Quote:
Originally Posted by Bononi
You might have studied but you clearly don't know Brazil. Brasilia is the political/administrative capital of Brazil. That's not where the money is. São Paulo is the financial/economic heart of South America (not only Brazil), it's the prime destination for executive tourism and more, São Paulo is the heart of motorsport in Brazil. Ayrton Senna, Barrichello, Felipe Massa, Emerson Fittipaldi are all paulistanos (São Paulo city born), is so natural to have a race there. Furthermore, 2014 World Cup will be held in São Paulo also as the football matches and other sports for Rio 2016. I will not go down into more details as it's a waste of time and space, but is only natural to São Paulo to hold a Grand Prix, for his pontential, power, tradition in motorsport and all things related.
P.S.: Your description of São Paulo is not accurated, but that's off topic...  |
This is ALL completely off topic. We're supposed to be discussing Montreal, and now we're all pointing fingers at Sao Paulo. I'm sorry I brought this up in the first place. This is the very last I'm going to say on this issue...
I see your point. Basically, it all comes down to aesthetics. Sao Paulo is a really dirty, dingy, bad place in my opinion, and I'd much rather see F1 in Rio or Brasilia, but that's your opinion and I respect it. By the way, if I am interpreting you right, you are saying the 2014 final match for the World Cup is in Sao Paulo? That's not correct... its in Estadio do Maracana, Rio.
All this being said, I do know Brazil. Please, don't put words in my mouth. Sao Paulo is the financial capital and where all the money is. I should rephrase my original statement: Brasilia is where all the POWER is. Government is power... power is government. However, government can't be properly sustained without money, and that's what Sao Paulo has. Rio is the tourist and sporting capital. Brasilia is also the agricultural capital, as well as governmental, economic, and administrative. The rest are just large cities with semi-large tourist and sporting activities. In conclusion, there is no reason, in my opinion, for F1 to stay in Sao Paulo.
That's all I'm going to say about that. On Canada, Circuit Gilles Villeneuve is a very nice venue and it doesn't seem run down to me at all. However, if they want to renovate, I'd suggest they stop that idea and move on from Montreal. Toronto is like Canada's Sao Paulo, except it is a heck of a lot safer, cleaner, and nicer (IMHO). It is the financial powerhouse of Canada and has the most people... plus a lot of nice, empty land, which would be good for racetrack building. Like someone mentioned before, Circuit Gilles Villeneuve is resting on a man-made island that was built for the World's Fair in '67... Ile Notre Dame. There is relatively limited space on those fairgrounds. As a result, there is almost no geographical room for development... at least not on Ile Notre Dame. In my opinion, turn the fairgrounds into a one-weekend party, every year... make it the IndyCar / ALMS doubleheader of something like that. Keep Formula 1 on its toes and build a purpose-built circuit in Toronto, Vancouver, or even Montreal, if they feel so inclined.