British F1 GP dropped for 2005.

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About time too.

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Why so, it's rarely the worst event on the F1 calendar and it'd be a shame for the UK not to have its own GP. Personally I think Brands Hatch should be revived as the venue but its not likely to happen.

Brands or Donington in the summer? Definitely!

Tony

Keeping the good ones like Hungary then

Only a provisional decision at the moment.

Tony

Personally, I think that Monaco is a terrible place for a GP and IMO it ain't great to watch on TV , but it is such a tradition that it should stay.

The same applies to the British GP. Tradition is important to me as a spectator because otherwise the money money money side of F1 gets a little sickening. And a lot of teams, expertise and drivers trace back to Britain.

I for one will be sad to see the calendar miss Britain.

Deane

I expect this is just posturing and parading. I agree about Brands but it'll never happen. Just goes to show that the sport comes second to fashion and polotics - uness they're dropping Hungary, Monaco and Brazil too? To name but three.

Chers

Harry

IMHO one of the problems facing F1 is that is has become so overly concerned with it's own comforts, look at the team/press facilities at the Chinese GP, that they have lost contact with the real world, the plot and so the 'show' has gone down the tube.

Silverstone is a fantastic circuit, ok the facilities may not be the best but it is about the 'race' isn't it?

Besides there is no telling with Bernie but he did knock Spa on the head, until he got his own way.........

Donnington, maybe but Brands is sadly not going to happen.

My 2 cents worth.

Cheers

Andy

F1 has nothing to do with sport and everything to do with business. No GP makes profit for the host circuit. Most GPs are subsidised by the host government. Shanghai spent $300 million buts expects to recoup that and more from inward investment.

If the BRDC cannot raise the cash to host the British GP (and the government should not help out) then tough.

cheers

Nigel

If no circuit makes a profit isn't there something wrong with the F1 business model?


Bruce

Bye bye Knighthood.

Regards

Mike

Spending money I don't have on things I don't need.

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Originally posted by Bruce Woodhouse:
If no circuit makes a profit isn't there something wrong with the F1 business model?


Bruce

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not as far as Bernie and the constructors and the sponsors are concerned.

I believe Bernie gave Silverstone some cash following the "car park of mud fiasco" hence the tarmac car parks they now have.

Bernie also says that Silverstone have been offered the "cheapest deal in Europe" but the BRDC don't havethe business acumen to raise the cash.

cheers

Nigel

Why have a GP in the UK when you can go somewhere thats supports tobaco advertising instead???? or am i just reading too much into it

Brands is dead, and I'm sorry to say it as I worked there for over ten years.

How about this London idea? I doubt if there would be any trouble raising his cash then.

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Isn't that what business is all about?

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Well, that largely depends upon your business, I suppose.

They all need cash, it's essential, but some provide a service for their customers too and to some it's that which generates the revenue.

Whilst there's no doubt that there's a loyal following, am I the only one that now finds it so dull that I only watched one race this season?

Ecclestone has a vice-like grip on EVERYTHING in F1 and his beef with Silverstone / BRDC has been vented at every opportunity under the claim of trying to 'improve standards'. Whingeing about the BRDC at every public opportunity is a very unprofessional way to deal with the issues and not the mark of a good businessman in my view.

But do you see the fans complaining, most seem to respect like the heritage of Silverstone?

I've been to Silverstone plenty of times and whilst the traffic issue is a real one, the site itself is great, although with 500+acres it's very under-utilised.

It's ultimately all about advertising and revenues, but I'm not sure it's got much to do with driving anymore.

The point is though that BRDC do not see the estimated £40M generated by the race, yet have to cough up the cash to pay for it.

The question is should they take a leaf from Bernie's book and become better businessman, or is Bernie a greedy dictator?

I certainly don't want my tax money funding it, the revenue generated is transient and has no real impact on employment or prosperity in the long term, in my view.

Andy.

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Originally posted by Patrick Dixon:
[QUOTE] but the Chinese public weren't actually interested enough to attend the race.

Why does business always have to fuck-up sport?

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The vast majority of the Chinese public (and that's a billion or more) could not afford it. Apparently, M. Schumacher earns more in a week than your average Chinee could earn in a thousand years!

Oh, F1 is not sport it is business, as I said earlier.

cheers

Nigel

[/QUOTE]Not like, say, football then?QUOTE]

Premier league football is business - just look at the share issues, merchandising and Sky sport revenue.

But I don't much care for that either.

Not sure what your point is.

cheers

Nigel

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Is it because Bernie is a supporter of New Labour/Old Tory? Is that why it's unpalatable?

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He will buy any party to get round the ciggie ads issue.

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Originally posted by Andrew L. Weekes:

Whilst there's no doubt that there's a loyal following, am I the only one that now finds it so dull that I only watched one race this season?

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Dull? Is it somebody's (Bernie's?) job to make it interesting? The rules have been jacked up against Ferrari yet they still dominated the season. Ferrari is a brilliant team. Schumacher is a brilliant driver. It is a sport and the champions pull one out of the hat when its needed, under pressure. Just look at Schumachers in and out lap times when he pits. He is almost perfectly consistent when qualifying and makes sod-all mistakes.

As far as the business side of it goes it seems to me that teams spend money as soon as they get it on more and better bits and pieces that make their cars go faster. Bernie may be making a lot of money but all the money that comes into the teams soon goes out again. An entire industry is supported by the expenditure involved in keeping a few cars and drivers going in F1.

Unlike football teams that rake it in and hold on to it.

Deane

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Originally posted by Deane F:
Unlike football teams that rake it in and hold on to it.

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What???

Steve

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Originally posted by 7V:
What???

Steve

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I mean to say that the Formula One teams have to spend an enourmous sum of money on the state of the art because technology is as much a part of the sport as the operator (driver and team) of the technology. So the teams' income flows out again to the providers of the technology.

To take a football team as an example, the income is distributed to the talent within the team and the team's owner.

Deane

To get back on topic for a moment. The UK needs to have it's own GP, whether it's held at Silverstone or elsewhere. The UK is and always has been the international centre of technical excellence in motorsport. If we don't host our own F1 GP as a showcase for that excellence, I believe we are underestimating its importance as an export earner and will deserve to lose our dominant position.

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Originally posted by Deane F:
... To take a football team as an example, the income is distributed to the talent within the team and the team's owner.

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very few team owners make any money from football clubs.

There's the old joke ...

Q. "How do you make a small fortune?"
A. "Start with a large fortune and buy a football club."

I heard Bernie Ecclestone on television last night and he said that there may be a British Grand Prix next year. He said it was a question of contracts with the tracks and that, if the teams wanted to have 18 races instead of 17, they could add a British race to the schedule.

Steve

It seemed cut and dried on the TV the other night. I seriously wonder how much choice the teams have though.

I'll be waiting for the dedicated motorsport print media to publish about the loss of the British GP as they will have more time to canvass the views of the teams etc and will have more emotional investment in F1 than the TV journalists. Not much is available in NZ other than F1 magazine, however.

Deane

www.a1gp.com

Bernie is poor by comparison - and thick for not realising this is potentially the way to go to retain support and introduce the competition between drivers that we all want to see.

Rule changes, schmool changes

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Originally posted by long-time-dead:
http://www.a1gp.com

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hmmm ...

Same cars, sprint race to decide grid and 1 hour main race. Sounds pretty good pity its for teh off season. It would have been interesting to see a competitor to F1.