Silverstone bemoans 'potentially ruinous' costs: Considers Break from 2020

[BoogerMac]

Give this Nov 2016 article a read: http://www.itv.com/news/2016-11-25/...-bill-down-to-just-5-2m-on-372-3m-of-profits/

Not sure what to make the article yet, but according to the writer, F1 has made $5 billion in profits since 2006. However, they've managed to pay only $122.9 million in taxes. How the eff?

Also, take a look at this line "Last year, F1 had $1.7bn of revenue which principally comes from three sources: race hosting fees, television broadcasting fees and advertising and sponsorship of races." For poops and giggles, lets cut the $1.7 billion into thirds for the primary revenue sources. That's about $560 million from each source. To break that down for the race hosting fees specifically, it means each track/city has to pay $27 million to host a race weekend. Keep in mind, this is if every track pays the same amount (not likely). Bottom line, this is ridiculous.

Now that I'm pissed off, I'm going to go crash an F1 car in rFactor 2 just to stick it to the man...at least in my head.

 

[UMC 22]

As per usual, as long as the money rolls in the people at the top don't care about anything. To fans losing iconic tracks is like F1 losing it's soul, to the owners it's just an opportunity to find someone willing to pay even higher fee to boost their profit even higher. To be honest, all the BS surrounding F1 in recent years has left me not caring much anymore.

Let Silverstone go. Let all the iconic tracks go. Send F1 to a bunch of tracks nobody has ever heard of and nobody cares about. Then watch the fans disappear. Then watch the profit fall away. And then, finally, when their money is running out, perhaps someone will wake up and start actually caring about what the fans want instead of how big their bank balance is.

 

[Blimey]

they need to bring back the old Silverstone (2009).

 

[Deleted member 130869]

Hope it leaves and doesn't get replaced either. Not just because of the terrible layout changes but because hosting F1 races these days is a joke.

 

[Cristian Haba]

Yes it would be a loss, but full disclosure i hate the new iteration of the track. Used to be a favorite to drive in sims but not anymore, pretty bland.

 

[tferrell]

I live on the other side of the pond but is Brands Hatch not an option?
A lot of the politics (local, governmental and FIA) and personal conflicts don't make it over here in the press.
Can Brands never happen again? If so, why or not?

 

[Knoxstar]

Knockhill. That would be a hoot!

 

[Enpassant]

In my opinion the decision like that will not ruin F1. Formula One ruins itself, becomes so commercial instead being a competition of sportsmen. I'm watching F1 from the beginning of the Schumacher era - from 1992, and decade after decade I can see that process. Silverstone circiut is to significant for motorsport to be afraid. The decision of BRDC chairman is kind of warning to the authorities of F1 which shortly may becomes asiatic based money spinner...

 

[Andy_J]

F1 and our government could invest a little in this : http://circuitofwales.com/

About time we had an independent Grand Prix of Wales.

 

[Wu !]

Not sure it matters. while I myself would like it to remain mostly as it is, I think that's mostly grounded in sentiment. F1 will flock to where the numbers ($$$) are, as that's seemingly the only thing that counts nowadays, not only in F1. Europe in the end only makes up like, what? 1/20th of the world population nowadays, in the grand scheme of things, this is not a lot.

Dropping iconic tracks (Silverstone is by name only now) will evoke a lot of backlash in the short term, but there will come a time when you say "Monza" or any track that fell off at some point, and most of the new generation of racing fans will be puzzled and say: "What's that?" They simply do not have the connection we do right now.

Either way, we all win, if F1 dies, we can tell our grandkids: "Yeah, that's what you get for cutting the great tracks", go on a rant about Tilke for 30 minutes, and reminisce about these epic times. When it does well and thrives, we can tell stories about tracks with bumps and off-camber bends, which will surely make your grandkids cringe in horror: "Bumps?!? on a race track?" and have them thinking the old geezer must have lost it.

 

[Andy 'Mars Bar' Graham]

I live on the other side of the pond but is Brands Hatch not an option?
A lot of the politics (local, governmental and FIA) and personal conflicts don't make it over here in the press.
Can Brands never happen again? If so, why or not?

Track is too short, and the race would be absolutely terrible. Like there would be little to no overtaking, especially with the stupid regs for next season

 

[Piotr]

Monaco pays nothing. Abu Dhabi and Azerbeijan are somewhere in $40m-$50m. No wonder European hosts cannot compete w/o government suport.

It will be hard for new owners of F1to drop such profitable business model. There is more and more emerging countries that want to throw millions for F1 event to promote themselves. It's a lot of money, but definitely less than to host Olympics or FIFA World Cup. And you are in it for few years at least

 

[tferrell]

Track is too short, and the race would be absolutely terrible. Like there would be little to no overtaking, especially with the stupid regs for next season

Yeah...I've always thought as a BIG Monoco......
Love the Bands

 

[Rodent]

Sure but at the same time me and just about everyone I know who likes motorsports skipped Baku because **** that noise when there's a proper institution of motorsports on. F1 is not so far above all the others that they can do as they please forever, as shown by the fact that Baku is being rescheduled next year to not clash with Le Mans. 40-50 million is a lot of dough, but unless the sponsors and manufacturers feel they're getting enough exposure, they'll go race Porsche in France instead.

