‘Focus is on adding second US race’ – Carey

F1 Fanatic Round-up

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In the round-up: Formula One CEO Chase Carey says adding the first of several more races in the USA is a priority.

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Not every Argentinian F1 fan thinks a return to Buenos Aires is a good idea:

I hope a race in Buenos Aires doesn’t happen. It’s too reminiscent of the 1990s, when the country was melting yet we had ‘luxuries’ as F1. There are enough problems already for organisations like F1 to suck money out of us. I’m a huge F1 fanatic but I’m not dumb. I can’t put my head in the ground to avoid seeing what needs to be seen.

I guess it’s the way the government wants to show itself to the world, that everything is fine and look, we even get F1 like all the first world countries. Yeah, right.

I’ll keep watching F1 on the telly, thank you very much. I’m a fanatic, not an idiot.
@Fer-no65

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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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43 comments on “‘Focus is on adding second US race’ – Carey”

  1. Great honest COTD @fer-no65, the financial balance of hosting an F1 GP (or many other big sporting events) is not good for the host. Let’s see if Liberty change anything in this regard.

    1. Hmm I don’t know. I get that some venues themselves struggle to come out ahead after an F1 weekend, but is there not a lot of money injected into the community? Hotels, restaurants, tourist attractions, global exposure, potential for people to want to come back and holiday there?

      1. @robbie regardless of the financial aspect, it doesn’t make sense to have F1 whole people are shouting on the streets because they don’t have a job.

        F1 works as a business for very few people… Hosting cheaper events like MotoGP or WTCC makes a lot more sense, plus we already have a track for them.

        1. OmarRoncal - Go Seb!!! (@)
          17th August 2017, 17:44

          @fer-no65 Well it makes sense you know? Here in Peru we are about to host the Bolivarian games (sort of Olympic classification games) and the government needs to invest tons of millions to build the facilities (stadiums and fields for many disciplines, pools, etc) while there are doctors and teachers strikes right now, and the country is still recovering from the summer (February and March) natural disasters.

        2. @fer-no65 Well it sounds like just some upgrades are needed. To say you already have a track for MotoGP and WTCC makes it sounds like a whole new track needs be built for F1, and that is not the case.

          I’m just not convinced Liberty will be like BE and ‘suck money out’ and I think there could be some employment and some marketing benefits. I also think the government should indeed be trying to tell the world everything is fine, come and see. They are not in the business of discouraging industry and tourism and I would think you should be far more upset if they were discouraging such things. But I certainly do understand the desire people have for their governments to get things under control. We’re not immune, as with most countries, here in Ontario and Canada.

          I think I’d understand your stance more if it was indeed like @omarr-pepper describes where millions upon millions would need to be spent on facilities and infrastructure like for bigger games events.

          1. @robbie WTCC and MotoGP don’t race at Buenos Aires, they race in termas de Río hondo, a different track all together. They want F1 back in the capital which would need to basically tore down and rebuild the entire thing, from the paddock and tarmac to the grandstands, bathrooms and entrance. It just doesn’t make any sense at all.

            F1 is a business anyway. Bernie or liberty all want to profit. Argentina doesn’t need that right now.

          2. @fer-no65 Fair enough but your input on what is needed to prop up the track sure doesn’t jive with what Whiting was quoted in Keith’s posting the other day as to the condition of the track. He was impressed with it’s condition.

          3. @robbie i know the track. I visit it very often. Whiting didn’t say anything specific. But i bet you it needs a major overhaul. Its just starting to get some work done for the first time since F1 went there in the 90s.

            And it’s even worse if they try to use the old longer circuit.

            It needs a lot of money. And a lot of work. Probably more than what Mexico did.

      2. I doubt much of that money would get to anyone that really needed it. Maybe the fruit and veg suppliers to the hotels, the odd taxi driver, and the strippers.

        1. i do remember reading in 1995, before the last adelaide gp, that the local prostitutes were really angry that there was a crack down by the vice squads (or whatever the aussie equivalent is) just as the race weekend was taking place. they said that was their most profitable time of year! the “glamour” of f1…

          1. Ha, I can well believe it

    2. No doubt theres alot of social work do be done in your and other countries but i doubt F1 adds or subtract anything from it. Its a thorn in alot of peoples eyes and i respect that.

  2. @Fer-no65, superb comment. Bien hecho, amigo (well done)!

  3. Please let it be Indianapolis.

    1. It would be great seeing wider f1 cars on the oval!!!

    2. They’ll do a street race in NYC, like they always should have.

      Shut Manhattan down and create a massive spectacle. I’ve walked from top to bottom of that island and if you could incorporate some of central park into the design, you could have road track’esque corners for parts of the street track.

  4. The Balinese Goddess of Plenty
    17th August 2017, 15:45

    Regarding Carey’s comments on free-to-air vs pay TV – one has advantages to the viewer, the other to Liberty’s coffers. Damned if they do, damned if they don’t, it seems.

    What if Liberty were to launch its own subscription-based internet TV channel for F1 and control the whole thing itself instead of outsourcing to myriad third party channels? How much would people be prepared to pay per month for basic access – qualifying and races live and on-demand, maybe including an hour of commentary and analysis before and after? What extra features would you want in an alternate, premium package, and how much extra would people be prepared to pay for that?

    1. As far as I know, that’s the direction they’re going in (over-the-top) – but can’t see it being ready for a while yet.

      But if I had the opportunity to sign up to such a service now, I’d expect live coverage of all practice sessions, qualifying and the race, along with a good commentary team and some well-involved analysts. So, I’d pretty much want a similar experience to what I currently get from Sky, but without the overly long extended coverage.

      And I think £10 a month (or thereabouts) would be a reasonable price.

