THE F1 COVID THREAD: Will GP be cancelled?

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by chillibowl

And no hosting fee which is sensible but i am curious how much the additional safeguard measures will cost the regional governments?

While no spectators equals greater safety it also means a massively reduced economic impact/benefit as those same spectators are not there to spend their money.

All that aside, Spa is a great venue and exactly the right venue for a restart.

The restart is meant to be at the Red Bull Ring on July 5 and 12.

[chillibowl]

Sorry, should have used the quote function there as i was responding to Adam's query if Spa would be first.

[chillibowl]

Originally Posted by bella

in fairness, f1 just turning up will benefit the local economy - there's not a lot of bigger hotels round spa aside from in liege and aachen over the border, so lots of privately owned small hotels and b&bs all pick up big money guaranteed bookings. obviously a lot of the minimum wage spectator and parking marshal jobs won't happen, but on balance, if there's no hosting fee it's going to benefit the area more than it'll cost.

True there should still be a net benefit.

I suppose it is also unreasonable to measure it viability agaisnt what the pre covid economic impact would have been.

That world doesnt exist anymore anyways.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by chillibowl

Sorry, should have used the quote function there as i was responding to Adam's query if Spa would be first.

Personally, I think Spa would be better as a season restart, what with the circuit's history.

[steve_r]

Is there any chance that the Silverstone double header could use 2 different configurations of the track? I assume the answer is a no, but it might spice things up if it could happen.

[bella]

Originally Posted by chillibowl

True there should still be a net benefit.

I suppose it is also unreasonable to measure it viability agaisnt what the pre covid economic impact would have been.

That world doesnt exist anymore anyways.

yeah, that’s the way i see it too. by holding the event they’re bringing hotel business in and reminding people the country exists. by not holding it hotels miss out on a significant amount of business for the year and they don’t gain any goodwill with f1 organisers.

the best way to look at things for the next 12 months is getting the maximum economic benefit for minimum risk to vulnerable people and the population at large. does something add value to peoples lives, and create opportunities for people to make money and government to collect taxes to pay for the significant amount of financial support the state has paid for the past few months.

[ScotsBrutesFan]

Originally Posted by steve_r

Is there any chance that the Silverstone double header could use 2 different configurations of the track? I assume the answer is a no, but it might spice things up if it could happen.

Only the current GP circuit is Grade 1

[S griffin]

In that case, they could have one using the old start and finish and one using the current start and finish by the wing

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by ScotsBrutesFan

Only the current GP circuit is Grade 1

As some of the other track configurations, like the International Circuit and Long National Circuit are part of the F1 GP circuit, wouldn't they be up to Grade 1 standard?

International Circuit: 1.851 miles / 2.979 km


Long National Circuit: 2.024 miles / 3.257 km

[BertMk2]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

As some of the other track configurations, like the International Circuit and Long National Circuit are part of the F1 GP circuit, wouldn't they be up to Grade 1 standard?

Not necessarily - the bits that aren't part of the GP circuit probably don't have the right barriers / catch fencing / runoff. So 'most' of the other configs would be compliant but each has bits that aren't.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by BertMk2

Not necessarily - the bits that aren't part of the GP circuit probably don't have the right barriers / catch fencing / runoff. So 'most' of the other configs would be compliant but each has bits that aren't.

Looking at the track configuration, there aren't many bits of either the Long National Track, or International Track that aren't part of the F1 GP track.

[Greem]

Originally Posted by BertMk2

Not necessarily - the bits that aren't part of the GP circuit probably don't have the right barriers / catch fencing / runoff. So 'most' of the other configs would be compliant but each has bits that aren't.

The "Long" National Circuit (not sure where that came from) has barrier configuration facing the wrong way between Becketts and The Loop, and the International Circuit has the mother of all bumpy camber changes on the same bit of track between The Loop and the right turn onto Hangar - it crosses the infield service road that runs from the Copse runway to the Hangar/Wing areas. There are at least three dip and rise bumps there which would probably, as they stand, be way out of tolerance for F1.

Admittedly I haven't been across that bit at speed since it was resurfaced last year but I would imagine the joins are much the same as they were.

[Anyopenroad]

Also, neither is long enough. Isn't there a minimum length for a F1 track?

