Wot!?.... Gotta beg to differ there..... Err, wrong..... F1's grids are not only full, but there's many teams waiting to come in - Haas, the Romanian dudes and IIRC another bunch out of Azerbijian or somewhere silly. Even the ****tiest team on the grid for the past few years just got bought out, and their only real value is their entrants license. (That short circuits the demands on newbies.) The grid is not just full, it's overflowing! As for venues, again, there's more wanting to host a race than there are slots available. Spa & Silverstone are *always* under threat!..... Been that way for years. It's a shame about France, but if you want to play, you've got to pay, and they chose not to. No big deal..... Cheers, Ian
Grids are full because they reduced grid size from 24 to 22. That's like NASCRAP deconstructing grandstands and then bragging about having a sellout.
Well yes agreed Ian, I posted a while back somewhere the figures the teams were getting, and they are not to be snubbed at. But yes Bernie helps himself, but he sure is making money for all the party's concerned that keep the show ticking over, and his business model like it or not, cannot be dismissed it has been a success.
Full grids at what cost? To what end? The sport has been bastardized with supposed cost controls to keep the minnows in the pond. And what do we have to show for it? Marrussia? Caterham? I like the little guy but it's been a bad trade.
I'm not sure what the alternatives are? In fact, I'm not quite sure what 'trade' you're getting at here? The lack of the big 'automakers' rather than the minnows? If yes, I think F1 would have died long ago as those come and go at their whim. Particularly if they don't win they take their toys (huge budgets) and quit. It's a good job Bernie doesn't rely on them! As long as they're within 107 they totally deserve to be out there IMO. That they're doing it on a 1/4 of the budget of the big guys is even more impressive to me. I do agree that their so called 'cost cutting' efforts are half arsed at best, and generally wind up costing everyone more, but it's pretty much always been that way. I guess I would like to understand what you mean by 'bastardized'? I know I've been called an apologist, but I find it stunning that half the field, from half a dozen different constructors, with three different PU's, can be within a second or so of each other around a ~1:30 lap. The margin between hero & zero is darn close to being immeasurable. I for one continue to love it! Cheers, Ian
If there were real cost savings that allowed the minnows to compete with the factory boys I'd see the point. As it is there are technical limitations that only run up the costs which, of course, favors the whales. Bernie wants it both ways. Full grids, which mean minnows, and participation of the big automakers, which makes the presence of the minnows meaningless. Pluck not withstanding. 1:30 a lap is a lifetime if it remains constant.
