Future Grands Prix?

[BSchneiderFan]

India's a huge car market and there is an Indian-owned team in F1. That makes it perfectly logical as a GP venue.

[wolfhound]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

Pity it's not permanent. What is F1 doing in India anyway, apart from lining Bernie's pockets?

If the Indian revenue start chasing Bernie for 1/19 of his turnover I suspect he might want to scrap the idea of going to India. Mind you it is one of the better Tilke tracks.

[Beetle]

Originally Posted by BSchneiderFan

As there is no longer a Czechoslovakia, it's unlike we'll have a GP of it.

I know, but the "Grand Prix of the Czech Republic" is a bit of a tongue-twister. Of course, the "Czech Grand Prix" may be OK.

Jokes aside, does anyone know if Brno is up to snuff in regards to F1 facilities?

[Greem]

Isn't every Grand Prix these days a Cheque (Check, for those of you out west) Grand Prix?

[ScotsBrutesFan]

According to this Homologation list it's Grade 2, so not up to F1 standards.

I'm not sure how accurate this is, as it has Knockhill as International Grade 3 which is correct but a reference width of 10m. Knockhill was widened several years ago when the whole circuit was resurfaced. I believe it's a minimum of 12m all around these days.

I admit this may have nothing to do with the reference width, which I've been unable to find a definition of.

[Beetle]

Originally Posted by Greem

Isn't every Grand Prix these days a Cheque (Check, for those of you out west) Grand Prix?

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by BSchneiderFan

India's a huge car market and there is an Indian-owned team in F1. That makes it perfectly logical as a GP venue.

It's just another cash cow for Bernie. Does India have a natural motor racing fan base and heritige?

[Oldtony]

Originally Posted by BSchneiderFan

India's a huge car market and there is an Indian-owned team in F1. That makes it perfectly logical as a GP venue.

True, but a visit will convince you that around 10% of the male population is dressed in some sort of uniform and has the expressed duty of making life as difficult as possible for everyone else with useless forms of bureaucracy.
Not exactly conducive to either productivity or being inviting to visitors.

[Beetle]

Originally Posted by Oldtony

True, but a visit will convince you that around 10% of the male population is dressed in some sort of uniform and has the expressed duty of making life as difficult as possible for everyone else with useless forms of bureaucracy.
Not exactly conducive to either productivity or being inviting to visitors.

+1

Couldn't have said it better myself. Plus, the track's a complete bore and the smog is a serious health hazard.

The layout itself is actually quite interesting but there isn't a single tree in a few hundred miles it seems and the land is as flat as a pancake so it's not exactly the best circuit I've ever seen.

They should have put it by Mumbai where the scenery is maybe more interesting and inviting...

[Bononi]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

It's just another cash cow for Bernie. Does India have a natural motor racing fan base and heritige?

What was that indian driver name again ? That's all I know about motor racing in India...

[Beetle]

Originally Posted by Bononi

What was that indian driver name again ? That's all I know about motor racing in India...

Chandhok or Karthikeyan?

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by Beetle

Chandhok or Karthikeyan?

I completely forgot about Chandhok but Karthikeyan recently resurfaced as a "potential" IndyCar pay driver; subject to testing.

[NaBUru38]

Originally Posted by BSchneiderFan

India's a huge car market and there is an Indian-owned team in F1. That makes it perfectly logical as a GP venue.

It is from a business perspective.

[chillibowl]

Originally Posted by NaBUru38

It is from a business perspective.

Sure some must be selling cars there but the the business opportunities for the teams in India don't seem like they have materialized, at least in terms of new streams of sponsorship etc.

If its about business then Indian companies don't really have much interest in F1 either.

[Bononi]

Originally Posted by chillibowl

Sure some must be selling cars there but the the business opportunities for the teams in India don't seem like they have materialized, at least in terms of new streams of sponsorship etc.

If its about business then Indian companies don't really have much interest in F1 either.

Honestly, I never believed F1 sell cars, even when Ford used the Zetec engine brand that TGF had in his Benetton to win the WDC...

[Beetle]

Originally Posted by NaBUru38

It is from a business perspective.

That's F1 for ya.

[Teretonga]

Originally Posted by chillibowl

Sure some must be selling cars there but the the business opportunities for the teams in India don't seem like they have materialized, at least in terms of new streams of sponsorship etc.

If its about business then Indian companies don't really have much interest in F1 either.

There's no real money in India to finance anything.
Bollywood makes money but all India's domestic based airlines lose money and are privately owned by major industrialists with other primary streams of income.
The rich in India hold funds that in total are much greater than the national gross product but hold that money outside the country. It doesn't get invested in India, but baked into major overseas investment holdings that do nothing for the internal economy,
India has ben bled every year for decades. Its why despite being one of the most potentially powerful economies it gives rise to perpetual poverty for its lower and underclasses and always will.

