Future Grands Prix?

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by Anyopenroad

Saudi Arabia is considered a strategic and economic ally by those governments.

Not wanting to get too cynical and off topic but because of that, Saudi Arabia is a very lucrative arms market and keeps many people who work in the defense industry in their jobs.

[Adam43]

Originally Posted by crmalcolm

Adam - no intent to push this as a 'Hamilton did this' type of situation.

It was more of a general point not at your post.

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

Not wanting to get too cynical and off topic but because of that, Saudi Arabia is a very lucrative arms market and keeps many people who work in the defense industry in their jobs.

There is an argument that Saudi investment in the UK funded the furlough scheme.

(Furlough scheme cost £68.5 billion, Saudi exports since 2012 have contributed circa £40 billion to the UK economy)

[Anyopenroad]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

Not wanting to get too cynical and off topic but because of that, Saudi Arabia is a very lucrative arms market and keeps many people who work in the defense industry in their jobs.

There has been a tacit understanding between the US/EU and Saudi for decades: we buy their oil and they spend the proceeds buying our arms and spending freely in our casinos.

[S griffin]

It'll be interesting to see how Abu Dhabi's tweaked circuit will measure up on the back of the ultra challenging Jeddah. I mean, will we be able to notice the difference with the track changes or will it pale in comparison to the last GP even with the changes?

[crmalcolm]

Abu Dhabi will be the final race of the Formula 1 season for another decade after the country signed a new contract to host a grand prix.

The Yas Marina Circuit, which hosted its first grand prix in 2009, has secured a race until 2030.

F1 president Stefano Domenicali said: "The promoter always creates an incredible show for the final race of every F1 season and combined with the changes made to improve the racing on Yas Marina Circuit we are excited for the many years of racing in Abu Dhabi that are ahead of us."

[Purist]

You'll notice the changes at Abu Dhabi compared to previous years. And yes, it's not going to have the same bang having come on the heels of a circuit like Jeddah.

One thing I have to say is Jeddah makes Potrero de los Funes for F1 seem like a much less crazy idea, and I'm all for that.

In the Middle East, I wish Kuwait and Dubai could get a look in. You know, I'd at least like to see how the cars go at those 2 circuits at some point. Maybe that could be part of a future rotation scheme or something.

I'd also like to see F1 have a go at Buriram. Its speed and simplicity isn't much found in the other, newer, permanent circuits.

[S griffin]

Another 10 years with Abu Dhabi as the season final? Just have to hope the track changes make it worthwhile, but it still isn't a great venue to end the season with.

Sadly Domenicalli seems to have carried on Bernie's legacy of chasing money more than anything else, see also his comments on the human rights issue of Saudi Arabia

[bjohnsonsmith]

With UEFA possibly moving the Champions League final from St. Petersburg, after Putin ordered troops into Donetsk and Luhansk, is the Russian GP under threat?

[Racing Harz]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

With UEFA possibly moving the Champions League final from St. Petersburg, after Putin ordered troops into Donetsk and Luhansk, is the Russian GP under threat?

Sure. Same like Bahrain 2011.

[ascarracinguk]

Originally Posted by Racing Harz

Sure. Same like Bahrain 2011.

I think the Russian SItuation is a bit different to Bahrain.

For one, if more economic sanctions are implemented then teams will find it impossible to fly or setup in Russia because they could be banned from trading with Russia, given that a Russian company promotes the GP I can’t see a way around that one, and that’s not even taking into account no fly zones etc

Bare in mind there’s plenty of Russians with money in motorsport, 2 of whom just had their assets frozen in the U.K. today

[wolfhound]

The Russian GP is popular with Putin so doubt it will be allowed to go ahead. What effect will sanctions have on Haas who have Russian backing at the moment?

[Alan52]

Predicting where this will be in 6 months time is a fool’s errand.
However if the Champions League final has been pulled so will all other international sports events if Putin hasn’t backed down.
The teams relying on Russian money and participation in all categories might be looking for other sources if the planned stepping up of economic sanctions occurs.
If this really is the greatest threat to the democratic world order since WW2 then business as usual is not going to be an option.

[Adam43]

Originally Posted by ascarracinguk

Bare in mind there’s plenty of Russians with money in motorsport, 2 of whom just had their assets frozen in the U.K. today

Which two?

Of the three, but I don’t recognise them. What are their Motorsport links?
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-60476137

[broadrun96]

I would guess the Rotenbergs would be on the list, aren't they SMP and on the side of more than a few cars in various disciplines?

Is G Drive Russian but not a Putin ally so he's clear and not caught up in this as long as his money can get out of banks for sportscars

I would guess Haas was smart enough to get a cheque upfront seeing the problems on the horizon

The GP on the other hand could be tough for FOM/Liberty to pull off with the company publicly traded and easy to have a hit to the income

[ascarracinguk]

Correct the Rottenbergs are SMP and BR Prototypes from Le Mans

[ascarracinguk]

Originally Posted by Alan52

Predicting where this will be in 6 months time is a fool’s errand.
However if the Champions League final has been pulled so will all other international sports events if Putin hasn’t backed down.
The teams relying on Russian money and participation in all categories might be looking for other sources if the planned stepping up of economic sanctions occurs.
If this really is the greatest threat to the democratic world order since WW2 then business as usual is not going to be an option.

