Hard to believe, but there is now a real concern that the Monza GP might disappear from the F1 calendar past 2016: SPEEDWEEK Formel 1 - Stabilitätsgesetz bringt Monza-GP in Gefahr Bottom line is, that the Italian govt is changing a law, which granted the Monza organizers a 20 million tax relief (not sure I'm using the right term here). Without that exemption they can't hold the race. At least there is some time left for the Italian Automobil club to fight for a change/exemption to the new law. It's Italy after all.
Not suprising - Italy is sinking financially and the head will finally rule over the heart... hard to justify racing when un employment is so high!
Maybe so, but Monza has to be seen as an asset, a tourist attraction the same as the Pisa Tower, Venice or the Coliseum in Rome: it attracts people and brings money to the country. I hear than Ivan Capelli is trying to save the Italian GP there.
That's how all GPs should be viewed at. They bring in tax revenues surpassing the govt subsidies. Some govts get that.
Well, that's true for Monza at least, but I don't know if it's the same for some GPs on the calendar that don't seem to be very well attended. Monza is always packed, and many foreigners attend. Some circuits don't attract the crowd. I think in the case of Monza, it was a case of tax exemption, and not subsidies.
Again if Bernie was not so self interested this would never happen as some of the profits would go back to Monza and the organisers. Honestly Bernie is the biggest ***************************** on the planet. Pete
If you say so ... Could have been run so much better, but been there and posted the details before. Pete
... it cost a fixed sum to run F1. The more track-owners (e.g., licensees) who pony up, the less they all have to pay. The more who can't pay, or have trouble coming up with the licensing fee, shifts an increased burden upon existing licensees. One track-owner dropping out raises cost, to all other track-owners. Monte Carlo gets their Grand Prix, free. Because Monaco gets theirs free, everybody else has to pitch in a little more, to pay for it. A relic, the antiquated Monza facility is not a staple venue, any more than was, France. The Monza venue loses about US$25 million, per annum. If Monza must go, to make way for a stronger, faster paying, more affluent venue which revitalizes and invigorates F1, then so be it. The important thing is: survival of F1. Not Monza -- asj.
And yet I bet Bernie makes huge amounts every time Monza is run. That is my point about Bernie. The guy is a billionaire. How rich do you have to be before you starting putting funds back into the thing that made you? The reason Monza is in trouble is not because it is a great venue and is the oldest F1 racing track, it is because every year Bernie keeps requesting more money because his greed has no end. Yes there are other tracks that want to play and are prepared to pay more but is this really the right way to run the sport? The answer is no because the only "thing" that benefits from more money is Bernie, nothing else. No improvements to the sport at all. Again IMO F1 should be run as a non-profit organisation where any profits go back to the tracks they visit to improve facilities, driver training, community improvements around the track, third world country health issues, etc. Oh we could do so much better than making Bernie rich, so much better ... sigh Pete
Like Bernie or not, F1 would likely still be a secondary world sport as it was before Bernie and TV rights. It is like Mosley, we would still be killing drivers if not for Mosley. Reality sucks.
Yes, I'm quite sure that if I handed over 100% of the commercial rights of F1 to you today, you would turn it into a non-profit.
Nice fantasy but that's not how it works. All the newer tracks pay a whole lot more than say Monza or Spa. If we suddenly get North Korea in and they're paying 200m to host a race, all others suddenly don't have to pay 10m less than before. They would still pay as much as they do now. More money will go to the teams. ---- I agree that CVC needs to look towards the future of the sport rather than what they can get out of it today. If a big bank would take 50% of everyones cash on the bank today they would make a lot of money...but everyone will leave and the bank will collapse. CVC need to start realizing this. At some point a succesful rival series can be set up, making it more attractive for everyone involved except F1 itself. Then F1 will be worthless. What they unfortunately can't very well do is lower just Monza's fee (or get rid of it completely). Other organizers will be pissed off and want the same, especially if they're being asked to pony up even more money!
All that has to happen is for Ferrari to threaten to leave F1 if Monza is cancelled. I believe the funds and political will would 'suddenly' be found to ensure its long term survival.
That sounds like a good tactic! Ecclestone has never stopped telling us over the years that Ferrari was essential to F1. Now Monza should use that leverage.
Imola isn't Monza. In any case, did Ferrari threatened to quit if Imola was dropped? If it did, I never heard of it.
I still don't see the need for somebody to become a billionaire from the profits. That is a lot of money that could have been far better spent. Pete
