Ecclestone ‘will try to make Mexico race happen’

F1 Fanatic Round-up

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In the round-up: Bernie Ecclestone is trying to get Mexico City back on the F1 calendar for 2014.

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Ecclestone turns back on New Jersey, looks to Mexico for 2014 F1 race (Autoweek)

“I should know within a couple of weeks about Mexico. I’m going to try to make it happen.”

Visor tear-off caused Raikkonen problem (Autosport)

“Investigations by the team after the race discovered no other explanation for the brake issues, which led it to believe that the visor strip was the cause.”

We could have had a podium – Button (BBC)

“There were areas where we expected to be a bit better – efficiency was one of them and that hurt us quite a bit.”

Brawn frustrated by race pace (Sky)

“Perhaps the balance could have been better and the car didn’t look too bad at the end, but I am not sure why we struggled so much in the opening laps when we were sitting ducks.”

Protestors get their message across at Spa (Adam Cooper’s F1 Blog)

“Two protestors tried to interrupt the ceremony, with one of them abseiling down on the left while security tried to pull her back up. She was removed by security after the ceremony concluded. The pair had purchased VIP Paddock Club passes at a cost of several thousand Euros.”

Formula 1 closes in on America (The Telegraph)

“The debt provided to Circuit of the Americas isn’t the only loan between F1 and a US race track. In April F1 also opened up a credit facility with the group which is planning to host the New Jersey Grand Prix. The loan is personally guaranteed by the boss of the project Leo Hindery junior, the managing partner of private equity fund InterMedia Partners.”

Analysis – Sauber passive double-DRS system (F1)

“Sauber trialled the system on Gutierrez’s car on Friday, but opted against running it in qualifying and the race.”

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Comment of the day

Thoughts on Greenpeace’s protest during yesterday’s race from @MaroonJack:

Formula One really isn’t “releasing a massive amount of CO2” and is not the cause of global air pollution. Many human activities are, but F1 is not even a blip on the radar, although I’m glad that the sport starts to promote lower carbon emissions. It’s mostly a PR move, but it’s a good move.

Oil companies on the other hand don’t take “reasonable precautions”. They take absolutely minimal precautions, necessary for running the business. That’s why every few years we have oil spills, or we hear about people dying on oil platforms. It’s cheaper to “lobby” (we should really say “bribe”) politicians and make them pass laws allowing for self-regulation and no external oversight.

Also, the Arctic is far from a “barren wasteland”. It’s a rich and quite important ecosystem inhabited by many species of fish, marine mammals, birds, land animals and plants. Reckless destruction of the Arctic reminds me of reckless destruction of our oceans. In 50 years we’ve lost more than 90 percent of the big fish, but hey, who cares. It’s just a big underwater wasteland and it doesn’t really concern us. Right?
@MaroonJack

From the forum

Happy birthday!

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On this day in F1

Felipe Massa won the Turkish Grand Prix six years ago today. It was a Ferrari one-two, Kimi Raikkonen finishing second, with Fernando Alonso third for McLaren.

Image © A1 Grand Prix

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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34 comments on “Ecclestone ‘will try to make Mexico race happen’”

  1. It would be great to see two circuits return to the calendar (Mexico City and Spielberg). When’s the last time a circuit has returned to the calendar after a few years away? Nurburg in 1995?

    1. @bmwf1 It was a bit more recent than that: Fuji in 2007.

      1. Oh right, I forgot about that one. :P

        Hopefully Mexico City and Spielberg will stay on the calendar for more years than Fuji did. :)

  2. I’m not quite sure I share Brawn’s analysis of yesterday’s race. I thought the final stint on hard tyres was quite poor. First they were simply (and slowly) driving to the finish, and when Webber started to threaten them they speeded up, but they were still off the pace that Vettel was capable of doing.

