It seems that attempts to save the Canadian Grand Prix have failed, at least in terms of 2009, and thus we have a World Championship calendar without a single race in North America, for Indianapolis, of course, disappeared a year ago. The manufacturers and sponsors are incensed by this, and…
Filed under: Exclusive content, Nigel Roebuck's newsletter
It’s been Formula 1 all the way for Nigel – he started covering the sport in 1971. In the mid-1970s he worked for Graham Hill’s Embassy F1 team, before joining Autosport for whom he has written over 400 Grand Prix reports. Nigel joined Motor Sport full-time on Januray 1 2008. As well as reporting on F1 for national newspapers, he has written 19 books on motor racing. His insightful writing and candid interviews with the great names in racing have made him one of the recognised authorities on F1.
Robert Gilbey:
November 26th, 2008 9:28am
A couple of months ago you wrote about one of the now bankrupt American banks holding a large slice of CVC.
This fact seems to have been totally ignored in the daily press - and no mention of it from the Ecclestone camp!
Is F1 in danger from the “credit crunch”?
Peter Bowyer:
November 26th, 2008 9:51am
It does seem strange that when on one side there are constant moves to try to reduce the costs of running the cars, albeit rather unsuccessfully, but no move to reduce the costs of holding a race.
Two completely different agendas working here and the financial climate of the world today is hardly going to help any race organisers for the near future.
Did Bernie again get his timing absolutely right for selling out to CVC? You have to hand it to the bloke; he does have an extraordinary knack of getting these things spot on…
Rod Hollingsworth:
November 26th, 2008 12:00pm
What is happening inF1 is I’m afraid is what is happening in all forms of sport. Money has become the winner to organisers whilst the paying public have become the losers. I can’t remember complaining when a circuit was made up of straw bales and oil drums, when you could actually see the drivers in car and pits, enjoy a hotdog under an umrella, see half a dozen races and go home with your mind buzzing on the sheer spectacle of seeing men on the edge actually enjoying themselves and even speaking to each other. OK so times have changed and I am being a little facetious, but Mr. Ecclestone should recognise that although he has brought great wealth and recognition to the sport he has somewhere along the line forgotten me and millions of others who in the end provide the wealth, without spectators and enthusiasts who would invest in sponsorship. I really do think that now is the time for Mr. Ecclestone to put back something into the sport that has given him so much wealth. Silverstone is the heart of Grand Prix racing and is struggling to survive, and because of the demands of Ecclestone will not be doing F1 after 2010. Thanks a bunch Bernie, but to redeem yourself why not make Silverstone the pride of Grand Prix racing by putting up the cash yourself? Your wealth came from Motor Racing and it’s supporters, give a little back not just for Siverstones sake but to the history of the sport.When the time comes for Gordon Brown to take 40% think what that 40% could do for Silverstone
Rod Hollingsworth
Dave Kane:
November 26th, 2008 4:18pm
I agree with Ron Hollingsworth 100%. Bernie?
David Stinson:
November 26th, 2008 5:05pm
I have wondered for some time whether there is a fundamental mismatch in the distribution of costs and benefits from holding F1 races under current contractual arrangements. The fact that the manufacturers are upset that there are no longer any North American races suggests to me that there is such a mismatch. If it is important to their auto sales, I suppose that there is nothing to stop them from collectively helping to finance a Canadian or US Grand Prix. This could be done by holding their own Grand Prix or by working together with an existing organizer to defray the organizer’s costs.
Similarly, if a British GP is fundamental to preserving the UK’s place as a F1 “centre of excellence”, i.e., maintaining a critical mass of suppliers, and to maintaining the continued economic health of the UK racing industry, then perhaps the industry could come together to help fund a British GP.
Lawrence Zwer:
November 26th, 2008 6:37pm
As a Canadian I am sad to see our GP fall by the wayside, but I’m proud of my countrymen who refused to bow to Bernie’s demands.
Clearly the only requirement to host a GP these days is the ability to write the cheque (FIA approval of a new track is guaranteed as they’re all Tilke designed). What happens when countries are no longer willing?
