I think that locations should actually add something to the series. Strictly speaking, you only need one event in X amount of locations to qualify as a World Championship - that's why I disagree with the opinion of this being a world championship, therefore it should go to the middle east.
However Yeah I do think that if we're just going down the world championship route, then no you don't need China if you have Japan, and you don't need Mexico if you have America, and you don't need anything else if you have Le Mans. But I do think all circuits should actually bring something to the series. China is quite simply the biggest market in the world, and manages surprisingly strong spectator numbers (usually to do with free entry though). Japan is motorsport mad, and frankly deserves a race. Silverstone has a ridiculous amount of history that we should not ignore, Spa is possibly the best race track in the world, Nurburgring gets the best spectator numbers outside of Le Mans. I think those places have earned their spot. COTA becomes a problem because it just isn't that popular, and the track really isn't that good. Mexico brought some insane fans, and was very popular, as well as having RGR backing. The circuit wasn't the best but wasn't the worst (apart from the final section). So you could argue about them deserving their place for weeks, but I think we'd all agree we'd prefer Sebring or something.
I don't see what Bahrain provides to the series other than being the crown princes play toy. I don't see what Kuwait will offer. Therefore since they aren't required to meet the World Championship status, I don't see why one of the few rounds we get should be wasted on them.
Spectator numbers are generally a good place to go for motorsport fan numbers. Unfortunately, the ACO tends to post 55,000 every race. There could be 5 people and a donkey turn up, and the ACO would post 55,000. But even if you look at
F1 numbers you can see a clear trend of China, Silverstone and Mexico being popular, with Bahrain not being. India might have a billion people living there, but a strong motorsport community it most certainly doesn't have. The Indian GP was a bit of a disaster with empty grand stands being covered with multi coloured sheets, and cameras panning below them. There's
plenty of other evidence which points to events in these areas simply not being popular. When you have a very limited season, I don't think it's wise to waste events on regions you know are unpopular.
If you start going where money is rather than where is popular and where fans want to see races, you end up with ridiculous things like Spa being dropped from the F1 Calendar and what not. I don't think that's the way things should go, and I do think F1 should pose as a warning that moving away from popular events and migrating to the vanity projects will see a downturn in popularity and end very suddenly when the oil man gets bored of you.
So I personally do see it as a "what does this bring to the calendar", and I don't see what Kuwait brings. I see literally no positive to the series. If they're going for just a bit of quick cash, then oh dear - that's what we've been complaining about with F1 and Bernie for decades. I don't want to see the WEC going down the route of being a vanity project when we still don't have firm popular races in North America, for example. And I do believe it's important if 5 or 55,000 people turn up for a race. If only a handful of people were turning up, there would be a serious problem.
You asked me how I know the track will be dull, to which I replied asking how you'd know a Ferrari F1 car would be red
We all know what this track will be right now - generally flat with a fake hill in it somewhere, small radius corners with apexes you clip rather than hug to, a massive expanse of tarmac, possibly with some stripes on it, and a whole lot of lights and flashy things like hotels to show how much money they have.
Kuwait almost was Iraq
Hence the wars. Bahrain has had its fair share of problems, and the same thing could've been said about Qatar only a couple of weeks ago. Looked pretty calm and fine there. I wonder if MotoGP is breathing a sign of relief that they managed to avoid that massive issue by only a couple of months.
What would I do? Well if Bahrain wants out then I'd let them go. I'd do my best to keep Mexico given how popular it was, but if they don't recover from the current financial problems then it might not be possible. I'd consider Monza post Le Mans, which would give the Le Mans aero kit another run. If Austin was still not proving popular, I'd be going talking to IMSA to see if they'd be willing to host a WEC race there, and I'd do it at the end of the season. Finish in Sebring, possibly on an 8 hour event rather than 12 (so as not to disrupt the history of the 12 hour). Make it the championship decided! That'd perhaps help the popularity in the United States. And if we were to look at new regions, then another look at Sau Paulo should be considered, and Kyalami has just been given a refurbishment and should be looked at. I'd also vary the race lengths more. They said they wanted every race to feel like a special event - well it doesn't when they're all 6 hours. I'd be looking at any of this before I looked at the Bernie route in Kuwait.