But neglecting to some extent half a billion Europeans so some sheikhs can have a chill party doesn’t sound like long-term development of F1 to me.
How, exactly, is he neglecting them? By not giving them a race of their own? This might be a problem if the Grands Prix were as far apart as New York and Los Angeles, but they’re not. The formation of the European Union means that citizens of any EU state can freely cross borders. Europeans are positively spoiled for choice with nine races within range of their homes.
Only a handful of “traditional” races have been dropped from the calendar, and only four are European. Magny-Cours was ditched when they couldn’t pay the fees to host the race, but it’s no great loss because it was one of the most boring circuits on the calendar and nototriously isolated. Imola colsed voluntarily when they moved to upgrade the circuit, but there are serious concerns about the kink immediately after the start/finish line (it’s caused at least three massive accidents – roll-overs – this year alone). And the A1 Ring was dropped when an upgrade was planned but an injunction stopped them from constructing anything. Estoril was the fourth circuit, and it was dropepd when it failed a safety inspection.
Honeslty, Formula 1 can do without those circuits. Magny-Cours was always boring, Estoril lacked character and Imola was corrupted by endless chicanes. The A1 Ring might have had its place on the calendar, but there was no massive uproar when it was dropped.
