FIA 2015 race calendar

[Titch]

Why has the German GP been dropped? I would have thought Mercedes might have pulled enough strings to keep it in.

 

[The Artist.....]

No-one could afford to give Bernie the money he was asking for.

 

[The Artist.....]

PS. In the past, I have defended Bernie to the hilt; I believe that in the 1980s, he made a massive difference to the survival of F1. However, from the point he courted manufacturers to enter, it has led to massive cost escalations, which have meant that he had to ask the circuits for increasingly ridiculous race hosting fees, which has bankrupted several circuits. Bernie has lost a lot of perspective, that it is the viewer that makes F1, not him. As such, if it continues to be more and more isolated, then people will turn off, and then circuits will no longer want to pay to host "the show"

 

[RasputinLives]

Apparently we won't have an Italian GP in 2016 because the agreement is not being renewed. Bernie says its just not 'economically viable'.

 

[siffert_fan]

If Bernie HAD succeeded in buying the Nurburgring, it would have been extremely interesting to see what fee he would have charged himself to host the Grand Prix.

 

[The Artist.....]

Bernie owns Paul Ricard... He has not held a GP there..

 

[RasputinLives]

I thought his wife got Paul Ricard in the divorce didn't she?

 

[soccerman17]

Bernie owns Paul Ricard... He has not held a GP there..

Well of course not... why hold a race at your own track when you could charge other people to hold a race at theirs.

Anyways I hear Mercedes offered to cover half of the losses (not costs) of hosting the German GP. Still not feasible. No way we lose Italy unless Ferrari pulls out of the sport. That's not going to happen unless they go bankrupt.

 

[RasputinLives]

http://m.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/114743

 

[teabagyokel]

How many times did Bernie say he wasn't renewing Silverstone's contract? He's bluffing to get a new paddock club facility at Monza.

 

[Titch]

The man is a greedy buffoon.

 

[RasputinLives]

Greedy yes. Buffoon no. Don't let his bumbling old man act he does for the media fool you.

 

[siffert_fan]

So if Monza IS dropped,the only remaining traditional venues will be Silverstone, Spa and Monaco.

As I said elsewhere, Monaco is as safe as can be because all of Bernie's hyper-rich buddies go there (more to be seen than to view the race, IMO). So Silverstone will quite possibly be the next on Bernie's "hit list".

The man is truly despicable. Tradition means nothing to him. Money is everything.

 

[siffert_fan]

If Monza does indeed fall from the schedule, I wouldn't be surprised to see it replaced by the North Korean GP. Bernie, Putin and Kim Jong Un are so much alike, they HAVE to be fast friends. Maybe that is why Putin and Kim are scheduled to meet very soon

 

[FB]

Monaco doesn't make FOM any money, they simply don't pay them anything but Bernie daren't drop it from the calender.

 

[Brogan]

I don't have a particular issue with circuits changing.
Some of the circuits are only "traditional" because the newer ones didn't exist when F1 started.
Why penalise newer circuits for that?

Turkey for example was an excellent circuit.
Just another casualty of Ecclestone's money grab.

Just a shame Monaco isn't one of those going.

 

[Greenlantern101]

I hate Monaco. Its shit.

 

[Greenlantern101]

Greedy yes. Buffoon no. Don't let his bumbling old man act he does for the media fool you.

My views on the 'bumbling old man act'
http://cliptheapex.com/threads/bernie-ecclestone.3509/page-33#post-265559

 

[The Artist.....]

Monaco is shit, but then so is Singapore, Abu Dhabi, India, etc...

The problem with the "new" Circuits is that they choose a location, the decide to build a race circuit there; the great tracks tend to have taken advantage of what was already there, and allowed evolution.

 

[siffert_fan]

And all of the new circuits are designed by the same individual, so the chances of much diversity is lessened even more.

Can anyone tell me where I can find the actual attendance at each of the F1 races last year? I suspect that several of the sandbox group were the lowest-attended of the season but haven't been able to find actual numbers anywhere.