    As to why they were sitting ducks, they had put a lot more downforce on their cars than Ferrari and Red Bull. Hamilton was more or less able to match Vettel in the middle sector, but Vettel was quicker in S1 in particular. Also, even though Brawn stated that tyres were not an issue, Vettel was able to run much longer in his stints, and Hamilton was almost caught by Rosberg as he stayed out one lap too long in his second stint, which saw his lead reduced from 5 to 2.5 seconds.

    I suppose the surprising thing is that not only the punters expected Mercedes to go well at Spa, but Mercedes themselves as well. I think Mercedes’ engine superiority is vastly overstated, and I think only in Monza does it give some benefit. However, on this medium downforce track they were nowhere all weekend, so perhaps the high-downforce nature of Singapore will suit them better.

    1. @adrianmorse Was Rosberg told to hold the gap with Hamilton, I think I read it somewhere… Btw Rosberg is the only driver on the top four who did not lose track position

  3. Woo-hoo, Mexico.

    No way they won’t butcher the Peraltada though.

  4. Probably the race will get way more local support than some recent events that entered the calendar. Good luck Bernie, good luck Mexico.

    1. I would love to have Mexico replace Korea! And add in another 200 million fans!

      1. +1
        Approaching Peraltada at max speed would be incredible to watch

  5. Go Mexico and I hope Bernie puts it in the calendar very shortly. Nice replacement from NJ not happening. Now I hope Cape Town joins in or even Baku

    1. Whens Bernie gonna set up the Grand Prix of Syria?

    2. Baku? Really? I know they’ve got the FIA GT race later this year, but I can’t see any of the former Soviet republics being a viable market for Formula 1. Azerbaijan might work if Sochi takes off and the Russians want more, but Baku is not the most accessible place in the world.

      1. I’m from Baku actually, so I thought I’d weigh in.

        1) F1 enjoys quite a bit of popularity in the Turkish world, which had lost a race since the Turkish GP. I know that Istanbul Park did not exactly have the best viewership figures, but the track has a poor location and poorer accessibility (I was there.) Although Bernie wanted to return to Istanbul, the Turkish govt. did not reciprocate. Azerbaijani government, on the other hand, have money and have been willing to invest into an F1 event for a while. Driving fast cars is a part of popular culture, and it is likely that the race will attract huge local viewership not to mention that the Turkish visitors and a sizeable expat population (British/American) will easily fill the stands.

        2) Baku is no less accessible than Sochi – in recent years the city has hosted Eurovision, a FIFA Women’s World Cup events, not to mention other sporting events. Flights from the Turkish world and the Middle East are cheap, as are direct flights from Eastern Europe and Russia.

        3) Realistically, between two races in the Middle East and the Russian GP (which many Azerbaijanis will attend) I cannot see a race in Baku happening. However, the bid could equal the money F1 already receives in Bahrain, and there is an opportunity to pull the race from there. I cannot see why Baku cannot thence replace Sakhir on the calendar. The Arab world already has a race in Abu Dhabi and the race viewership has not been high enough to maintain two races. One race for Turkish fans and one for the Arab fans would be a fairer and potentially more profitable venture.

        4) Baku will offer a location within a biggish city (about 3 mln population) with more people feeding in from the neighbouring Turkey. In that sense the track will certainly be better located than the middle-of-nowhere Istanbul Park or Yeongam. Sochi, too, bar the coinciding Olympic Games, isn’t as lucrative a location for Russian fans as Moscow or St Petersburg would be – although I expect many Ukrainian fans to fly over. Given the quality of recent projects, the race event in Baku could be on par with Yas Marina, though I sincerely hope that the track is not that atrocious.

  6. I’m glad Greenpeace awared us of the Arctic oil problem, I wasn’t aware of that, as many of us here. We didn’t see anything on the FOM feed, and FOM acted quite badly If I wasn’t a purist I wouldn’t have known about Greenpeace and Shell, I would have known about ‘crazy people’ climbing a grandstand/podium roof.

