How many new races do we need??

Chris Jenkins · Oct 25, 2011

OK, so we've not even had an Indian GP or US GP yet and people are already talking about a second Indian race in Mumbai and a second US GP in the streets of New Jersey.

We've got the Russian GP coming in 2013 or 2014 as well.
My question is, whats the point??

The teams are not prepared to commit to more than 20 races in a season, so what's going to be sacked off?
How many more European tracks are we set to lose if all these new races go ahead?

Turkey's already been lined up as a replacement for the Bahrain GP in 2012, should the situation there not improve.
Spa and France are set to alternate from 2013.

I get the feeling like we're going to see alternating seasons at some point in the near future.

Thoughts?

Fredrik Arbegard · Oct 25, 2011

In all fairness it is the Formula One World Championship and not having a race on the american continent at the moment and 8 races in Europe seems to be a bit of a joke to me.
I think the new american tracks looks great, will be a thrill to see the racing there.

Kennett Ylitalo · Oct 25, 2011

There are some European races that can be sacked. Hockenheim is one that i'm not looking for, it's a shadow of what it use to be. Today it's just another tilketrack, no soul left. Spa is something that should NEVER be out of F1 calendar, Monaco would be something i'd miss but it's not anymore F1 track. Races in north america are a good idea, US audience especially should learn what is real motorsport and what is banger racing.

I know it won't happen but how about one race for every driver? And do the F1 calendar as a tour of continents, instead of them having to jump from US to Europe to Asia etc. They have no testing so more races could be arranged one week apart. Bad news is, the more distance between races, the more tickets the venues can sell. I'm not sure about that last one but i think that's the reasoning for loooong distances between races.

One dispappointing fact is that the quality of races won't be showing in ticket sales, reasons for it are complex (what country, what is the interest, wealth of citizens etc). Add to that the politics of F1 and the cash that some countries seem to have to support awful races/tracks (maybe looking at some middle eastern circuits... those tracks are just boooooring..) we'll never have the perfect season. Like Korea, for once Tilke did amazing job there, the track is interesting and challenging but the audience just weren't there.

I would drop Malaysia, China, Bahrain and Abu Dhabi in a heartbeat and never look back. Sadly none of those races are being even questioned, apart from Bahrain of course (without the very welcomed and popular civil unrest it bernie wouldn't dare to miss those oildollars no matter how dull the races are or is there even people to see it...) With those four clogging up the creative arteries and classic races disappearing, it's not looking good.

William Levesque · Oct 25, 2011

"US audience especially should learn what is real motorsport and what is banger racing."

*cough* Prejudices *cough*

Kyle Puttifer · Oct 25, 2011

*cough* truth *cough*

William Levesque · Oct 25, 2011

Wow, you guys are really narrow-minded, that's unbelievable...

Chris Jenkins · Oct 25, 2011

Fredrik Arbegard said:
In all fairness it is the Formula One World Championship and not having a race on the american continent at the moment and 8 races in Europe seems to be a bit of a joke to me.
I think the new american tracks looks great, will be a thrill to see the racing there.

Don't get me wrong, I love the idea of one USA Grand Prix.

Let's not forget that Canada is part of North America though. So the continent has had a GP for quite a few years.

William Levesque · Oct 25, 2011

Well... Germany, Belgium, Spain, Monaco, etc... have a GP since practically always each years... I guess we can safely say over 5-6 European GP per year since the beginning ?

1 in North America since 2006... (After Indy's failure)

Don't forget that USA and Canada are hugely different

Chris Jenkins · Oct 25, 2011

Please don't get me wrong. I would love to see more F1 involvement in North America. Having lived in Colorado as a kid and visiting Canada numerous times, they're my two favourite places in the world.

My point is, how are all of these new races going to be fitted in?

There's not enough races that deserve to be scrapped.

Michael Brown · Oct 25, 2011

Personally I think the races should be organized by continent, because I don't see the sense in going to Asia, then Europe, then North America, then back to Europe. Also, there really shouldn't be more than 20 races per season, because that would make the season tedious. Again, my opinion.

Luke McVicar · Oct 25, 2011

William Levesque said:
Wow, you guys are really narrow-minded, that's unbelievable...

Europeans, what you expect?