[bella]

a lot of the money that is in india for investment is from china.

[Bononi]

Originally Posted by Teretonga

There's no real money in India to finance anything.
Bollywood makes money but all India's domestic based airlines lose money and are privately owned by major industrialists with other primary streams of income.
The rich in India hold funds that in total are much greater than the national gross product but hold that money outside the country. It doesn't get invested in India, but baked into major overseas investment holdings that do nothing for the internal economy,
India has ben bled every year for decades. Its why despite being one of the most potentially powerful economies it gives rise to perpetual poverty for its lower and underclasses and always will.

Something's got to change...

[chillibowl]

Originally Posted by bella

a lot of the money that is in india for investment is from china.

thats true for most countries in the region though no? maybe even true for most countries on the calendar now too.

but regardless of where the money comes from, India has a billion cell phone subscribers and probably a similar number of savings accounts, so where are the telecom and banking companies?

in recent years we have seen western banks pull away from F1 and with the likes of Vodafone pulling out of F1 in order to concentrate on cheaper and more direct forms of advertising im wondering if the case with India is just about no one in India caring about F1 or is this just another sign that F1 is not the commercial and advertising vehicle that it once was in all markets.

[bella]

i have to agree with you, it's difficult to fault large indian and other asian companies for not getting involved in f1.

how do you advertise using a western capitalist monolith with no clear message to a new market? f1 isn't saying "spend money and this will happen" like celebrities promoting designer products, or "buy this car and the ladies will love you". it's just waving a massive wad of cash and shiny things that most people will never understand the details of.

imo, formula one only works as a marketing tool in countries where there is a vivid national memory of the glory days. otherwise, what are you selling? what image and reputation are you selling to people?

and anyone criticising the indians for having such a huge gulf between the rich and the poor should carefully consider their own glass house before they throw stones. the gap is increasing pretty rapidly in the uk, in europe and in the states.

[bjohnsonsmith]

The sport in India is Cricket and even more so since the emergence of Twenty 20 Cricket and the Indian Premier League, which attracts international players. That's where the money is.

[Teretonga]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

The sport in India is Cricket and even more so since the emergence of Twenty 20 Cricket and the Indian Premier League, which attracts international players. That's where the money is.

Yep. Cricket has saturation coverage in India. F1 coverage is minimal and not informative about the sport.

I understand Bellas comment about being critical of third world countries when the first world is being crushed but I have lived and worked with people in India and Nepal for the most of the last 12 months and I understand what goes on and why things are the way they are.

[henners88]

Can anybody really see the British GP surviving another 10 years? The only reason they got a record audience this year was because they lowered the general admission ticket price at the last minute after reports stating they were struggling to sell out. I was even offered a ticket free through my work, but couldn't attend. I just get the impression F1 has been keen to drop the British GP for a long time now and the last renovation of Silverstone breathed just a bit of life into it for the short term. The teams love the race due to how close the majority of them are, the logistics are the cheapest of the year. However, the fans are put off by tickets prices (the most expensive in Europe, excluding Monaco), and the race has little support from the British government. We've also lost a combined total of 3m viewers over the past 12 months with the pay tv split, so none of this is helping the sport here in the long term.

They seem to be attempting to push its popularity away from the countries that have supported it since its incarnation and into economies where they feel they will get more money. Short sighted if you ask me.

[wolfhound]

Originally Posted by henners88

Can anybody really see the British GP surviving another 10 years? The only reason they got a record audience this year was because they lowered the general admission ticket price at the last minute after reports stating they were struggling to sell out. I was even offered a ticket free through my work, but couldn't attend. I just get the impression F1 has been keen to drop the British GP for a long time now and the last renovation of Silverstone breathed just a bit of life into it for the short term. The teams love the race due to how close the majority of them are, the logistics are the cheapest of the year. However, the fans are put off by tickets prices (the most expensive in Europe, excluding Monaco), and the race has little support from the British government. We've also lost a combined total of 3m viewers over the past 12 months with the pay tv split, so none of this is helping the sport here in the long term.

They seem to be attempting to push its popularity away from the countries that have supported it since its incarnation and into economies where they feel they will get more money. Short sighted if you ask me.

Silverstone has a long term contract going past 2020 (I cannot remember the exact year). However it is also expensive.
I believe GP's should be able run without government support but Bernie has got to greedy for that in most cases. The other factor is the current court cases mean that government will be less likely to give money to an organistion that is tainted with corruption (not always the case I know).