THE F1 COVID THREAD: Will GP be cancelled?

[S griffin]

Hopefully can improve itself in the future. It’s a shame we now have to wait till 2022 to see if the new car makes for better racing.

Even if watching motorsport can take up my day, especially if it is BTCC, it’s not the same without it. The last motorsport I watched on the telly was the Rally Mexico highlights on ITV4 a month ago

[NaBUru38]

How about remote controlled racecars?


Drivers wouldn't need to leave their homes, and it would feature real cars rather than virtual ones.

[coppice]

TV racing is virtual racing already , a cynic might say .

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by S griffin

I agree that us missing racing will make us enjoy it more in the future, as the old adage absence makes the heart grow fonder shows. For all we criticise F1, it's something a lot of us petrolheads can't do without. In fact any motorsport for that matter

I don't know about that. All it would take is a couple of processional races, a lack of overtaking, Lewis and Mercedes winning again and the complaining would start once more.

[chillibowl]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

I don't know about that. All it would take is a couple of processional races, a lack of overtaking, Lewis and Mercedes winning again and the complaining would start once more.

i dont think F1 can risk allowing that parade to happen in front of no fans.

if for not other reason being that we the fans will eviscerate them for it. we are a fickle bunch!

[chillibowl]

i will admit to being curious if they will pipe in crowd and engine noise though.

the cars are relatively quieter these days so it would be a pretty quiet broadcast if they just relied on microphones at a distance.

more onboards would help with picking up a cars sound and could also reduce the number of wide shots showing empty grandstands.

the logic of filming a race or any sporting event for that matter with no fans surely is different. i suppose F1 film crews have experience avoiding empty grandstands but im not sure how they could do a completely empty place without it looking and sounding like a a serious deception?

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by chillibowl

i dont think F1 can risk allowing that parade to happen in front of no fans.

if for not other reason being that we the fans will eviscerate them for it. we are a fickle bunch!

The fans could be CGI'd, for the benefit of the TV viewers and that could give the dwindling TV viewers the illusion they aren't the only ones watching; I'm being overly cynical.

[Adam43]

Give people some credit. They’ll understand if the grandstands are empty. It will be odd, but then it’s not the oddest thing at the moment.

[chillibowl]

Originally Posted by Adam43

Give people some credit. They’ll understand if the grandstands are empty. It will be odd, but then it’s not the oddest thing at the moment.

well im not saying there will be blood in the streets over it, just that im going to complain like hell about it on the internet!

maybe also shout at a few strangers from my roof top

[Richard C]

Frankly I only notice F1 crowds on TV when

1. Podium celebration (which is after the race)
2. Someone calls out lack of crowd in social media and then I pay attention to verify.

My point is for me, crowds are not why I watch the races.

Richard

[chillibowl]

to be honest i dont really know what my reaction to an event with an empty track/stadium/arena will be but it would be fair to say i am heavily leaning towards not being a fan of it.

because it will be such a unique occurrence, i think it is inevitable that a lot of attention will be drawn to this fact. i dont see how one could commentate the event without frequently commentating on this fact. perhaps a quality commentator can work their way around it.

i suppose i can compare it to sporting events that have ended up with a lot of empty seats due to lack of interest which does take away some of the 'must watch' factor for me.

there have been several high profile events marred by ticket scalpers' uneven selling practices leading to empty sections and that has taken away my interest...or at least caused me to complain about said event.

i am a fan of theater and do really enjoy a live rendition of a Shakespeare play but i cannot stand the movie recreations...like sports, this, imo, was something very much created to be preformed in front of people. like arenas, his theaters were themselves built as a testament to the need for public (both common and elite at the same time) viewing.

recently i have tried watching several musicians perform from their homes and have found all of that dreadful as well. such performances just feel hollow to me. i would rather listen to their album as albums were designed for a solitary listening experience (well the music i listen to anyway is).

so yeah, for sure i am biased against this idea but it has to be said that i do really desire the chance to see how it all plays out!

[Armco Bender]

If theres no crowd......how does the track make any money?.
Most tracks are financial black holes so they will need money to keep the recievers at bay.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by Richard Casto

Frankly I only notice F1 crowds on TV when

1. Podium celebration (which is after the race)
2. Someone calls out lack of crowd in social media and then I pay attention to verify.

My point is for me, crowds are not why I watch the races.

