Here’s a round-up of F1 news and other interesting links I’ve found today.
If you’ve spotted a hot news story, interesting new website or just something funny from the world of F1, please share your links in the comments below.
De la Rosa back in F1 with Campos?
"38 year old Pedro de la Rosa is expected by the Spanish media to contest the 2010 Formula One World Championship with the new Campos Meta team. […] The official confirmation is expected at the European GP held in Valencia, Spain."
Hill slams FIA and rejects race rotation
Damon Hill: "We've got a situation where the French Grand Prix has fallen through, the German Grand Prix is making noises, there is a blank in the calendar for 2010 and the British Grand Prix, we've lost both North American races. Who is really looking after the sport?"
These are links I’ve bookmarked using Delicious. You can see my Delicious profile here.
sato113
19th July 2009, 23:55
hope de la rosa comes back and has another deserved shot at f1.
and good rant from Hill too! he’s right.
Prisoner Monkeys
20th July 2009, 2:41
If race rotation saves the Grand Prix, why shouldn’t it happen? Not only does it spread the costs out, but it also brings variety to the calendar. They jsut need to find a case in point where it works.
wasiF1
20th July 2009, 5:43
I think Hill just said what I wanted to say.
I think the FIA should take steps.
Whoever wins the election must confirms the followings up to 2012.
1.No technical changes.
2.20 races per season,with all having contract up to 2012 with no two Grand Prix in same country (Spain hosting Spanish & European Gp)
3.Needs to have traditional track back on calender.
PrisonerMonkeys
20th July 2009, 5:57
What do you mean by “traditional circuits”?
Magny-Cours? Everyone hates it. It’s difficult to access at the best of times, and an uninspired design.
Hockenheim? The old six-kiloemtre version is gone. They didn’t simply re-direct the circuit and keep the old stuff; they let anture re-claim it.
Silverstone? Donington is replacing it. And if the last few British Grands Prix are anything to go by, a change is in order.
Montreal? Currently in negotiations to re-join the championship.
Austria? It’s currently in ruins, and although it’s being rebuilt, it’s not intended for Formula One.
Indianapolis? never deserved the title “traditional” at all; it was one of the most boring on the calendar.
Bremgarten? Motorsport is banned in Switzerland.
The Nordscheleife? Far too dangerous; Nick Heidfeld might have done a few laps, but he wasn’t having a serious go.
Monza? Spa? Interlagos? Monaco? All of them are still on the calendar.
So what exactly do you want when you say “traditional circuits”? Because the big ones are all accounted for. And why shouldn’t regions like Asia and the Middle East be allowed the opportunity to develop a fanbase. Look at India: there’s an Indian team, there’s been an Indian driver and there’s more in the lower categories. Why should they be denied a Grand Prix in favour of America, who have no drivers, no team (and while they’re getting some next year, the popularity will depend on their success), and while they may have the largest car market in the world, that car market is currently in the vice-like grip of the worst recession in living memory.
Also, the new President of the FIA will have no power over the calendar. That’s Ecclestone’s territory.
mani
20th July 2009, 15:50
Yes, but counting the list of (all of ’em) your traditional tracks results 12 in total… wouldn’t the other 8 (the previous post has asked for 20 races per season) be sufficient to start with to build the fan base in Asia/India/MidEast? Of course, I’m not saying that new venues should be denied a GP, but F1 without the traditional and historic venues means literally nothing to me.
PrisonerMonkeys
21st July 2009, 1:54
Did you not read my post? The circuits I listed that are not already on the calendar are in no condition to be included. Hockenheim is the perfect example: the old loop out into the forest has been reclaimed by nature. And the A1-Ring (I can’t spell its oriignal name) has had the pit buildings demolished. It’s not simply a case of going back to those circuits because there’s nothing to go back to.
wasiF1
21st July 2009, 1:59
Well thanks for your comment.
But don’t you think The Asian circuit is rather boring than the traditional circuit.
You go to the record book for the last 3 years or so,on a dry track there were more overtaking on traditional circuit than new Asian circuit.Secondly there are more F1 fan in Europe than in Asia as we saw in the Turkey this year when on 36ooo (if I am not wrong) attended the race.
Its OK to have circuit in Asia,I would love to see motor racing in India but not on a Herman Tilke track as eyeything he designed has been BORING.
And as far as Bernie is concerned I think its his time to depart from F1 & enjoy the rest of his life with his friend MAX peacefully.
