Alright when was that again.....?

I hope F1 sees the potential in "random" races, or at least having some races swapped each year.

No idea if its feasible, but I would love to see random races that are not revealed to the teams until the last moment before their travel and logistical arrangements need to be made. I'm wondering what impact it could have on the car development patterns if the teams don't know whether the next few circuits on the calendar have lots of high speed sweepers or street circuits with their point and shoot character, etc. Feels like it might inhibit the dominance of the bigger teams if there's a surprise factor invovled too.
 
23 races is way too much. I love F1, been watching since 1978, but frankly, unless the championship is still not decided before the last couple of races, I doubt I'll be very interested by December of 2021. 17-18 races is more than enough for me.

Unless of course they're anticipating that some races will be cancelled because the pandemic won't be over. I know that a Canadian GP here in June is very optimistic. Our local government has enforced strict limits on public events and there's no way it will be economically feasible to hold a race in Montreal without spectators.

And then, there's the matter of the GP of Saudi Arabia. This is from the same sport that proclaims that they "race as one" and want to end "racism". Yes, guys, go to one of the most backward thinking countries in the world, where women have zero rights. opponents to the regime are jailed and flogged and journalists are murdered in embassies. In the end, Liberty Media is just as bad as Bernie Ecclestone. It's all about money, money, money. I guess they would hold a race in North Korea if there was money to be made there.
 
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By now the F1 calendar looks like the menu list of the restaurant I usually go to. More and more circuits and tracks, most of which are useless, like the dishes in the restaurant in question. 20 circuits are enough in my opinion.
 
Spa is quite boring track.
I'm just going to leave this here...
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And then, there's the matter of the GP of Saudi Arabia. This is from the same sport that proclaims that they "race as one" and want to end "racism". Yes, guys, go to one of the most backward thinking countries in the world, where women has zero rights. opponents to the regime are jailed and flogged and journalists are murdered in embassies. I guess they would hold a race in North Korea if there was money to be made there.
Too bloody true!!!!!!
What next? Brunei?
:poop:
All this of course is predicated on the COVID19 pandemic just vanishing.
 
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I think a lot of people in the future are going to look back at 2020 and think "damn, what a great calendar". I hope F1 sees the potential in "random" races, or at least having some races swapped each year. Like Nurburgring and Hockenheim but on a larger scale. Have a few races that always is the same, like Silverstone, Spa, Monza (and a few other), and have the rest being changeable. It might even make it easier for a track to host a race that way, not having to pay the huge sums to host each year, but every other or third year instead. Oh well, a man can dream...
Chain Bear did a good video about this. To summarize his conclusion, you need a few "heritage" races (Monaco, Spa, Monza, etc) and you need some "money" races to pay the bills. So even though the drivers and fans hate Yas Marina, for example, it's necessary. Obviously, that's where Saudi Arabia falls too.

He also had the idea of "random" races or at least rotating ones. I think that if we had Imola every year the novelty would wear off and it would just be Monaco without the charm or the yachts. But if we had it only every third or fourth year then it would still be fun.

The trick to any promotion is giving people what they want, but always leave them wanting more.
 
It's back to the uninspiring tour, couldn't keep one or more of Imola, Mugello or Portimao? On the positive side it sure does free up some weekends, to do what exactly is TBD.:cool:

Yeah that was why I voted a sad in this case, don't get me wrong, it's a good calendar of events but we are back to the same old same old and after the unique venues this year more of the same would be great way to spice things up.

He also had the idea of "random" races or at least rotating ones. I think that if we had Imola every year the novelty would wear off and it would just be Monaco without the charm or the yachts. But if we had it only every third or fourth year then it would still be fun.

I'm not sure if it's still the same these days or not but I think one of the problems is most of these tracks are built for F1 only (or F1 is the main usage). The problem with this is the track owners want crazy deals for 5 or 10 years to get their money back and to be "exclusive". This stops tracks being able to get onto the calendar for one season deals maybe.

I guess the other problem is circuit costs, if for example Portimao spent a huge amount of money on track facilities (by that I mean team facilities) to keep the F1 circus happy, they may have to want a multi year deal to get their money back. The race this year probably didn't need it due to the lack of sponsor guests, etc.

However yes I agree with both of you, purely as an example a British Grand Prix at Donington one year and a British Grand at Silverstone the next would be such a breath of fresh air but also from an attendance point of view, different races in different parts of the country could also helps attendance figures too.
 
However yes I agree with both of you, purely as an example a British Grand Prix at Donington one year and a British Grand at Silverstone the next would be such a breath of fresh air but also from an attendance point of view, different races in different parts of the country could also helps attendance figures too.
There are a few places in the States too. I would really enjoy it if they came back to Watkins Glen, for example. I think that an F1 race at Road America or Road Atlanta would be great. Laguna Seca may be too small, but I think that it would be fun to see F1 cars going down the corkscrew.

But there are so many considerations. There's the whole business of being a Grade One circuit and all that entails. And then there are the financial considerations. Also, as much as I think it would be fun to see F1 cars back at Watkins Glen, I have been to that area and can say that it would make the traffic at Paul Ricard look like a motorway at 3:00 AM on Christmas morning. And, as you noted, there is the question of facilities. We planned to go to GP Canada last year and I was looking forward to seeing what I was going to get for my $250/ticket to watch the three days from the family section (on the backside of the track by the second chicane). I would have expected a fair amount at the circuit.

My point is that there is so much more going on than what happens on-track. It's very naive for us to take a sim racer approach to all of it. Sure, it's fun to throw modern F1 cars on the Nordschleife. If it ever drops for AMS2 some folks are talking about putting Copa Trucks on Nords. We can do all kinds of things.

I read so often "it's just about money." Well, of course, it is. Liberty isn't running a charity. Bernie wasn't either. Of course, I want it to be better and I want them on tracks that encourage racing in cars that can race close to each other. We should always want more from them. But we also should be sensible and try to enjoy what we get as well.
 
Because they pay a lot of money for the privilege of having F1 come there. I don't think that F1 is in the financial position to be too picky about this.

I'm not saying that this is right, but this is reality.

Nah, **** that, don't accept that excuse. In 2020 they said they care about human rights, now I want them to care about human rights in 2021. Lifes over profits. FIA and Liberty Media have some explaining to do. The F1 community should keep pressing them. Every F1 reporter should ask FIA and Liberty why we go there?
 
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Nah, **** that, don't accept that excuse. In 2020 they said they care about human rights, now I want them to care about human rights in 2021. Lifes over profits. FIA and Liberty Media have some explaining to do. The F1 community should keep pressing them. Every F1 reporter should ask FIA and Liberty why we go there?
I believe that all the #WeRaceAsOne and #EndRacism stuff is virtue-signaling. At least it is when it comes time to pay the bills. They are gambling that the money from places like Russia, China, or Saudi Arabia will more than make up for any indignation in the fan base.

Everyone's decision to click on their site, watch races, buy and sell merch, etc will demonstrate if they calculated this correctly. How much are you willing to give up? They aren't going to change unless it makes financial sense.
 

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