I dearly hope that China pulls the plug on their GP. No race in North America and no race in China will leave the manufacturers with a very bitter taste in their mouths. And far less of a reason to participate. I would then suggest they will be in a good position to negotiate with Bernie or his successor - either reduce track fees or we will withdraw en masse and F1 will collapse.
Diego Rosales:
November 26th, 2008 7:42pm
From Argentina, I also agree with Mr Hollingsworth. Which are the next grand prix we (THE FANS) are going to lose, Bernie? Silverstone, Melbourne, Monza, Nurburgring, etc.
Martin Main:
November 26th, 2008 8:27pm
I’ve lost the plot with F1 - but then I stopped going to meetings when they started putting adverts on the cars !! Much more fun at HSCC and VSCC meets, and they overtake each other !
George Grazebrook:
November 26th, 2008 9:05pm
Worth noting that there is doubt about the Chinese race - due to costs - even though they are now back-pedalling fast. Canada now aparently won’t pay the charges - plus presumably outstanding amounts - I wonder if the real problem is a penalty cgarge for late payment? Silverstone cannot keep the GP because BE seems to dislike them - according to several reporters, the facilities in a number of other courses are worse than Silverstone. Seems it is time for Max Mosley to point out that a reduction in the number of GPs is a sporting matter as well as a financial one!
Lance Reid:
November 26th, 2008 10:29pm
I am just so disillusioned with F1 right now. No North American races, races in the middle of a desert that nobody attends and Silverstone under constant threat for not being up to ’standard’. What standard ? okay the track, Becketts and Bridge excepted has been ruined but the pits etc are way beyond some of the other tracks being used.
And as for the new cars for 2009, visually they are a disaster. The best racing I have been to in years was this year at the Slinger Speedway in Wisconsin. A quarter mile oval, $12 to get in, 104 cars and 16 races. The feature event last event lasted just under 20 minutes for 75 laps and was excitement and entertainment the whole way. I’ve been a fan of F1 for over 40 years and I’ll still follow it but give me the 70’s and 80’s where cars were visually distinguishable and the drivers had opinions and not bland corporate drivel. Valentino Rossi and MotoGP will be my main enjoyment next year. Just don’t get me started on what the BBC will do to it. Bring back Toby, Jullian and Randy.
Mike:
November 29th, 2008 10:57am
Nigel Roebuck suggests that ther are still countries (e.g. India and South Korea) who are prepare to pay Bernie’s prices to host a GP. But these are extraordibnary times. If The nation with the greatest economic growth and the greatest population has signalled a change of heart, maybe the others will think twice too. Bernie and CVC could, in a year or two, find themselves short of 17 customers per year. Then watch the price fall and I for one will enjoy believing (but it will never be admitted) that BE & Co had to drop their prices- substantially.
Besides, even in those countries supposedly waiting to host their first Grand Prix, there could be difficulty in raising the capital for new tracks, from gun-shy banks.
Mike:
November 29th, 2008 10:58am
Apologies for the typos- must try harder!
Tim:
November 29th, 2008 3:26pm
Everything that has been said so far is totally correct and germane to the subject, but we seem to be avoiding the elephant in the closet, because it portends disaster for Grand Prix racing as it’s being run now by BE:
With a “recession” being admitted to by a majority of governments in the world (don’t even breath the word “depression”), CVC will hopefully be one of its victims, taking its employee BE down with it.
When and if this happens, then and only then will the classic circuits (not those in the desert or in the jungle or in darkened streets) be able to provide the racing public with the events that we have been craving for years, without BE strangling all of us.
There has to be an up side to the financial disaster that we’re facing, don’t you think?
One can only hope.
chris brooke:
November 30th, 2008 11:10am
Deasr Nigel, fans of all ages [i went to my GP in 1964] and my last around 1999 - simply fed up with the ‘over’ commercialism and ruthlessness of the entrepenuers and some [german?] driver - like you i can’t get away from the passion but the sheer frustration of watching great circuits disapear to be replaced by commercially supported go-kart tracks - personally i’ve never really gotten over the demise of zandvoort - great racing - if nothing else- but where’s it going? i am probably more saddned by what happened in the US over the past few years and the loss of perhaps the greater series 10+ years ago but wonder if history will repeat itself in F1 if these people aren’t careful, one make F1 series anyone?