    I’m a massive open wheels racing fan, but I’m sure we can run these cars with better firms than those who doesn’t care about the planet-earth

    1. +1

      Totally agree.

      Also that’s why I agree with most of the shift towards efficiency and energy management in the new regulations of late.

    2. @jeffs1 – Bear in mind that Shell do pay a lot of money to have their name and image associated with Formula 1. FOM cannot reasonably turn around then and use the broadcast as a platform to discuss criticisms of the company, however justified those criticisms might be. There is a time and a place to discuss these things, but a sporting event that the company has paid to associate itself with is not it. It would be extremely embarrassing for Shell, unprofessional of FOM, and would be an inappropriate format. Just because an issue exists, it is not the responsibility of the sport’s management to embarrass a business partner so that the audience can be propely informed of an issue that is only tangentially related to the event.

      1. There is no excuse for censorship.

        1. This isn’t censorship. This is Formula 1 honouring a contract with a sponsor. They are under no obligation to give voice to a protest group simply because that group has chosen the race to stage a protest (and likely committed trespass to do it). They have no responsibility to the viewer to keep them informed of any social, political, economic, environmental, legal or ethical issues that are only distantly related to the running of the race. If FOM had covered the protest, Shell probably could have sued them, and it would have ruined their reputation to the point where sponsors would be hesitant to join the sport if FOM are going to use the broadcasts to cover criticisms of the company.

          For some reason, people assume that because the sport accepts money from a government or company, it makes them a stakeholder and gives them a say in how that government or company is run.

          1. If something happens. And you pretend it didn’t to protect a sponsors image, it is censorship. And it is wrong. If you are happy living in a world where money decides who sees what, then good for you. But I’d rather know the truth. And I hold anyone who provides the news responsible for that.

    3. @jeff1s
      @prisoner-monkeys
      @mike
      @atticus-2

      Ferrari should dis-engage itself from Shell and partner either Mobil, Petronas or Total

      1. @noob – Ferrari have the right to choose who supplies them. Even if they decided to end the relationship, you could probably find questionable practices in any replacement supplier. Besides, Mobil is closely linked with McLaren, Petronas with Mercedes, and Total with the Renault teams, specifically Red Bull and Lotus. Those teams will have exclusivity deals with those companies, as the products they supply are bespoke – they are developed for those teams, who will not take kindly to another team trying to make a deal with their supplier. Furthermore, it would take years for any oil company not in Formula 1 to develop a product for Ferrari that is as good as the one provided for Shell.

        I’m also surprised to see no-one has mentioned Shell’s activities in securing oil drilling rights in the Nigerian delta a few years ago. That was some shady business, but no-one called on Ferrari to end their relationship with Shell. But Greenpeace occupy the pit building at the Belgian Grand Prix, and there’s a moral outrage. That seems backwards to me. This stuff isn’t hard to find – a quick check if Royal Dutch Shell’s Wikipedia page will tell you everything you need to know in two minutes.

  7. Chris (@tophercheese21)
    26th August 2013, 12:20

    Tooned is just terrible.

    1. Formerly mildly amusing, now just painful and unwatchable.

    2. I think Hamilton-vs-Button rivalry was the best part of Toones; Perez just isn’t as interesting a character (Tooned character that is). It would be something if McLaren brought in Kimi and made an appropriate Tooned character.

    3. @tophercheese21
      @bullmello
      @einariliyev

      McLaren have omitted Lewis Hamilton from their ‘World Champions’ series…

  8. Mexico would be a very good move for F1. Like with Austria, it would be moving into a place where it’s already welcome. You often see more Mexican fans attending races in other countries than you see Korean or Bahraini fans attending their own race.

    I do wonder how they intend to ruin modernise the track. Would US-style “SAFER” barriers be sufficient protection in the Peraltada?

    1. I do wonder how they intend to ruin modernise the track. Would US-style “SAFER” barriers be sufficient protection in the Peraltada?