 

[Riblo]

Not sure it matters. while I myself would like it to remain mostly as it is, I think that's mostly grounded in sentiment. F1 will flock to where the numbers ($$$) are, as that's seemingly the only thing that counts nowadays, not only in F1. Europe in the end only makes up like, what? 1/20th of the world population nowadays, in the grand scheme of things, this is not a lot.

Dropping iconic tracks (Silverstone is by name only now) will evoke a lot of backlash in the short term, but there will come a time when you say "Monza" or any track that fell off at some point, and most of the new generation of racing fans will be puzzled and say: "What's that?" They simply do not have the connection we do right now.

Either way, we all win, if F1 dies, we can tell our grandkids: "Yeah, that's what you get for cutting the great tracks", go on a rant about Tilke for 30 minutes, and reminisce about these epic times. When it does well and thrives, we can tell stories about tracks with bumps and off-camber bends, which will surely make your grandkids cringe in horror: "Bumps?!? on a race track?" and have them thinking the old geezer must have lost it.

Yes... F1 can go where the $$$ are for circuits but seriously would you watch a F1 totally on those souless ugly Tilkedroms that look like they came out from an arcade videogame like ridge racer or NfS?
It's a couple of years that i watch only the European races and sometimes Suzuka cause to see F1 cars racing in stupid tracks like Baku, Austin and so on it makes my eyes bleed...
F1 is almost dead for me... This Championship is more and more boring every year...

 

[RichardHessels]

All great European circuits should stop hosting F1 races (for a while).
The F1 organisation should make a better deals for those circuits.
All those remote and new (tilke) tracks are backed by governments with despotic leaders. So they are exploiting common man to host an F1 race for the prestige, but those same common people can't never pay the absurd entrance prices that get asked. So you end up with races in remote places with half full grand stands, on tracks that have nothing to with motorsports or it's history. In the end this will do no good for motorsports. Numbers of people watching already went down drastically since it's got to expensive for public television to broadcast (not because of the damn internet Bernie!!!). This is ruining the sports in the long run.

 

[fortyfivekev]

I'd give my right arm to see Donny get the GP...

I know this is from the heart Paul but have you been to Donington recently? I went to the British GT at the end of the season after not going for a few years and the spectactor facilities there are really poor / non-existant now. The track itself is still great but everything else is third world.

This is just a negotiating move by Silverstone hoping that Liberty care about the history of the sport. Malaysia, Singapore and others look like they are trying a similar tactic. Lets hope it works.

 

[dineontitan]

F1 seriously needs to replace Bernie. It's time for a breath of fresh air in F1, as we all know it's not in it's best state and we need someone who really cares about the fans and the sport, not just money.

 

[Wizbiscuit]

Expecting the government (ie the TAX payer) to cover the cost of making rich people richer is a joke, for a sport you will only be able to watch on pay-view!! If Silverstone cant afford it, then nor can any other UK circuit... So only option is to let it go... F1 has become a complete joke, drivers are basically complaining marketing robots, cars almost drive themselves, its full of megalomaniacs, ultimately though its terribly dull... I watched every race from 1986-2010, since then its been less each year... so I think Silverstone and UK sport would be better off without it...

 

[Paul Jeffrey]

I know this is from the heart Paul but have you been to Donington recently? I went to the British GT at the end of the season after not going for a few years and the spectactor facilities there are really poor / non-existant now.

Hey Kev,

Yeah it's feeling a little bit more of a clubby track these days that's true I'm still a regular visitor though, its my second home

I agree about the facilities feeling somewhat below F1 standard, and that is basically the main reason I don’t “want” F1 to come to the track. Of course I’d love to see it happen, but one of the main reasons I still love Donny is the feeling of home I get when I visit. The very fact it’s all more laid back than GP type tracks, you can walk round the track fully, no stupid grandstands to take up loads of space that mean you have to spend a good 5 minutes walking behind them without a view of the circuit (thinking Silverstone here) are all what contribute towards making Donny have that special feeling – a feeling where I feel I ‘own’ the place and can do as I please when I go visit an event, especially classics like the Historic Festival where everyone is going for just a good time.

Formula One would kill Donington Park, both from its friendly atmosphere to the necessary addition of massive stupid grandstands and overkill parking requirements.

Would I love to watch a Grand Prix on the track? Yes – but not at the cost of actually changing anything about the venue

Looks like I’ll have to stick to watching the Lotus Lambo from ’90, Hill’s Williams Renault from 1996, Schumi’s ’92 Benetton and the ’85 Toleman again at the historic festival for my GP car fill