Reading through the German Euro press this morning, my concerns are founded: They still need the official go-ahead from the government and the green party as well as the local people will fight this tooth and nail. Everybody in F1 (managers, drivers, fans) are in wild agreement that this is gonna be super cool for F1 yet the Austrian public is not that convinced. Funny enough the Swiss are congratulating the Austrians for getting their GP back (it is an old and still painful wound the Swiss have after they lost Bremgarten). I hope Didi's Euros will win the day. After all they are having DTM races there, so I think the chances are very good. I booked my hotel room in Graz already. Looking forward to see DF1 and kraftwerk there.
Yes I'am looking into it right now, however to entice the other half I have promised to do some walking/hiking up mountains, great to meet up the more the merrier.
Seems he's got a seven year deal and is hoping expenses are covered by ticket sales. He's eating Bernie fees. The "gubmint approval" appears to be needed if more than 40k people are expected, but I suspect he's got that well covered too..... Cheers, Ian Red Bull boss Mateschitz to fund Austrian GP himself - F1 news - AUTOSPORT.com
From what I'm reading it will actually be a straight swap with the Indian GP, which is in huge danger of being terminated. And not just for 2014 but even for this year!
And the concern over getting the necessary permits is growing: Many locals and greenies are protesting the planned GP and it is now not at all clear whether the race will happen next year. Back in 2006 Didi tried a similar big project at his track and was shot down by the govt based on opposition from the locals. On somewhat related news: Bernie pulls the plug on the Indian GP for 2014. There is even a question whether this year's Indian GP is happening or not. Reason is some crazy tax the Indian government wants on all the revenue. Crazy? Yes, because they define revenue not just as what comes in from the one race, but based on what each team makes over the entire year! Plum loco.
Yes plum loco: any GP brings huge amount of $ into the area Problem is that much of that money is lost again to Bernie. But not in this case as Didi picks up the tab. The "issue" here is whether the " glorification of cars fueled by non renewable resources" is morally defendable.
My comment was about India not Austria. As I understand it the benefit for the non-traditional venues is in the knock on PR that comes with the glamor of hosting a GP, not from the race itself.
Ah, gotcha. Yes it is debatable how beneficiary an Indian GP is to the country. My point was that the tax is nuts: they wanted a percentage on all the costs/revenue any F1 team has over the year. That's like going on vaca in Europe and the hotel charges you a tax based on your annual income. Hello!
Of course its unreasonable and I suspect that they know it. The question is what message it sends to the other new venues.