      When champcar raced there from 2002-2007 they never ran Peraltada without the chicane before it so I can’t see F1 running it with as little run-off as there now is.

      There’s 2 options to slow down/Avoid Peraltada, One is the chicane just before it-
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJ4DcehRBbA
      The other is to go through the baseball stadium-
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYn5UBiOhG4

      A1GP ran without the chicane the 1st year they raced there but due to driver concerns about the run-off the chicane was included for year 2.
      I can see the organizers been interested in the extra revenue filling the baseball stadium would bring so at a guess I’d say they would prefer to run that layout.

      Also a shame that Peraltada is no longer banked as much as it used to be, They flattened it off a bit when they made the changes which removed the run-off in the late 90s.

      As to the rest of the track, I can see run-off & barriers been an issue. There isn’t much run-off at some of the faster areas & the barriers are concrete wall’s. The kurbs would also need to be changed as there very high, If anyone made a mistake & spun over a kurb they would be launched over them.

      Tracks pretty bumpy so would likely need to be resurfaced, Pit facilities are not brilliant but there not too bad so that shouldn’t be a problem.

      1. Having seen those two, I certainly hope they pick the stadium. That chicane is utterly dreadful to watch, but the stadium section doesn’t seem to upset the rhythm too badly. As you say, it also makes sense with regards to bringing in extra revenue. The circuit doesn’t seem to have a great deal of grandstands elsewhere.

        I think sensible materials for the barriers is the biggest concern. I just hope they don’t employ Hermann Tilke to work his magic on the Autodromo like he did with Hockenheim.

        1. “I think sensible materials for the barriers is the biggest concern. I just hope they don’t employ Hermann Tilke to work his magic on the Autodromo like he did with Hockenheim.”

          Why not? You would rather watch cars travel in a straight line than on a challenging track with actual corners? (Referring to Hockenheim, not Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez)

          1. Well, the new Hockenheim may well be more challenging now, but the changes made have just made it a clone of half the other tracks on the calendar. It used to be a unique circuit, there were very few other tracks in the world like Hockenheim. But now it’s pretty much the same as Abu Dhabi, India, Korea, etc.

            My gripe with Tilke is not that he’s a bad circuit designer – it’s the fact that his designs are all more or less the same. I’d have the same complaint if there were 20 Spa clones on the calendar. F1 is the pinnacle of motorsport, and the way I see it, every track has to have its own unique set of challenges. And when half the tracks on the calendar were designed (or redesigned) by the same man, then it becomes impossible for a new track to stand out.

            I don’t think there’s anything wrong with a track with one ridiculously long straight followed by a dozen twisty 90 degree corners, and equally so, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with a track which is almost entirely made up of straights, like the old Hockenheim. What I do have a problem with that there is a disproportionate amount of one compared to the other.

    2. Plus, it’s another non-tilkedrom track which I’m sure a lot of us are welcome to see.

  9. Visor tear-off caused Raikkonen problem

    Where do all those tear-offs end up? Always wondered about that. Good news is that Lotus seems to have it sorted that was the cause since it was only the left side front brake failure where the tear-off was discovered in the cooling duct during his pit stop. Hopefully it doesn’t happen again.

    Silly season side note: Lotus claims they believe Raikkonen will be with them in 2014 despite all the rumors.

  10. Daniel (@collettdumbletonhall)
    26th August 2013, 19:39

    Tooned reminds me of Soviet propaganda cartoons. Constantly promoting themselves and going on about how good they were. Perhaps that’s a bit of an exaggeration but it’s becoming very self indulgent, they’re trying to promote themselves which is understandable but it’s always the same, look at how good we were, we didn’t used to be this mediocre etc.

  11. To repeat a recent query, why does this roundup show a “posted time” of 12.01am, I came back to my computer regularly from 12.01 UK time to 8am UK time and the Roundup was nowhere to be seen. Is it a server problem or understandably after a race @keithcollantine needs some sleep.

Comments are closed.