MS is a relatively young mad. Bernie is coming up on 80. he may well love his version, but enough is enough and its time for him to go. who is this one man to decide everything neeeds to change, years of tradition arent needed anymore, and what I say goes an f*** anyone else who disagrees. you do have to have a controlling body who the teams are answerable to, but there is no way that body should be a one man band.
Regarding Donington as a 'lost' F1 venue. In a recent interview, Weathcroft, the past owner said that it was for him a life time ambition to bring a race of the F1 championship to the track he had resurected. The 1993 European GP was a one-off, with Weathcroft confessing losing £1.5m on it (that must be in excess of $2.5m) on his indulgence. At the end of a memorable race, Ecclestone chased him and wanted him to sign a contract for more GPs at the track. Weathcroft replied: "This will bankrupt me," and declined. Hat-off to a man who can forfeit $2.5m in one weekend to fulfill a childhood ambition!!!
+1 The peraltada curve is not for the faint of heat (and b@lls). Unfortunately this track is way off today's F1 standards.
I am sorry for being basic, but while the drives continue to pound around Monaco, any of them that complain about safety at any other circuits, just need to "sack up". They contiue to go to Monaco because of the money. The bikes race at Donington, Brands and Laguna because they are great tracks, and trust me (from broken bone experiance) it hurts a lot frigging more to plow into a barrier when coming off a bike than in any car. They go to the tracks that make Bernie money. Period. When I lived in England I hated going to Silverstone, but loved Brands Hatch, and still do. But Silverstone is short and boring just like Bernie
harsh but fair. still monaco has al ot of history - itd be a shame to see it go. i used to live nr Brands and some of the best racing ive seen has been at that superb circuit. Violati (i think) in his glorious 250 GTO roaring past the man flagging him down to pole position grid slot @ 100mph + and then having to start at the back of grid (and passing 90% of the field in the race) BTCC in the mid 90's Tuscan Challenge Fogarty in the Superbikes John Foulston (and others) in monster historic can am cars and many more wonderful days out
Hopefully we don't lose the Canadian GP with the US being off the calendar (pain in the ass for teams to travel that far just for one race). Btw, NASCAR had the Busch series run at Montreal this past weekend. 2007 Busch qualifying pole time by Patrick Carpentier: 1'42.086 2004 F1 qualifying pole time by Rubens Barrichello: 1'13.622 (record)
I think Donnington would get the deal to do the British GP, but Wheatcroft does not want to subsidise the event ... thats whats holding back tracks... its Ecclestone and his greed.... along with all the rest of F-1. I kinda hope they have their own subprime met down!!! that would be great to watch!!!
Ecclestone wants to buy Silverstone and bring it up to today's standards. It is the backwards snobs from the BRDC that stand in the way.
Even better, they could have the race be a total throwback where the drivers have to race older wingless roadsters, wearing goggles, scarves and pithe helmets.
and why should he subsidise the event ? for example if a band hires a venue to hold a concert they pay to do so, so why does the poison dwarf expect ppl to pay him to host events at their circuits why should they sell it to that greedy moronic dwarf just so he can make yet more money. Silverstone is very historic - 1st world champ f1 event held there, but we have better circuits in the uk (donnington & brands hatch to name but 2)
The BRDC finally gets it: They're selling excess land near the track for 60 million and will use that money to rebuild new pits, paddock and a grandstand. By 2010 Silverstone's start/finish line will be finally up to modern F1 standards.