Audi and Porsche likely to join Formula 1, Las Vegas Grand Prix announced

daveclifton said:

It will be a mickey mouse track. Drivers can't be happy with these new circuits.

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I'm not overly happy with the idea that Audi buys out Mclaren, and even less so if the plan would be to rebrand Mclaren as Audi (or Lamborghini)

Regardless of Mclaren's current performance, to lose the Mclaren name from F1 would be akin to losing the Ferrari name from F1.

As for Porsche entering F1, well it's well known that Porsche was/is heavily rumoured to be considering entering F1 as an engine power unit supplier.

Sadumeyez said:

lost Russia, added Vegas most likely

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Remember that Qatar only have a "World Cup Pause" this year, and will be on the 2023 calendar as well.
Qatar is also rumored to be the leading candidate for replacing Russia this year (so much for the pause due to the World Cup )

I would love to see more manufacturers in the sport but I would hate for them to rebrand Mclaren which is one of the most synonomous names in the sport. And from what I read Porsche pairing with Red bull for powertrains makes a lot of sense. Guess time will tell as it's not the first time we have heard their interest.

Not a huge F1 fan, but wow, a Porsche F1... curious how this will evolve...

oh yea, i completely forgot about Qatar, I'm now seeing talks about France being most likely to get the axe, a boring track I think, but I would still be sad to see it go

donizetijuniorferraz said:

New automakers coming in and a new track, very good. But the calendar doesn't have room anymore, who's going to leave for Las Vegas to enter, Spa? I don't want iconic circuits like Spa and several others to leave to enter tracks in america and arab emirates.

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Likely another damn street course unless they are going to use part of the NASCAR oval. That worked out really well in Indianapolis.
I'm not in the U.S. but close enough in Canada. All 3 in the south...yes better weather for a window to stuff another GP but why not a northern state like New York or Illinois? It could be run a week after the Canadian GP rather than have a single fly away race as it is now.
Cool about Porsche and Audi though I doubt it will be before new engine regs.

Like to know is F1 so populair in the USA,or is it just the dollars thats counting like those races in the Arabic sand or at Farawaystan.

Michel Bélisle said:

They could have chosen to race on a proper race track like Road America, Mid-Ohio, Laguna Seca, Road Atlanta or Watkins Glen. Instead, F1 is choosing to race on city circuits in exotic locations (i.e. Miami, Las Vegas). Money talks I guess?

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I'm not sure if it's about money. To me, it's about glamour. It is a lot more glamourous to go to Miami and Vegas than Wisconsin or Upstate New York. Better hotels, better restaurants, etc. It will look better on "Drive to Survive".

Obviously, I don't approve and my dream of seeing a F1 race at Road America will always remain a dream. Liberty Media has an obvious strategy of putting media exposure first and racing second, sadly.

That said, the Vegas track looks rather interesting. It seems better than the Miami layout and is certainly better than Jedha (where, hopefully, F1 will never go back.)

Knoxstar said:

Likely another damn street course unless they are going to use part of the NASCAR oval. That worked out really well in Indianapolis.
I'm not in the U.S. but close enough in Canada. All 3 in the south...yes better weather for a window to stuff another GP but why not a northern state like New York or Illinois? It could be run a week after the Canadian GP rather than have a single fly away race as it is now.

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The track layout is already available, if you want to take a look.

As I wrote before, it's all about location. Miami and Vegas are glitzy, marketable locations with excellent accomodations. Liberty Media doesn't care one bit about the racing, they care about image, so you can forget about going to excellent tracks like Mid-Ohio or Watkins Glen. It's all about looking good on social media and Drive to Survive.

Obviously, the Vegas and Austin races could be held on two consecutive weekends.

Sadumeyez said:

lost Russia, added Vegas most likely

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I hope they permanently drop Saudi Arabia and replace it with Vegas.

DND said:

My only comment will be that it is no surprise they decided to add another street circuit to the calendar, and it will free up time for me to Sim race.

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have you been living under the rock for past few years ?
don't you know that street races are the most spectacular of them all ??
you can have your SPA from last year and I'll take my Jeddah from '21 and '22 anytime.
to each his own I guess

gamer19 said:

have you been living under the rock for past few years ?
don't you know that street races are the most spectacular of them all ??
you can have your SPA from last year and I'll take my Jeddah from '21 and '22 anytime.
to each his own I guess

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Nice use of emojis

Scottt said:

Monaco isn't going anywhere, but would it really be a disaster if it did? It's a horrible race. Nearly all the action happens on Saturday.

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There are rumors on reddit that this season could be the last with a monaco gp, this new FOM owners have already shown too many times that they have 0 care about the sport or it's heritage. Monaco don't pay for organizing the gp, and I don't have trust in this new fom management. The heritage of the sport is meaningless to them, heck, few days ago they forced a entire grid to race after a missile attack and now they are saying that next year they are going to travel there again, in last year's Belgian gp they sent the cars to do 3 laps under safety car so they could technically say that the race was disputed. That's the kind of people we are talking about.

I respect but dissagree with your opinion about monaco, for my tastes it is the most interesting weekend. I have been watching it for decades and still feels freaking special year after year. If someone gets to overtake in monaco it shows big skill and commitment, it's the best qualifying session in the whole calendar by a country mile, the race it is a demonstration of skill and mental strenght to avoid those barriers, and if it rains during the race it turns into an instant classic. I don't get the people that get so irritated by monaco, if it is so bad for them there is also the option of not watching it and imagine that monaco gp no longer is part of the championship.

That leads me to the next point: People somehow confuse overtakes with good racing, I still can remember very vividly Vitaly Petrov's Renault blocking Alonso's Ferrari at those Abu Dhabi gp last laps that defined a world championship, Schumacher defending his lead as if fighting for his life for 40+ laps against Alonso's renault in the 2006 san marino gp, or Enrique Bernoldi's Arrows giving David Coulthard's mclaren a living hell at the 2001 monaco gp for half a race, those moments where iconic and nobody got to overtake their fellow competitor even once.

Meanwhile I have watched a lot of races back in the era of the 2 stroke 125cc bikes world championship in where 7 or sometimes even 10+ riders exchanged positions dozens of times with even 4 or 5 different leaders changing on the last lap in many races, good for tv. But the downside is that I'm also unable to remember any specific race of that era because this was so common that while it made for good tv, after 2 decades it turned to be very forgettable and non memorable, non iconic.

Good racing not always equals a big amount of overtakes, specially the drs ones in where a push of a button sentences an artificially uneven fight. Tense strategic racing or a good defensive drive against a faster car can be really nail biting and iconic.

I'm old enough to remember when they last raced at Vegas. Used the old strip back then.

If I remember correctly, Elvis Presley won the race.

So, they don't really enter F1, do they ? They just pour money in to put their name on a product.

Wait is this and the Vegas news an April fools. You got me on the seat belts RD, never again

Does anyone by the way know what day it is tomorrow? Calendar won't load on any website at all!

Had hoped they enter as completely new teams. Taking over a traditional team like McLaren is a shame.

RedBull48 said:

I would love to see more manufacturers in the sport but I would hate for them to rebrand Mclaren which is one of the most synonomous names in the sport. And from what I read Porsche pairing with Red bull for powertrains makes a lot of sense. Guess time will tell as it's not the first time we have heard their interest.

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They're missing a trick by not branding those engines Lamborghini ones.