F1

Countries that don't have a Grand Prix, but should

Viewing 15 posts - 1 through 15 (of 30 total)
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  • #128156
    Prisoner Monkeys
    Participant

    Exactly what it says in the thread title: which countries should have a Grand Prix, but for some bizarre reason have been perpetually overlooked?

    The most obvious one is Finland, seeing as how it’s given us Mika Hakkinen and Kimi Raikkonen and a few others. France and Argentina are other popular choices, whether because they did have a Grand Prix and have since had it taken away, or because some crazy guy decided to build a road around a lake and then race cars on it, only to find out it was a brilliant piece of road.

    But where else should Formula 1 go?

    It’s long been my belief that, in order to be a true World Championship we need at least one race in each major geopolitical region. And with that in mind, while it’s a positive that we’re going to visit the Indian Subcontinent next year, we still need to go to Russia and Africa – probably South Africa, since they’re the only ones who stand a chance of affording it – in order to be complete. And maybe somewhere in Central America, too; we used to have Mexico (but that’s kind of being serviced by Austin from 2012), and there was a Cuban Grand Prix back in 1959, but a group of rebels kidnapped Juan Manuel Fangio. Actually, Cuba never should have lost the race because a group of Cuban rebels kidnapped Juan Manuel Fangio. It’s also exotic. The only other geopolitical area that goes untouched is Central Asia … but what the hell is in Central Asia? Who here would be honestly thrilled at the prospect of a Kazakhstan Grand Prix (even if the name sounds cool)?

    Bear in mind that I’m not looking for actual circuit, so there’s no need to specify Laguna Seca or Paul Ricard or wherever. I’m thinking the actual countries that Formula 1 should visit in some way. No am I looking for races that should be replaced – just the countries that Formula 1 should make it its mision to visit at some point in the next ten years. Like Austria. Red Bull is Austrian and experiencing a hell of a lot of success, so why not give them a home race?

    #146659
    codesurge
    Participant

    Wouldn’t central Asia be covered by the Indian Grand Prix? It’s not technically a central Asian country, but proximity wise I thought it’d suffice..

    #146660
    Red Andy
    Participant

    The Balkans is one other area notably missing from the F1 calendar. It would be quite good to see a Grand Prix in that part of the world, maybe as part of a double-header with Istanbul. As long as we don’t let any pathological Serbian liars near it….

    what the hell is in Central Asia?

    Lots and lots of oil and gas. Not sure if that’s enough reason to run out and buy tickets for the Kyrgyz Grand Prix though.

    Otherwise I broadly agree with PM. Russia and Africa (South Africa or maybe Morocco) are the big missing spots on the calendar. There are also any number of European countries you could make the argument for, based either on current success (Finland, Austria) or history (France, the Netherlands etc.)

    #146661
    Red Andy
    Participant

    Wouldn’t central Asia be covered by the Indian Grand Prix? It’s not technically a central Asian country, but proximity wise I thought it’d suffice..

    Delhi is 1600km from Almaty in Kazakhstan. So not really.

    #146662
    Tom_ec1
    Participant

    I would say the obvious one is France. It has the largest GDP and therefore probably the largest car market of any country without a race (if you include India and the USA who are joining the calendar).

    Chopping off Valenica or Budapest and switching to a French circuit makes a lot of sense.

    #146663
    Dan Thorn
    Participant

    The Falklands, Fiji, Hawaii, Isles of Scilly…Somewhere totally impractical.

    Also Greece should have a race, but I agree with the concensus that France, Finland (even anywhere in Scandinavia) and Africa should host a race.

    #146664
    Eggry
    Participant

    Maybe Russia?

    #146665
    Prisoner Monkeys
    Participant

    Somewhere totally impractical.

    I can play that game: Greenland. Zanzibar. Bhutan. The Congo. Chechnya. The West Bank. Bermuda. The Moon. Tibet. Kamchatka. Chernobyl. New Zealand.

    Should I keep going?

    #146666
    wasiF1
    Participant

    BANGLADESH. I promise only thousands will show on the raceday.

    South Africa for sure, how about New Zealand, they held A1 GP. Russia is coming, another race in South America like Argentine.

    @ Dan Thorn

    Finland is a good option, may be a race on ICE.

    #146667
    Icthyes
    Participant

    Finland is my only “must” here because of its driver history in F1. I don’t really think we have to have an Indian, Russian, South African, etc. GP in the name of a “world” championship because a world championship means it’s a competition between competitors around the world, not venues. Expanding around the globe in the name of a world championship is just a cover to tap into new lucrative markets, though don’t get me wrong I’m thankful for the extra races (but I wish more of them came as back-to-backs instead of just spreading out the calendar!) and it’s great for these new countries to start getting involved as hosts. But F1 only “needs” to go to these new countries because CVC are raping F1 financially and have it saddled with massive debts. That’s why despite all the talk of the necessity of a geographical world championship we won’t be going to Africa any time soon.

    #146668
    plushpile
    Participant

    The standout to me that doesn’t have a race to me is France.

    It’s kinda sad that the country that gave us Grand Prix racing doesn’t have a race at the moment…

    #146669
    karan01
    Participant

    A obvious one for me is France aswell. Especially with the huge role Renault is playing in F1.

    #146670
    plushpile
    Participant

    The standout to me that doesn’t have a race to me is France.

    It’s kinda sad that the country that gave us Grand Prix racing doesn’t have a race at the moment…

    #146671
    TommyB
    Participant

    Has to be France without a doubt.

    #146672
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    France and Finland.

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