Sunil:
December 8th, 2008 5:45pm
Things tend to find their way back to a natural equilibrium, and the larger the rise, the larger the fall (just look at house prices…).
We, the fans, need a few things from our races. Exciting racing, good overtaking as a result of driver skill and interesting and varied circuits to race upon. Not exactly rocket science.
Roebuck, Stewart and a few others have been predicting the potential disaster of over-commercialisation by the manufacturers, and the withdrawal of Honda has shown that they were right.
By the same token, the fans have reacted angrily to the loss of Silverstone, Suzuka etc. If we don’t enjoy F1 then we will slowly drift away. I’m sure that there is some national pride involved, but I’m willing to bet that the most active patriot would sooner see a rubbish local track make way for somewhere like Spa.
China may well withdraw, as Honda have. F1 will have to think carefully again about how to get people watching, and hopefully it will involve the basic idea of men not computers controlling fast cars on tracks that actually pose a challenge. And the destruction of all Tilke circuits except Turkey.
Don Capps:
December 9th, 2008 5:22pm
Motor racing, as Kyle Petty reminds us, is a sport only from the point when the flag drops (or the lights go on off, which ever it is these days in f1) to start the race and when the checkered flag drops to end the race. It is a business the rest of the time. Petty should know, his family being among the very few to ever successfully use racing as the sole means of putting food on the table, a roof over their heads, and clothes on their backs. Few others have been able to say that.
Once upon a time not that far in The Past, few were crazy enough to imagine that a living could be made from motor racing. Motor racing was a sport with some daunting business challenges, the primary one finding a way to prevent a large fortune from becoming a small fortune, the usual paradigm for being involved in motor racing.
While BC Ecclestone was able to harness the philosophy of Gordon Gekko and make lots of money — primarily for himself, that the business foundation of f1 was built upon sand and that some day there would be a reckoning was not only ignored, but and belittled when someone who point that there seemed to be quite a nude royals in the game.
While motor racing will somehow survive, it would seem that the same might not be said for f1. The current f1 operation is based upon fantasies and illusions, neither of which will be long for this world. To use another cliche, the entire house of cards is about to come crashing down. While BC Ecclestone will attempt to take his billions to the grave with him, the debt that CVC is stuck with is the death knell for f1.
While f1 might blunder and stagger through the 2009 season, you will probably be able to stick a fork in it by this time next year because by the 2010 season f1 will be done.
I will not shed a tear when f1 collapses. It was suicide, not homicide.
Dave Cubbedge:
December 11th, 2008 1:50pm
The lousy F1 that has developed over the last decade or so only strengthens my belief that in order to really experience motor racing, you have two choices. One, become a motor racing historian, because that’s where the glory of the sport lies. Two, find competitive racing in the lesser formulae as Mr. Reid above has done, by going to the local bullring. There you’ll find drivers who will be happy to have a few words with a fan, sign an autograph or pose for a picture. Real people, real racing!
Anthony Pilling:
December 16th, 2008 12:48pm
Rather than go down the route of a standard engine for all GP cars which will alienate manufacturears, I would have much preferred to see standard body, changed each year, with appendages limited to front and rear wings. After all the car bodies have no link other than badges with any known manufacturer. This would keep car manufacturers interested and eliminate the need for each team to have a costly wind tunnel and aerodynamicists. It may also if done properly improve overtaking and provide the chance of the odd overtaking move.
Don Capps:
December 17th, 2008 5:04pm
As a historian, I am not sure that there is really much “glory” in the history of motor racing. Perhaps there is to those who continue to confuse nostalgia for history, which is generally the case when it comes to racing.
Motor racing has always been a marginal sport. I mean that is several senses of the word, of course. Over the years, few have bothered to pay much attention to the off-track dramas that are simply part & parcel of how motor racing operates.
The current “crisis” is notable only for its scale when measured in dollars, euros, pounds or whatever currency you care to use. Races, clubs, and circuits used to come and go with the ebb and flow of the financial or political tides.
HDC