Ecclestone Has To Go - Belgium Leaves Calendar?

[Lloyd Ryder]

Will be a big shame

 

[Terry Rock]

First, they screwed up the circuit by removing the original bus stop chicane....now they're screwing the local economy and F1 fans globally by moving the race every year to a boring track. What comes next?

 

[GAIAjohan]

Erm no. A yearly GP is more expensive for the Walloon region than one in two years. That just shows how extremely expensive it is..

 

[Ho3n3r]

Imola is not kind of an overtaking track at first. Yeah there is DRS but I still remember Schumi riding Alonso for 30 laps without a chance to attack. For me it's gonna be good if they both host the Italian GP like Germany but I would never give up on Monza for Imola.

Or just bring back the San Marino GP as it used to be, at Imola.

 

[Aidan Keranen]

i think that many forms of motorsport need to realise the power of the traditional races.
imagine the day monaco goes out the door.
slightly similar, look at WRC, rallies like the RAC UK, Finland, Monte Carlo, Safari etc. they actually got rid of monte a couple of years ago, and now North One sport have gone bust.
people want to feel a connection to history, winning in spa or monaco is a hell of a lot better than winning in, say, the carpark of a casino...

 

[BlazingRiCO]

Ok to settle this for once and for all Alternating Spa with any other circuit is big BULLSHIT ! Everyone loves Spa, its one of the most mystique circuits on the calendar and has a huge history ! Bernie is the most annoying bastard in F1, cant stand him. I dont get the idea about alternating actually. It would've been better if they just dropped Bahrein from the calendar ! We already have a race in the Middle East, but yea, its all money --' And Bahrein is sandy, dusty and so boring :s

 

[Chris Cronshaw]

It's quite simple why the alternating has occurred. The Belgian government can't afford to run the race on a yearly basis.
Now I know everyone will say "well Bernie should make it cheaper."

Let's say he does that to accommodate Spa, oh what's that a knock at his door.
"Hi Bernie I represent Monza, you've given Spa a discount where's ours."
Then Silverstone, Hockenheim, Nurburgring and so on.

All of a sudden we have a number of tracks that.
A) Refuse to pay, so we end up with a Middle East/Asia series full of countries that will pay.
B) Bernie reduces the cost for all tracks.
The teams get less money, the sport gets less money and we all end up watching wacky races because the sport can't evolve.


Bernie knows what he's doing. Spa once every 2 years is much better than no Spa at all.

 

[Jordi Casademunt]

Maybe I'm too naive, but why would tracks have to pay to host a race in the first place? The tracks can exist without F1 races (like, what, thousands already do?) but F1 would die if there were no tracks to race at.

It's a shame that the tracks to run at are decided by who can pay the fee instead of which tracks are actually the best.

 

[Aidan Keranen]

its a shame, because (especially here in Melbourne) the F1 is always a political thing.
some say they'll keep it, others say they won't, some say to hell with it all.
no doubt somewhere a political campaign is based on getting F1 or getting rid of it
If there is one thing I hate, its stupid politics getting in the way.

 

[Hampus Andersson]

Maybe I'm too naive, but why would tracks have to pay to host a race in the first place? The tracks can exist without F1 races (like, what, thousands already do?) but F1 would die if there were no tracks to race at.

It's a shame that the tracks to run at are decided by who can pay the fee instead of which tracks are actually the best.

Why tracks will pay? Because F1 is the pinnacle of motorsport.

There was a time when F1 paid tracks to race on them. Maybe they should have gotten it free back then huh?

 

[David Gronvalls]

Things are looking better

http://www.f1zone.net/news/spa-alternation-plans-no-longer-on-agenda/14716/

 

[Chris Cronshaw]

Things are looking better

http://www.f1zone.net/news/spa-alternation-plans-no-longer-on-agenda/14716/

That just means we could lose Spa full stop.

The Belgian government can't afford to run the race anymore on a yearly basis!

 

[Xosé Estrada]

Tragedy!

 

[Christian Lyngbye]

Ecclestone is just bluffing. F1 needs Spa more than Spa needs F1 (WEC is already there).

Valencia and Istanbul were total failures in attracting spectators but Spa is probably the most spectator friendly track (if you're prepared to walk a lot).

DRS and off-throttle blown diffusers (sounds like ****) has ruined F1 for me so WEC, GT racing series and GP2 are the pinnacle of motorsport ATM IMO.

 

[Hampus Andersson]

"WEC is already there"

Great, just bit late since F1 has been there since the beginning.
F1 don´t need SPA, don´t understand how that conclusion was formed either.

 

[Christian Lyngbye]

Maybe because F1 needs spectators to make money?

Unless Ecclestone just wants a Mario Kart series for TV only.
Most of the spectators are in Europe because every Grand Prix is adjusted in time for European TV.

 

[Ho3n3r]

http://planet-f1.com/driver/18227/7895555/-Spa-agrees-a-new-three-year-deal

Beautiful

 

[Hampus Andersson]

Fantastic news!

It was like Bernie said about the election in France.