Future Grands Prix?

[ChrisMarks]

Well the Danish GP has been fairly well documented in the Danish press. But i haven't seen much in the International press.
But it is seemly still going forward, the planning and the people behind the project have had several meetings with the F1 management, as well as the city of Copenhagen.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by S griffin

So street circuits are the future according to Tilke? Might be better than some of the circuits he's designed. Although he did a good job with Austin, Istanbul and Sepang.

Personally I think too many tracks are made just for F1 instead of all series

Austin wasn't his alone. The initial track layout was conceived by promoter Tavo Hellmund and 1993 motorcycle world champion Kevin Schwantz, along with Tilke.

[el_cat]

Originally Posted by ChrisMarks

Well the Danish GP has been fairly well documented in the Danish press. But i haven't seen much in the International press.
But it is seemly still going forward, the planning and the people behind the project have had several meetings with the F1 management, as well as the city of Copenhagen.

Ah yes had forgotten about that one. A more viable plan than Hanoi in the sense that they’ve gone as far as to propose a circuit, although it’s arguble (I don’t know Copenhagen to comment) whether the proposed layout is realistic or somebody’s fanciful idea with little regard for logistics

[S griffin]

Be nice to have another Nordic race, haven’t had one since Anderstorp Sweden 1978

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by el_cat

So realistically, what are the races/locations that could make it onto the calendar in the near future?

Miami is well documented and seems the most likely.

I’ve seen numerous references to a Hanoi street race, but very little substance beyond that so that seems a few years away.

Buenos Aires went to the extent of publishing the revised circuit map, but that would take quite a bit of work. Plus the economic situation in Argentina doesn’t seem to be conductive to bring the F1 circus.

There was seemingly an appetite for a Dutch GP at Assen, even going to the point of Charlie inspecting the circuit and declaring that not much needed to be done. But has that appetite been suppressed by a cooling in “Max-mania” given his questionable season so far?

That’s pretty much it for vaguely credible expressions of interest though.

Hanoi, do they have any motorsport in Vietnam?

[chillibowl]

i wouldnt rule out something in Vegas. i think i recall Liberty saying that 3 races in the US was their target.

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

Hanoi, do they have any motorsport in Vietnam?

not sure but they have a lot of cars and bikes on the road!

between the income inequalities issues (how many can afford to attend), impact a street race in Hanoi will have on their already serious traffic issues, and possibly shades of India in that will we even be able to see the cars through the air pollution...its hard for me to imagine this venue being a place where F1 can put its best foot forward.

dont want to be negative before its even a thing and just my opinion but this doesnt seem like a good fit to me.

[ChrisMarks]

Originally Posted by el_cat

Ah yes had forgotten about that one. A more viable plan than Hanoi in the sense that they’ve gone as far as to propose a circuit, although it’s arguble (I don’t know Copenhagen to comment) whether the proposed layout is realistic or somebody’s fanciful idea with little regard for logistics

As much as i love the idea of a Danish GP, the proposed circuit, however good it looks, is not the ideal placement in Copenhagen.
If the current layout is used they would close two of only four bridges from Copenhagen to Amager.
The two bridges that would remain open, would be one for the highway and one for regular traffic.
The two being closed for racing, are also for normal traffic, so the problem would really be that all the regular traffic would go from using three bridges to one...
Did someone predict a traffic jam??

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

Hanoi, do they have any motorsport in Vietnam?

They have some motorcycle racing and a circuit named Happy Land i believe.

[bjohnsonsmith]

It's just that we've seen what happens to GPs, when countries don't have a motorsports heritage: India, South Korea and Turkey, though it did last 6 years and it had arguably the best Tilkedrome, ever.

Liberty said they want Europe at the heart of F1, so it would make more sense, to look at reviving those European GPs that are no longer on the calendar as well as establishing races in other European countries. After all this is F1's target market, not Hanoi.

[S griffin]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

It's just that we've seen what happens to GPs, when countries don't have a motorsports heritage: India, South Korea and Turkey, though it did last 6 years and it had arguably the best Tilkedrome, ever.

Liberty said they want Europe at the heart of F1, so it would make more sense, to look at reviving those European GPs that are no longer on the calendar as well as establishing races in other European countries. After all this is F1's target market, not Hanoi.

But how long did we stay in those new countries? Exactly

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by S griffin

But how long did we stay in those new countries? Exactly

Turkey was 6 years, 2005 - 2011, India 2011 - 2013 and South Korea was 2010 - 2013, all were held long enough for Bernie to get his money's worth.