I think at this stage its very much an information war.

Lets be honest, Putin cant afford a protracted war, and Ukraine have the 3rd largest military force in Europe at around 215,000 personnel, there are 190,000 russians at the border so if Putin does go in, its not going to be a walkover like Crimea.

The country he wants to take over is also a country and more importantly people he wants to assimilate into Russia so he also cant afford to pi$$ them off or decimate the country too much, with all the costs of rebuilding etc falling on him.

While noone can predict what he will ultimately do, the steps that the rest of the world are doing by restricting his finances and suppling Ukraine with arms, wont make Russias life an easy one...i think the best result for all is to find an exit where they can all save face.

[wnut]

Originally Posted by ascarracinguk

I think at this stage its very much an information war.

Lets be honest, Putin cant afford a protracted war, and Ukraine have the 3rd largest military force in Europe at around 215,000 personnel, there are 190,000 russians at the border so if Putin does go in, its not going to be a walkover like Crimea.

The country he wants to take over is also a country and more importantly people he wants to assimilate into Russia so he also cant afford to pi$$ them off or decimate the country too much, with all the costs of rebuilding etc falling on him.

While noone can predict what he will ultimately do, the steps that the rest of the world are doing by restricting his finances and suppling Ukraine with arms, wont make Russias life an easy one...i think the best result for all is to find an exit where they can all save face.

Pretty fair summary.

Ramping up the dispute just allows the armaments industry to sell their hardware into Europe, nice profitable rich market, plus sanctions keep Russia out the oil and gas markets, more profits, win win.

[Alan52]

Well it seems the “information war” phase is over.

[Tourer]

Originally Posted by Alan52

Well it seems the “information war” phase is over.

Yep - to coin the WW2 expression - the "Phoney War" does appear to now be behind us.

We're either going to see a lot of new sanctions, actions and the like from Ukraine's allies or they'll sit on their hands and let it happen - the next few weeks are probably going to set the scene for how aggressive moves are dealt with in the future.

[rustyfan]

Originally Posted by Tourer

Yep - to coin the WW2 expression - the "Phoney War" does appear to now be behind us.

We're either going to see a lot of new sanctions, actions and the like from Ukraine's allies or they'll sit on their hands and let it happen - the next few weeks are probably going to set the scene for how aggressive moves are dealt with in the future.

Sanctions are meaningless, at least in the form they have been dished out thus far.

I bet the Ukraine are quite bitter over the 1994 deal right about now. If they still had their nukes, Russia wouldn't have dared do anything. Also, this whole mess cements why North Korea will never give up their nukes and why Iran will double up on their efforts to acquire nukes of their own. Nukes = safety. Simple as that.

I can't imagine the Russian GP going ahead.

[Tourer]

Originally Posted by rustyfan

Sanctions are meaningless, at least in the form they have been dished out thus far.

I bet the Ukraine are quite bitter over the 1994 deal right about now. If they still had their nukes, Russia wouldn't have dared do anything. Also, this whole mess cements why North Korea will never give up their nukes and why Iran will double up on their efforts to acquire nukes of their own. Nukes = safety. Simple as that.

I can't imagine the Russian GP going ahead.

Yeah, I reckon smaller countries will come to the realisation that they're on their own from now on and that there'll be something of a rush to shore up various military forces.

Agree that the likelihood of a Russian GP is pretty low.

[midgetman]

Let's hope so. Maybe even Haas should have to remove sponsorship and change colour scheme. But I don't hold out any hope. F1 doesn't have a great history of morals stretching back through Middle Eastern human rights issues, apartheid and even as long ago as the pre-WW2 German GPs. Richard Seaman avoided the Nazi salute but all F1 power brokers from Ecclestone onwards have sucked up to Putin. See you in Sochi, guys.

Sent from my AC2003 using Tapatalk

[ascarracinguk]

Originally Posted by midgetman

Let's hope so. Maybe even Haas should have to remove sponsorship and change colour scheme. But I don't hold out any hope. F1 doesn't have a great history of morals stretching back through Middle Eastern human rights issues, apartheid and even as long ago as the pre-WW2 German GPs. Richard Seaman avoided the Nazi salute but all F1 power brokers from Ecclestone onwards have sucked up to Putin. See you in Sochi, guys.

Sent from my AC2003 using Tapatalk

I think the difference is with the package of sanctions that could be introduced it would make trading with Russian companies illegal.

Future doesn’t look good for haas right now

[ascarracinguk]

Originally Posted by Alan52

Well it seems the “information war” phase is over.

Unfortunately so, all they can fo is ramp up sanctions to try and cripple Putin and his allies. The tricky part will be hurting Putin and co without hurting the Russian people.

If you hurt the Russian people then it will just galvanise them behind Putin, proving all the BS they have said to be right