Indian Grand Prix - Jaypee Group Circuit

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by bella

well if you imagine india was say, in the middle of the european countries, perhaps somewhere like switzerland, you would say yes, it's a smart place to be because people from the surrounding countries will travel in and stay in the local area.

sadly it's not, it's in a generally poorer area of the world where an awful lot of people live in conditions europeans wouldn't allow their pets to live in. bernie or whoever thinking that the general fans can afford to do the same from surrounding countries is just daft. the vips with the money can afford to go elsewhere with more prestige or better facilities. it's the same arrogance involved with the organisation of big sporting events like the world cup, commonwealth games and olympic games.

that said, it's important to branch out, encourage tourism and show the world that these places are open for business and available for everyone, not just the gap year backpackers. i'm just not sure overpriveleged sporting events are the way to do that.

I understand what you are saying but the India/Switzerland comparison doesn't work. Switzerland is a Western democratic country surrounded by likwise nations, India isn't. Yes, India has emerged as a global economic and nuclear power and I think like many of countries that are emerging, see some of the trappings of the West as important, such as F1 GPs but for all the wrong reasons, namely a status symbol and this is not helped by Bernie cultivating these aspirations with the offering of GPs to anyone who is willing to cough up; it's bad for the sport as it sends the wrong message.

If Bernie is so determined to promote F1 globaly, he should start by reinstituting the French GP; after all this is where the sport started.