Richard

Agreed and I've watched a lot of IndyCar races, with empty or near empty stands. However, low race attendance is not good for the track owners and race promoters, or the sponsors advertising on TV. As a result, a number of races are no longer on the calendar, which is a shame because some did produce good racing.

[midgetman]

Originally Posted by Armco Bender

If theres no crowd......how does the track make any money?.
Most tracks are financial black holes so they will need money to keep the recievers at bay.

There's a story going round today from Formula Money that Liberty will in effect rent the circuit instead of charging hosting fees.

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[Adam43]

It is clearly better to have people there. Atmosphere and all that. Although you are inherently sacrificing some of that if you watch on telly. Still a music concert, or a rugby game or similar stadium sport, would be very different without the crowd when watching on telly. The reaction of the crowd is fun. But with F1, I’m not so sure it’s that important. It’s nice to see the crowd there, but their reaction is not really noticed. Don’t we complain when they cut to the someone watching - show the race I scream.

And here the choice isn’t between having a race with a crowd or not. What is being considered here is having a race without a crowd or no race.

The later does at least give us something. And gives those involved activity. Yes it isn’t as good, we don’t sell tickets and all that, but surely it is better than no race. So if there is a point where we can have a race, but can’t have a crowd I say go for it. And then when we can get the crowds back.

[Armco Bender]

There's a story going round today from Formula Money that Liberty will in effect rent the circuit instead of charging hosting fees.

Could be a whole new era in F1 where everyone makes some money out of it..win..win.

[chillibowl]

Originally Posted by Adam43

...And here the choice isn’t between having a race with a crowd or not. What is being considered here is having a race without a crowd or no race...

true a race in any fashion is better than no race. i have to agree with that.

i dont want to but adapt or die right?

[Adam43]

It might be adapt and die anyway.

[Compromised]

F1 increasingly holding races in countries where the average resident cannot afford to attend shows us that maybe crowds are no longer a priority regardless of the current situation.

As someone who only watches Motorsport on TV I'm all for spectator-less events. Big question is can it be profitable?

[sizzle]

The last game of cricket betweeen Aus and the Kiwis and the AFL opening round both had no crowds.
It was a very unsettling experience seeing elite sport with no atmosphere.
You could even here the players sledging each other on TV.

[Armco Bender]

The last game of cricket betweeen Aus and the Kiwis

To be fair that was ordinary without a crowd.There was no atmosphere,to be honest gave up watching it,especially when we were losing.

[Moneyseeker]

Apparently Liberty has done some readjustment of it's finances by splitting Live Nation from the F1 side and moving it to their radio side of the business which has freed up some cash and credit, presumably if they need to fund races behind closed doors and support any of the teams. Interestingly they are also eyeing some more event businesses, including others in motorsport.

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[coppice]

The crowd makes a huge difference , and even talk of a CGI crowd is absurd . Why not patch in a tank battle and a couple of UFOs to get us through the boring bits eh ?



The crowds at Silverstone , Brazil , Mexico and Monza (especially ) add massively to the sense of occasion . And the three people who turn up at Baku confirm why holding Grands Prix in silly locations will be the ruin of the sport.



Can you even begin to imagine what Zandvoort will look and feel like, with a gazillion orange clad Max fans ?

[Moneyseeker]

More on this, including advance payments for 'some' teams.

Formula 1 has gained more than $1billion in liquidity and awarded advance payments to some teams in its bid to secure the championship’s financial health amid the global coronavirus crisis.

The opening nine rounds of the 2020 F1 season have been cancelled or postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic, harming the three main revenue streams for the championship: race-hosting fees, television broadcasting deals and sponsorship.

Teams will be severely hurt by this as prize money from their share of F1 revenue makes up the bulk of the budgets on the grid, as does sponsorship that will also be affected by the lack of races.

Several emergency measures have been taken to protect the short-term and long-term interests of the teams and the championship, including delaying new technical rules to 2022 and trying to negotiate a significantly reduced budget cap for 2021.

Liberty Media CEO Greg Maffei told investors on Thursday that it has advanced payments for “certain teams”, and is willing to take further action if needed to help teams “remain solvent because we want them to race successfully in 2020, 2021 and beyond”.

https://the-race.com/formula-1/f1-ga...team-payments/

[S griffin]

Alpha Tauri are now saying they are losing out to no races