Force India nearly out of US Grand Prix

[Pumbucka]

Maybe having a price cap on the engines to like 7 million per engine and allow them an extra turbo or something. and maybe a maximum downforce and minimum drag regulation would help with the look of the cars too instead of regulating them to the point where they have phallic looking noses.

 

[JDN Racing]

I truly believe the FIA are to blame here. Its such a shame that the sport that i have lived and breathed for the past 28 years is turning to sh*t. Jean Todt is a little idiot as is Bernie to a degree.

 

[florence3099]

...as is Bernie to a degree.

Bernie's a senile, fraudulent, untrustworthy plonker who belongs in a nursing home.

 

[Dan Allen]

Interesting that this topic came up actually, mainly because I've been thinking about how popular F1 actually is in the US... I found this quote on another forum somewhere.

People here in the States absolutely know about F1, but it isn't very popular. Racing here is basically synonymous with NASCAR, and I think a lot of people who would otherwise be interested in motorsport are turned off NASCAR's redneck connotations. Likewise, I'm guessing that most (not all, but most) people who love NASCAR wouldn't be very excited about a sport dominated by "furreners." NASCAR is broadcast on network TV, while I'm guessing any F1 races would be on cable (I'm guessing, I've never seen F1 on TV), which limits its potential reach.

In general, I think Americans are much more comfortable inventing new sports that no one else in the world is interested in rather than competing with other countries (see American rules football compared to soccer/association football and rugby, baseball to cricket...). And we have a large enough population that purely domestic sporting leagues can be profitable.

I hate NASCAR. The track is uninspired, the fans are stereotypes, and the races are too long, and the whole thing is boring. To quote Jeremy Clarkson, "This track is unusual in America, because it has left-hand turns. And some that go right as well."

I made the first paragraph bold because it's the only one which is really of any use.

If there is any truth in this quote, then I would have to ask the question, what is the point in having races in the US at all? Why don't they just save the travel costs and stop going to America.

If they (the teams) could save money from travel costs, couldn't they invest it in engine technology.

I'm guessing that the $40 million cap that @Pumbucka on engine technology only really applies to the richest teams anyway, can't really imagine Caterham or Marussia having that kind of money to play with, so why not let the lower teams save money and allow them to try and catch up a bit by having more money to play with?

Just my thoughts, I'm probably waaay off the mark though...

EDIT:

Sports business as it is now rather than just sports have completely forgotten who or why they are able to operate, the fans. Be it either pay per view TV or regulations that suit the business rather than the people who care and watch the sport. Be it F1 or football or any other sport.

This quote sums up F1 nicely.

“A disproportionate amount of time is spent arguing over how to split a dollar, as opposed to working out how we are going to make two dollars,”

Until they realise that they are losing fans, sponsors and teams because of the self centered view of a few teams and the fact that a investment company (CVC) and a buffoon (Bernie) are running the show then F1 will never recover.

When I was younger (a long time ago) a lot of my friends were interested in F1. When i speak to relatives or my friends kids who are a similar age to when I got interested none of them are interested in F1. Sir Bernard of Ecclestone does not have a clue how to engage with young people and the teams are too wrapped up in their own technical bubble.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/29868355

 

[Dan Allen]

Double post

 

[Nelson Ullinskey]

If there is any truth in this quote, then I would have to ask the question, what is the point in having races in the US at all? Why don't they just save the travel costs and stop going to America.

They visit because of people like me, and a few hardcore American F1 fans. Some of you may know I race go karts, and almost every one I race with likes F1 over NASCAR. A lot of them even wake up at 7 AM in the morning to watch the European races live and even stay up till 2 or 3 AM to catch the far east races. Then there are people like me: racing is racing, gimme anything. I like any form of racing: NASCAR, IndyCar, F1, sports cars, touring cars, hornets, sprint cars, you name it as long as it has four wheels, I like it (except for drag racing).

So what am going to do today considering the NASCAR race at Texas Motor Speedway starts at the same time F1 does in Austin? Gonna start out with F1 and catch NASCAR on the commercials and when F1 is over, watch the last part of NASCAR. And I'm going to enjoy myself very much because I am not an F1 or NASCAR fan, I am a race fan

 

[florence3099]

The BBC article about Ecclestone sums up his whole attitude, "its probably my fault". Who the flippin hell is he kidding? Of course its his fault! He's the one with the money to sort F1 out yet he's requesting the bigger teams give up some of their money. They shouldn't need to!

 

[Dan Allen]

They visit because of people like me, and a few hardcore American F1 fans. Some of you may know I race go karts, and almost every one I race with likes F1 over NASCAR. A lot of them even wake up at 7 AM in the morning to watch the European races live and even stay up till 2 or 3 AM to catch the far east races. Then there are people like me: racing is racing, gimme anything. I like any form of racing: NASCAR, IndyCar, F1, sports cars, touring cars, hornets, sprint cars, you name it as long as it has four wheels, I like it (except for drag racing).

So what am going to do today considering the NASCAR race at Texas Motor Speedway starts at the same time F1 does in Austin? Gonna start out with F1 and catch NASCAR on the commercials and when F1 is over, watch the last part of NASCAR. And I'm going to enjoy myself very much because I am not an F1 or NASCAR fan, I am a race fan

I totally get what your saying, but from a business point of view, surely it's not really financially feasible to keep sending all those cars to a country where very few people actually care about F1 (in comparison to the rest of the world, of course )?

I also share the same attitude too, racing is racing. The excitement isn't only in the speed, even though it's a large factor. It's also in the thrill of wondering when the next ballsy overtake will happen, who will finish the race/who won't and who will go from having a great race in the lead to losing 5-6 places at the end. I could go on, but you get the idea

 

[Pumbucka]

I'm guessing that the $40 million cap that @Pumbucka on engine technology only really applies to the richest teams anyway, can't really imagine Caterham or Marussia having that kind of money to play with, so why not let the lower teams save money and allow them to try and catch up a bit by having more money to play with?

I got my figures wrong, they were paying an estimated 7.7 million for the v8 engines but there are estimates that say renault is charging 20-23 million for their current engine.
Putting a cost cap will slow current development but it means that the FIA can be more lenient with the regulations the balance that, eg. give them an extra turbo, less restriction on battery technology.
Source : http://www.crash.net/f1/news/191243/1/engine-cost-fears-continue-to-haunt-f1-ahead-of-2014.html

Like i said before, i think that the down-force regulations are stupid and make the sport look ugly. If they wan't to make this formula an engine formula, they should restrict teams to a maximum level of down force and a minimum level of drag instead of restricting specific aspects of the car. That way the cars can still look spectacular when they are driving and not look like phallic tapirs.

All in all i think that F1 needs a change in management, maybe a board of former members of the sport such as Niki Lauda, Mario Andretti, Alan Prost .etc These people are passionate about the sport and aren't in it for the politics or the money.

Interesting Interview with Lauda at Japan talking about the current problems with the regulations and how it is effectively a really expensive formula 3.

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