[TheMightyM]

Holland and Denmark are trendy countries to mention as sites for GP. Part of the local interest likely comes from having a local driver in F1. Is that sustainable though — how well would races at Assen or in Copenhagen do if Max Verstappen or Kevin Magnussen were no longer in F1?

Or could cashing in on such maybe short-term heightened local interest with races that might not become permanent fixtures on the schedule be part of F1s game plan going forward, especially if they don't involve massive amounts of local investment?

[Skam85]

It's such a shame about Turkey falling off the calendar, it was easily the best of the Tilke tracks.

[S griffin]

The problem with Turkey is that there was no atmosphere, with hardly anyone bothering to turn up to watch it

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by S griffin

The problem with Turkey is that there was no atmosphere, with hardly anyone bothering to turn up to watch it

Motorsport is primarily a Western thing, with it's origins in France and was very quickly adopted by other European countries and the US. Since then it expanded, to Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and South America, which all have European populations, the notable exception is Japan but they have a very strong engineering heritage and within the last 45 years developed an excellent car and motorcycle industry.

It's not surprising then, that motorsport has never taken off, in those countries like Turkey, who have little or no grass roots motorsports and no motorsports heritage.

[Mike Harte]

Turkey was also not that popular with the teams as it was a real night-mare to commute to from their hotels. It used to take around two hours, and on occasions they could get stuck in traffic jams for ages.



OK, the twenty GP drivers may have enjoyed the track, but the other thousand or so team staff don't have that compensation.


And it was just as much or more a chore for those that might have been considering spectating as they would likely have to come from Istanbul centre as well.


The track that breaks the above point, though, is Suzuka which is also in the middle of nowhere, yet the Japanese spectators are so passionate about their motor racing, especially F1, that they will endure almost anything to spectate at the circuits. And unlike, certainly in the UK, they don't all disappear the moment that the race finishes, either. Last time I was there, about two hours after the race had finished, around half the spectators were still sitting there watching re-runs of the race on the giant video screens.


And after that, hundreds and hundreds of them had very long drives home, similar to us; 8 hours to central Tokyo.

[S griffin]

Ah yes the glory days when Japanese fans used to queue for race tickets

[NaBUru38]

Originally Posted by Mike Harte

The track that breaks the above point, though, is Suzuka which is also in the middle of nowhere

Suzuka is close to Nagoya

[F1Guy]

So no more German GP?

Bild saying next months German GP is likely to be the last.

With a German manufacturer and a German driver in the top two teams, no German GP anymore??

[VIVA GT]

Originally Posted by F1Guy

So no more German GP?

Bild saying next months German GP is likely to be the last.

With a German manufacturer and a German driver in the top two teams, no German GP anymore??

It seems that Mr Vettel doesn't seem to stoke up the national Passion as much as Mr Schumacher did.

[S griffin]

I'd hate for us to lose the German GP again, hopefully Liberty will keep it's promise to protect the historic tracks

[F1Guy]

The Miami GP also seems to have hit a bump in the road. The planned track layout will need to be changed, and the pit area will need to be relocated apparently.

[LPP68]

Originally Posted by Mike Harte

Turkey was also not that popular with the teams as it was a real night-mare to commute to from their hotels. It used to take around two hours, and on occasions they could get stuck in traffic jams for ages.



OK, the twenty GP drivers may have enjoyed the track, but the other thousand or so team staff don't have that compensation.


And it was just as much or more a chore for those that might have been considering spectating as they would likely have to come from Istanbul centre as well.

I visited the Turkish GP in 2011, and I had a blast. It is true that the atmosphere was somewhat lacking, with many grandstands closed, even on race day, but there were plenty people left to have a feeling of an event, and it made the commute to our hotel, and getting services like food etc. quite comfortable. And it was quite cheap. I calculated that it was cheaper to do a weekend in Turkey, than to do raceday in Spa. And I live a 4h drive from Spa...
Add to that that Istanbul is an amazing city.

[Mike Harte]

Originally Posted by S griffin

I'd hate for us to lose the German GP again, hopefully Liberty will keep it's promise to protect the historic tracks

It's only the names of those races that are historic. The tracks themselves are all "new" and bear little resemblance to the circuits of old.


In reality, only the Monaco GP is run on a track that could be considered truly "historic", yet even that has undergone numerous changes over the years.

[S griffin]

Some are still good though, despite a bit of modernising. It’s those that go too far that are the problem

[wnut]

Originally Posted by S griffin

Some are still good though, despite a bit of modernising. It’s those that go too far that are the problem

The more money you have, the worse your track will become!