PrisonerMonkeys
22nd July 2009, 13:22
Don’t blame Tilke, blame the rules. Keith put out a very good article on just that. The best we can hope for is Mosley’s successor relaxing the rules; Vatanen’s the better chance, but his recent comments about the FIA ‘bankrolling’ Todt’s campaign might mean he doesn’t stand a chance at the office now.
If Max is going, it’s better that Bernie stays, purely for the sake of continuity. It’s nothing long-term, but rather until such time as Mosley’s successor settles into the job. Any manager worth his salt knows that you don’t change everything at the top at once; you do it in phases. It’s a longer transition, but it’s also easier on everyone invovled. It lets them get used to it gradually, and helps for the sake of continuity.
Paige
20th July 2009, 6:03
Hill is spot on. I mean, seriously: how can F1 lose the US and Canadian Grands Prix, the French Grand Prix, Silverstone, and possibly the German and Japanese Grands Prix, as well, and still remain F1?
I know Bernie thinks that Asia is the future, but it’s ridiculous to think that dropping the US, Canadian, French, German, and Japanese Grands Prix for more races in Asia will do the damnest bit of good for F1 competitively or commercially. Just because Asian economies are growing doesn’t mean that demand for F1 there is growing at a higher rate than in Europe. Italy has had a rubbish economy for the longest time, and yet the Italian Grand Prix continually fills the seats. I was in Istanbul this year for the Turkish Grand Prix, one of the stages in Bernie’s Asia plan, and beheld the spectacle that the world would later learn was a freaking F1 Grand Prix that only sold 36,000 tickets. I loved the race to death, but it was pitiful to see the empty stands there.
Mosley’s out. Now it’s time to move Ecclestone aside.
John H
20th July 2009, 7:56
Nice one Damon.
Pete Walker
20th July 2009, 9:03
A solution to the British GP Race rotation issue: Give Britain two Grands Prix.
Germany hosted the European GP after Schumacher’s domination, then Valencia arrived by dint of Alonso – with potentially two consecutive British F1 champions, maybe its our turn to host the European GP. Donington originally hosted a Euro GP anyway. :)
PrisonerMonkeys
20th July 2009, 9:37
No way. Ecclestone wouldn’t keep threatening Silverstone with the loss of the race without good reason. Sure, he’s a tyrant and money probably had a lot to do with it, but a lot of his concerns were over the facilities. He wouldn’t keep hammering away at them over it if it wasn’t true. If they can barely organise one race, how do you figure they’d go with two?
DGR-F1
20th July 2009, 13:19
But facilities for who exactly? Doesn’t he have a big enough parking space for his car?
I don’t see Bernie worrying himself too much about whether the garages have enough space for the teams or if there aren’t enough toilets for the fans.
I think this is greed pure and simple and he knows that neither the BRDC or the British Government have the will power to tell him where to go with his demands…..
PrisonerMonkeys
20th July 2009, 13:26
The pit, facilities for one.
The BRDC don’t have the will power you mentioned because they’re a bunch of old fools who assume that because of the history associated with Silverstone and the British Grand Prix, their position on the calendar is safe and so they’ll only ever do half a job at a time. How many times has the pit complex bee scheduled for rennovations recently? Too frequently. Ecclestone gets frustrated with them because they’re more interested in the history of the race than the future of it.
Bartholomew
20th July 2009, 15:41
Who cares about the facilities, pits or toilets ? most people see the race on TV anyway.
The main thing is to have nice historical tracks – it adds to the charm of the place to have old – looking facilities.
What I find very impersonal and cold are those monster new infrastructures in far away places. That I find quite tacky.
Its all about the money that CVC wants – then Bernie uses any excuse like the facilities.
PrisonerMonkeys
21st July 2009, 3:21
Uh, teams and spectators?
Teams need good pit facilities to be able to do what they do without fuss. Unless you’d rather a repeat of the 1981-82 Las Vegas Grand Prix, when the teams were just a few feet away from the pit lane itself. And if the architecture looks good, so what? Formula One should be about the glamour; the buildings should look like they were designed by Ken Adam for the set of a James Bond film.
And as for the toilets, I daresay spectators care about them. Who wants to queue up for an hour simply to use the john while the race is on? Or worse, have no toilets, and in its place, dysentry.
sato113
21st July 2009, 18:50
YES! good thinking. take the european gp away from valencia (which was a failure with its expensive tickets, limited overtaking and pretty uninspiring venue) and give it to donington! everyone happy.
Bartholomew
20th July 2009, 15:35
Hope de la Rosa ends up racing – he is a very nice and polite fellow with a lot of experience.
wasiF1
21st July 2009, 2:01
I think he deserve because he tested for a long time for Mclaren.