      1. Keep it simple, strike a deal with Apple/iTunes or Amazon/Prime for global distribution. I bet they’d work out something to be a sponsor for the second American race, too.

    2. Well currently in Sweden i pay $130/month to watch F1 so any subscriptions under $130 with HD quality would be fine for me i guess.

      1. £10 per race would be reasonable, I watch no more than 3 hours of F1 (qualifying and race) per race weekend. So that’s about the same cost as a cinema visit. In addition, put the practice sessions on YouTube.

      2. Jesus, that’s simply insane. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I’d consider pirating a stream if I were you, because that much money for about 12 hours of not-always-good entertainment per month is a daylight robbery.

    3. I guess predominantly english natives as I don’t see Liberty hiring full crews for each language and be better than national / local crews.

  5. A second US race MUST happen in 2019.

    1. I wouldn’t use the word ‘must’.

  6. I know there are probably better options for the 2nd race in the US, but I would love to see F1 cars racing around Road America.

    1. OmarRoncal - Go Seb!!! (@)
      17th August 2017, 17:47

      @prosybris I’ve never liked the races in COTA (at least from the TV :) ) so any other track would be very welcomed in my opinion, as long as it replaces the sort-of-Tilkedrome in Texas. (Yes, I know this is not a Tilkedrome and that it supossedly mimics Silverstone, but the slow turns on the back neutralize any good race).

    2. Road America is one of the best road courses on earth, and will always be an IndyCar track.

    3. @prosybris Road America is definitely a top choice, but so would be Watkins Glen or Sebring. I know Infineon would probably produce some great races, and Mazda Raceway (Laguna Seca) is high on everyone’s list, but I’m personally not a fan, even though I’d still watch the heck out of either. And not sure if Portland is the same as it was back in CART’s heyday, but if it is, definitely that track, as well.

    4. I think I agree with you, but if I was Mr Indy, I would have put a clause into my contract with Road America that excluded the track from hosting F1 because F1 would show Indy to be slower and that would damage my business.
      Similarly with other tracks where Indy races. There would be no benefit in allowing F1 to race at any of these tracks for the same reason.
      So if there is to be another US race, I expect it to be at a venue that Indy does not visit. Shame, really.

  7. Laguna Secca..mmmm

  8. OmarRoncal - Go Seb!!! (@)
    17th August 2017, 17:49

    @keithcollantine did this round-up appeared at midnight in the UK as always? It appeared here just 10 minutes ago. (I’ve been checking like crazy, and the ranking 10 to 6 article appeard around 4 hours ago).

    1. I think it became visible not long after the first comment (that was at 14:26 UK time). I also saw the ranking article before this one appeared.

  9. The McLaren wasn’t that bad Kevin

  10. Someone needs to remeber Ericsson that when he had a average car in 2015 he was round beaten by Nasr.

  11. F1 already had a street course laid out, tried by Seb Vettel ( who gave it a good review ) and the Paddock garages built . This was all in addition to a great back- drop, international airports and proximity to the city that never sleeps. What more can you ask for?
    There is a logical choice for the next US F1 location and it is on the banks of the Hudson river in New Jersey .
    If the international fan wants a destination and the international fan is needed to supply the atmosphere and economics for a top notch F1 experience what possibly can be better than the NJ/NY grand prix that was scheduled to be added to the schedule years ago ?
    Minutes from Manhattan , what is more international and F1 than that ? Minuets from New Jersey’s Bergen county ( one of the most affluent locations in the country ) with perhaps the greatest shopping every gathered in a 5 mile radius ,what can draw fans and their $ more than NJ shopping ,NY nightlife and F1 excitement .
    How can Liberty’s Mr. Carey ,or anyone else, seriously look any further ?
    Call it the New York grand prix ,call it the New Jersey grand prix or call it whatever you like ,it is no matter how you look at it : the best call .

    1. @rikdi, as I understand it, the paddock facilities were the only facilities which were built, and that is because it was intended to be a parking facility and retail venue for Port Imperial which would be converted into the paddock for the race.

      Despite the fact that Bernie himself was so keen for the event to take place that he even agreed to help finance the event (agreeing to loan $10 million for the development of the circuit), it seems that the organisers were long on promises but short on cash as none of their investors actually providing the promised funds.

    2. @rikdi because there are already better permanent courses, and if you really wanted a street course then I’d say Long Beach would always be superior to whatever they come up with in NY/NJ. You can say New York all you want, but I’ll say Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, Coast Highway (the Sunset Highway), Santa Monica Pier, Silicon Valley. All NY, NY has is one city in an otherwise empty state.

      I mean, the state itself has a really great purpose-built track, so if you really have to have a track in NY, let’s go to Watkins Glen. :)

    3. As a Yank I closely followed the Jersey saga. The fact is, construction that has taken place pretty much precludes a track now. The ‘paddock’ garage is retail storefronts and never was suitable as a pit/paddock area. The road and infrastructure construction that has been done pretty much wipes out any chance of a track, with curbing, lighting, and buildings making it impossible to build a track there. There were on site reports from fans specifically discussing what was happening there with photos. It ain’t gonna work.

  12. Josh (@canadianjosh)
    17th August 2017, 21:09

    I understand where COTD is coming from but I’m not sure F1 sees things that way. All you have to look at is some of the corrupt places we go to. Mexico likely the most dangerous and corrupt. But the stands are packed and they pay the fee and it looks good on tv and most F1 fans only see the beauties of the race weekend.
    I’m 50/50 on politics and the racing. The political part of me is disgusted sometimes but the racing part of me on a Saturday or Sunday usually blinds me to the politics.

  13. Why is F1 catering to facsist dictatorships?
    The US should have 1 LESS race along with Russia.

  14. As much as Carey wants a 2nd US race, a US driver should also become a priority.

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