Luke McVicar · Oct 25, 2011

The problem is they can't put Texas with the canadian GP because in summer its too hot at Austin, and they can't push Canada till the end of the season because it will snow then.

William Levesque · Oct 26, 2011

Luke McVicar said:
Europeans, what you expect?

That's not a better answer than what they said... Not everyone of them thinks like that, I assure you

Chris Jenkins · Oct 26, 2011

I had a little think about it last night and I think the only way they could fit in two USA races would be to get rid of Valencia.
I'd love to see Singapore go too, but unfortunately its still relatively new and its also a very unique race, so I don't see it going anywhere

Fredrik Arbegard · Oct 26, 2011

William Levesque said:
Not everyone of them thinks like that, I assure you

Here's one that doesn't

Kennett Ylitalo · Oct 26, 2011

Fredrik Arbegard said:
Here's one that doesn't

Getting off-topic but it is unbelievable that there's so much support for it. For F1 enthusiast living in Europe it looks like all the local tracks are ovals, there's a lot of spectators and very little rules. People expect crashes from the beginning and get disappointed with tactics that won't involve contact as viable means to get pass. Here you get very small audiences (mainly consiting of racers family and friends..) and this isn't generally condsidered as a serious form of motorsport.

I think i've watched too much of that tv-series ( http://www.history.com/shows/madhouse ) and not taken enough time to evaluate things the way it is. But this is the picture some of us get from US racing. Mainly it is just pure hate for Ovals used to create spectacles out of crashing. Organizing US F1 events would be absolutely fabulous way to get more US F1 drivers. There has to be so many great talents there that never get to realize their true potential.

But back on topic, alternating seasons is a great idea and that could happen. There are so many tracks that just simply can't disappear completely. Valencia and Barcelona wouldn't be missed here..

Ryan Sylvester · Oct 26, 2011

maybe, just for fun we all put the 3 tracks we think are most deserving of being thrown out incorporate the New tracks? i know it doesn't solve anything, but it may be a little bit more fun, and may give us an idea of what tracks people dislike most.

Im from England and personally feel like the F1 world championship should be driven all over the World and not just Europe, we are getting more and more drivers from around the world and as such should be going all over the world now especially now with the technology available and increased interest from all over the world.

Why does the Europe get the European Grand Prix? sure it doesn't mean, Fernando gets two home races because the events will sell out twice if he is there, it will not be in Spain for long once he retires that is for sure, and we will then go back to 2 german GPs for Vettel more than likely..in my opinion that should be one race that shouldn't be on the calendar for a start.

Bahrain may aswell be gone with all the problems going on there. and was the most boring race of 2010 in my opinion!

3rd one i really do struggle to think as i feel every track left brings something to F1 in my opinion, not always in terms of racing, but does bring something.. i actually dont think i could pick one!

what do you all think?

Ramon Alonso · Oct 26, 2011

I guess Bernie will try to fit in as much as he can. F1 is a businnes first, a sport second. For me I don't mind having 23 or 25 races, as long as the championship goes down to the wire.

Eric Estes · Oct 26, 2011

I think Korea will go, even though it's only 2 years old. It is losing far more money than they would lose to just be rid of it. It is in the middle of rural Korea, the stands are bare except fly-ins, and it isn't helping the local economy as hoped for.

Really would rather not see any Euro races go... though if one had to, Valencia would be my first pick.

Would much rather have Turkey than Bahrain.

Michael Brown · Oct 26, 2011

Ryan Sylvester said:
maybe, just for fun we all put the 3 tracks we think are most deserving of being thrown out incorporate the New tracks? i know it doesn't solve anything, but it may be a little bit more fun, and may give us an idea of what tracks people dislike most.

I'd like to see Sepang and Shanghai gone, those are Tilke's worst tracks. I didn't want to see Turkey gone, and Korea will probably be gone too, even though Tilke did good with Turkey being an unusual circuit, and Korea actually having flowing corners, being his best track until India. The other track would be Valencia, like everybody else.

This however shows that to Bernie F1 is all about the money and not about the sport.

But I like the idea of having new races, as long as they're good. This new race in New Jersey could increase American interest in Formula One, and if there should be a new race in F1, it should be in the Americas.

By the way, there's a thread about the track's you'd like to see off the calendar.