Well theres not much else that can be said other than this is really ashame. http://www.pitpass.com/fes_php/pitpass_news_item.php?fes_art_id=27053 Mark
Bernie strikes again. It's as if he actually WANTS formula 1 to die with him. After, of course, he has sucked as much money as possible from the corpse. Hey, I admire his cleverness in buying up the TV rights when they were worthless and making F1 a huge commercial success, but seriously, his tactics these days are disgusting short-term profiteering. Squeeze out established races in favor of new ones that pay him more. The last time I paid to see F1 cars was at the Hockenheimring in 1988. For 10 Deutschmarks (call it $5) I watched friday practice with the other dozen real fans from the Sudkurve.
No matter how much money he has, he is still a goofy dork with moe's haircut. His greed has lead to so many nice tracks no longer being used and dull ones being substituted. What a miserable dude.
Bernie is part of the problem I agree. But he isn't the sole reason. I think in the bigger scheme of things it is a question of the general attitude in Europe and its governments: If people don't care about racing and don't go to the tracks, well then there is no money to be made. And if governments aren't willing to give their once a year F1 race an exception from the tobaco ban on advertising, then that doesn't help either. Compare European governments to Asian or Middle Eastern ones: They realize how F1 gives them a world stage and brings in tourist money and puts their name on the map. They support their races in Malaysia and China and allow tobacco ads. Very different ballgame.
My favorite track and we've been pretty loyal supporters over the years. Makes two European trips in two weeks that we won't be doing now. See Red 2006 is where we're definitely headed. Carol
DON'T WORRY.......... The Ferrari Festival will be there 23/24/25 June F1 Corse Clienti Historics 430 Challenge plus 9 hours for Club members!!! AND you are sure that a Ferrari will win!!!!!!!!!!
From the reports I've read, Spa's ownership has come into question and improvements to the circuit have not been carried out on schedule due to this. It's a shame but I wouldnt lay all this at Bernie's feet either. BHW
I think Silverstone is ok for now and once Imola actually builds the improvements they planned they should be ok too. Germany will probably end up alternating its races at the Ring and Hockenheim. Particularly in a post-MS era there won't be that much interest anymore.
But it seems that money is the factor driving most decisions in F1, not fan enjoyment, and it would appear that most of that money ends up in one place. Just some interesting examples; 1. For Sly's part, he announced after my interview with Bernie that he has given up on the Formula One movie and that he will instead convert his Formula One script to a movie called "Champs," about Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART), the American Indy car series. Says Stallone: "I worked hard for two or three years in F1, but there's a certain individual who runs that sport that has his own agenda and made it impossible to do a movie . . . I thought we had a deal and every time I went to sign, Bernie would raise the price. It's all about money to him." 2. Formula 1 races happen every two weeks and so fundamentally the price is going to be lower than the cost of the Olympics, even if Formula One Management (FOM)'s seven-year deals with a 10% annual increase starting at $40m (as is the case for recent new races) the investment involved above and beyond infrastructure costs is around $380m. There is little chance to recoup the money from ticket sales unless the circuits can expand the grandstand space to Shanghai and Indianapolis levels and have the necessary road access to cope with such crowds. And that is assuming that the demand exists in the local population, which is not certain in places like Indiana or Shanghai. The need to raise prices is probably not about greed at all as one can see a very sound theoretical argument as to why FOM needs more money at the moment. The group is saddled with a massive debt, which derives from the Eurobond which was issued in May 2000. That money went to the Ecclestone Family trusts. In other words the Ecclestones have already had their pay-off. This may be considered greedy by some but Ecclestone believes that he made the business and should be rewarded for it. 3. Bernie and Pook have apparently had a friendly disagreement over who did what for whom when it comes to Long Beach, with Bernie arguing that Formula One in effect "made" the Long Beach venue and that despite the fact that Formula One ticket prices where higher, ticket sales dropped off after Formula One left in 1983. For his side of things, Chris Pook claims that he tried unsuccessfully to get Bernie to reduce his race fee and was forced to shut down Formula One at Long Beach in 1983 when Bernie refused to go along. It sounds like Bernie and Pook were a fair match. Says Pook: "You can't let him get ahead of you in negotiations . . . Once he does, you never catch up." 4. It is not clear exactly how the event would end up being uneconomic from Ecclestone's point of view as the circuits pay most of the costs and the Formula One group takes most of the money but it seems as though Mosley is trying to teeter along a tight rope somewhere between between the views of the world and the views of Ecclestone 5. The loss of coverage on ESPN in the US which affected me and hurt F1 in the US. http://www.grandprix.com/ns/ns13648.html
from the bbc; http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/4419626.stm "Belgians to seek Ecclestone help Michael Schumacher rates Spa as one of his favourite circuits Belgium's regional Walloon government is set to ask Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone for help to secure the future of the country's grand prix. The regional government met on Tuesday to discuss ways of plugging the funding gap for next year's race at Spa. The track's future as an F1 venue was cast into doubt last month when Luxembourg said it would not help. But now the Walloon econonic minister Jean-Claude Marcourt will appeal directly to Ecclestone for assistance. The regional Walloon government lent the promoters £10m to pay to Ecclestone for the 2005 race but cannot afford to repeat that. The Belgian government, a major shareholder in the track, is considering having Ecclestone replace the race promoter should it be forced to withdraw through financial shortcomings. Schumacher favourite The race has been included on the provisional 2006 calendar with a 17 September date. Ecclestone controls the commercial rights to the sport through Formula One Management. Spa-Francorchamps is one of F1's most historic circuits and is a firm favourite of seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher. " Let me get this straight. the local taxpayers give Mrs. E. 10 mil., she hands it over to bernie, and everyone is happy?
I imagine the conversation goes along the lines of: "As a circuit owner I cant possibly afford the bill that F1 requires to come to the circuit, but, seeing as an event of this magnitude brings the worlds media attention to our small country and generates lots of income to the region I feel that, if the local community helped, the race could be secured. After all the positive reaction from everyone to Spa as the greatest F1 circuit on the planet has a marked impact on our countries place in the worlds political market place. So gimme 10million." "Thank you" ka-ching... As far as I am aware Bernie bought Spa and Paul Ricard in the 90's.
Actually it is not just about money, but the Government not agreeing to the building plans in time. Bernie wants a new pitarea where the bus stop is and the track owners submitted the plans but they haven't been approved by the authorities. So they won't be able to be constructed in time for the race.