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by Greem

The "Long" National Circuit (not sure where that came from) has barrier configuration facing the wrong way between Becketts and The Loop, and the International Circuit has the mother of all bumpy camber changes on the same bit of track between The Loop and the right turn onto Hangar - it crosses the infield service road that runs from the Copse runway to the Hangar/Wing areas. There are at least three dip and rise bumps there which would probably, as they stand, be way out of tolerance for F1.

Admittedly I haven't been across that bit at speed since it was resurfaced last year but I would imagine the joins are much the same as they were.

As the barriers are facing the wrong way between Becketts and The Loop, don't they race on the Long National Circuit, which is what they call it on the racingcircuits.info web site?

[Richard C]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

As some of the other track configurations, like the International Circuit and Long National Circuit are part of the F1 GP circuit, wouldn't they be up to Grade 1 standard?

To add to what everyone has already said. Even if those configuration might even sail through FIA certification, I expect that the certification process has specific cost associated with it. And if you have 5 configuration, that total certification cost is likely variable with the number of configurations being a large part of that what increases the overall cost. Part of that cost would also be in preparation and documentation. So I expect cirucits have looked and said, we have five configuration, we only expect to host Grade 1 events in configuration #3. So why spend the money to obtain a certification that you are likely to never use?

A few years ago, I was able to sit in on a presentation on how my home track (VIR in southern Virginia) prepared for a new FIA certification (Grade 2). The guy in-charge of that process talked about the changes they made, coordination with Charlie W. at that time, etc. VIR has multiple configuration. They only had the "full circuit" configuration certified.

Richard

[Greem]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

As the barriers are facing the wrong way between Becketts and The Loop, don't they race on the Long National Circuit, which is what they call it on the racingcircuits.info web site?

Nope, hence me asking where that came from - it's never been a licenced circuit layout that I'm aware of.

I spent the weekend standing on that very bit of tarmac at least year's GP and the thought of running it the wrong way never crossed my mind!

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by Richard Casto

To add to what everyone has already said. Even if those configuration might even sail through FIA certification, I expect that the certification process has specific cost associated with it. And if you have 5 configuration, that total certification cost is likely variable with the number of configurations being a large part of that what increases the overall cost. Part of that cost would also be in preparation and documentation. So I expect cirucits have looked and said, we have five configuration, we only expect to host Grade 1 events in configuration #3. So why spend the money to obtain a certification that you are likely to never use?

A few years ago, I was able to sit in on a presentation on how my home track (VIR in southern Virginia) prepared for a new FIA certification (Grade 2). The guy in-charge of that process talked about the changes they made, coordination with Charlie W. at that time, etc. VIR has multiple configuration. They only had the "full circuit" configuration certified.

Richard

The idea of using a second or different layout, is purely in the context of the double header, not for any future events. As you say a circuit may have multiple layouts but only expects to host Grade 1 events on just one of those. So indeed, why spend the money to obtain certification that you are likely to never use?

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by Greem

Nope, hence me asking where that came from - it's never been a licenced circuit layout that I'm aware of.

I spent the weekend standing on that very bit of tarmac at least year's GP and the thought of running it the wrong way never crossed my mind!

So that Long National Layout on racingcircuits.info website doesn't exist.

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by Greem

Nope, hence me asking where that came from - it's never been a licenced circuit layout that I'm aware of.

I'm wondering if it's appearance is as a result of being included in a console game?

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

So that Long National Layout on racingcircuits.info website doesn't exist.

The tarmac exists, and in digital form you could race on it.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by crmalcolm

The tarmac exists, and in digital form you could race on it.

It's not the first time racingcircuits.info have got the layout of a track wrong, or indeed the history of the various layouts of a track.

[S griffin]

Maybe it is a layout planned by Silverstone that hasn’t yet come to fruition

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by S griffin

Maybe it is a layout planned by Silverstone that hasn’t yet come to fruition

It's listed as part of the 2011 redevelopment

[thetool]

As you can see from a 2020 satellite image of Silverstone, that layout does exist

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Si...6!4d-1.0146634

But would not currently be feasible to use as the relevant kerbing is not in place. Should they ever wish to use it, the work required to make the layout usable would be minimal. The biggest issue would be obtaining the relevant licensing for that layout.

[Moneyseeker]

BGP on the National circuit, that would be a sight.... or as the late great Clive James put it when referring to the Hungaroring (I believe).' Like Monaco, without the money, the boats, the sea and the close proximity of France...'