sound... F1 will rival a golf or chess tournament. Librarians will embrace the "sport". Silentio!
I don't think so. Every race series has their ups and downs. The race cancellation was out of their control, and whenever a track falls out there are five waiting to take the place of it. The only thing I can see hurting F1 down the road will be the change to 4 bangers. Hopefully they stick with the V8.
The reason these places are struggling is because Bernie asks them to build a billion-dollar track in order to host a couple races. When there are a plethora of oil princes and countries with free labor and spare billions, then the competition to host a grand prix is fierce, and the costs compound and skyrocket. Worst case, we would just end up having a bunch of plain ol cheap aka world-class tracks without all the glitz and glam. Places like Indy, Suzuka, etc might end up getting back a GP because they don't have to compete against China who can spend all their bought dollars on building a fantasy track from scratch.
That about sums it up. Bernie made F1 track bidding into a business of supply and demand. Highest bidder wins. If for whatever reason the high bidders drop out, prices will adjust and we'll be back to more traditional tracks. As so often in the past F1 will not die but simply change and adapt.
I know, but it's not really the old generation of enthusiasts that matters, but the next generations we have to convert to motor sport. Many would have been educated in the energy saving matra, the ecological philosophy, the carbon footprint and global warming concerns, etc... and electric cars may be the thing for them. The idea of watching a bunch of vehicle powered by gas-guzzling IC engines tearing off the track in an undescribable cacophony may not appeal to them. I recently watched a rally for electric cars in Norway, and I can't say that it was bad to see. By the way, some electric cars are really under-rated and could give a run for their money to some petrol cars. It was nice to be able to listen the commentary, hear the reactions of the crowd, etc... After all, cycle races don't make noise and attract large crowds too... Anyway, electric cars could look ecologically friendly and may be the saviour of motor sport in future when the IC will become anti-social; it's on the cards. Without noise pollution, they could even allow for future circuits to be in towns without disturbing the neighbourhood.
Just think what Monza would be if they took the chicane out of the front straight and went straight through to Curva Grandé! But then again, so many of the old tracks would be better 'Race Tracks' and have better races (i.e. passing) if the cars weren't artificially slowed down by chicanes. But then again:: Melbourne is rethinking whether or not to host F1 in the future due entirely to $$$ Bernie keeps wanting to kill off SPA
They were here last 2007. The next year F1 wanted 20 million from Indy to host. Indy told them no. Austin Texas is building as track right now for 2012 Season
Quite the opposite: Here a shot of my Scalextric Fiorano setup and another of my modded GTO for "oval" racing at the local slotcar place. Electric race cars are cool. In 1/32 scale. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Gonna be one. (Riiight...) Bernie is resting his hopes that the expression "Everything is Bigger in Texas" is a truism.
at some point I guess F1 will go electric as well. But there's still a long way to go. I think we will see several generations of electrically powered Formula Student cars first (hey, every year brings a new generation of cars and I know of at least one team running an electrically powered vehicle). After that, we will see something like electric Formula Fords. Once those have been around a few years, electric powerplants will be introduced in classes like F3000 (or whatever they're called these days) and finally F1. Possibly in combination with traditional powerplants. I'm actually looking forward to it. The electric car seems inevitable and if F1 goes electric I'm certain that the development of motors and batteries will speed up. Imagine a grid full of cars running gas turbines (to produce electricity which would be stored in batteries) and electric motors driving each wheel separately. I could get used to that kind of sound and performance unless the rulemakers make a mess of everything and dictate exactly which engine and batteries are allowed. Sometimes it almost seems like they don't want F1 to be at the very frontline of technical innovation...
I don't want to disappoint you, but electric cars are hardly "the very frontline of technical innovation"; they are very old technology!! Electric cars were at the birth of the automobile, popular a century ago, and holders of the land speed record for a long time. There are good reasons why electric cars were abandoned: their limited range and length to recharge make them impractical. This still hasn't been solved. Until that is addressed, they will not take over from IC engines. They will stay as auxilliary vehicles, suitable only in town because of no pollution. It takes a matter of minutes to refuel a petrol car, and several hours to recharge an electric car. A tankfull of petrol is a small proportion of a car weight. In an electric car, the mass of batteries is most of the weight of the vehicle.
100+ years after being replaced as common transport horses are still raced in great numbers world wide. Auto racing with I/C engines isn't doing anywhere soon either.
Now we have the Japanese MotoGP cancelled, it seems that F1 could be affected in Japan too. What Bernis says? The Bharain GP is unlikely to be rescheduled this year by the sound of it; the unrest has barely stopped there.
Suzuka extended their contract thru 2012, the day before the quake. The race is in October, so hopefully it will be good by then.
Let's hope so, but Japan has been deeply hit with the earthquake, the tsunami and now several nuclear reactors exploding. I guess they have more on their mind than organising motor sport.
Turkish GP under threat for 2012 http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/90912 The Turkish Grand Prix's future appears to be in doubt with local officials said to be baulking at a doubling of the fees demanded to keep the race for 2012. The current contract at Istanbul Park runs until this year, and discussions are ongoing between organisers and Formula 1 commercial chiefs about an extension. However, Murat Yalçintas, head of the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce, revealed on his private Twitter account on Thursday that the situation did not look promising - with the race-hosting fee jumping from $13 million (USD) this year to $26 million for 2012. "It looks like the Formula One race will not be held in Istanbul next year," wrote Yalcintas, following a board meeting about the Istanbul Grand Prix. "Because it found this figure very high it looks like it [finance ministry] will not make the payment. That is why the race will not happen." Although there has been no official statement from the organisers that the race will be dropped, the financial situation does not bode well - with the event having not been a huge success in terms of spectator numbers in recent years. Should the grand prix be lost from the calendar, it will cause few problems to Bernie Ecclestone who was likely going to need to drop at least one current event from the 2012 schedule because of the return of the United States Grand Prix.
Financially speaking hasn't the Turkish GP been on life support for a while now? As in other economic areas it seems that reality is finally beginning to set in.
