Too many GP's?

[bella]

i was there over the weekend at the wsr event. great fans, beautiful countryside, interesting country. it's a real highlight of the wsr calendar, let alone the f1 one. the circuit itself is full of gradient changes, some really fascinating corners and a great little paddock space.

i guess it's one of those circuits and races you actually have to go to instead of watch on tv. and unlike bernie, i don't mean that in a political or commercial sense either. it's really important venues like that stay on the calendar.

[fast95pony]

i watch all the races,but very few live.Most are too early in the morning,and until very recently,I worked most weekends.
The PVR gets used a lot in our house.I added a 1TB hard drive ,so I could record all our favourite TV programs.
I think the number of races is about right.

[Razzzor]

Originally Posted by bella

yeah, because the hundreds of thousands of people who turn out over the weekend to support the teams, drivers and sport as a whole are completely irrelevant. it's one of the best places to watch a f1 race on the entire calendar - i for one am thankful it's one of bernie's (and the teams) favourites and will be there for a long time.

Sure, Hungary is beautiful, it's a great country to visit, the track itself looks awesome, maybe they get a big crowd, and it's a traditional circuit instead of the new Tilke-rings in deserts. But more often that not, the races are boring. A spanner thrown in the works (like Vettel's penalty in 2010) is the only thing that makes it interesting sometimes. Maybe they should make sure it's placed on the calendar for a good chance of rain to spice things up :P

But yeah, I'll probably never see a F1 race live; maybe Australia one day is closest to me (NZ), so it doesn't really matter to me how much of a tourist attraction Hungary is, I just care about the quality of the race itself.

[Razzzor]

Originally Posted by Marbot

Perhaps if all of the other drivers actually thought that there was indeed a "top guy", then they needn't bother turning up?

You don't think Will's the best driver of the last 3 seasons in Indycar? I try not to say "overall" because he somehow bins it on the ovals - but he's still actually quick enough on ovals, usually. Just had some bad luck.

A lot of the drivers in F1 have said Alonso is the best overall driver in F1 at the moment - doesn't mean they won't show up to beat him though.

[formerf1champ]

Originally Posted by Razzzor

Sure, Hungary is beautiful, it's a great country to visit, the track itself looks awesome, maybe they get a big crowd, and it's a traditional circuit instead of the new Tilke-rings in deserts. But more often that not, the races are boring. A spanner thrown in the works (like Vettel's penalty in 2010) is the only thing that makes it interesting sometimes. Maybe they should make sure it's placed on the calendar for a good chance of rain to spice things up :P

But yeah, I'll probably never see a F1 race live; maybe Australia one day is closest to me (NZ), so it doesn't really matter to me how much of a tourist attraction Hungary is, I just care about the quality of the race itself.

You just care about the quality of the race, but want the Hungarian GP to be affected with rain, which affects the quality of the race?

Fans these days, eh? Just want everything to be a guaranteed thriller. Which, in turn, makes it predictable.

[bjohnsonsmith]

I thought 17 was a perfectly good number of races. However, what also adds to the longevity of the season is the August hiatus, which artificially extends it by a month.

[formerf1champ]

Originally Posted by Peat

True. But i still think it's not a good thing if your product goes from an essential to an optional. I am not naive enough to think that F1 'needs' me and, thinking about it, considering that my answer to the below quote is a resounding 'NO', am i even the kind of person F1 'wants' anymore?

Tbh, I don't think the F1 community knows what it is anymore, let alone if it knows it wants you. An indicator of this is to look at their website...

http://www.formula1.com/teams_and_drivers/teams/

You look at that list. it's got the team logo, the face of each driver and a picture of the motorhome! Why is that there??? where's the picture of the car?

Originally Posted by Peat

All i know, is that i still want to watch every race. But what with my other interests/life circumstances, i am finding increasingly harder to do that. Increasing the number of races only compounds it. So, this thread is completely selfish, i know. But there are a fair few people who agree.

I suspect it's sublte change you've noticed. Soon you may barely watch the season!

[blaffer]

Twenty races is not too many. And a positive evolution is that we will have four races on the American continent next year.

[snowdog140]

Maybe one way around it would be to have a calendar like they had with the WRC, where they rotate rounds every year? That way we'd get to see different tracks every year, organisers would keep costs down with only having to host a round every two years, and there wouldn't be as many rounds any more. Personally I think more is better, but just my opinion, of course.

[Bononi]

Originally Posted by blaffer

Twenty races is not too many. And a positive evolution is that we will have four races on the American continent next year.

That's an evolution alright.

[Alan Raine]

Another one to possibly add to the list and I find this quite bizarre!

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/102997

Why would a country in the deep financial mire and with very little Motorsport history want to build a GP Circuit?

It might keep a few workers employed but not for long...

[nicanary]

Originally Posted by Alan Raine

Another one to possibly add to the list and I find this quite bizarre!

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/102997

Why would a country in the deep financial mire and with very little Motorsport history want to build a GP Circuit?

It might keep a few workers employed but not for long...

probably a vanity project from a politician trying to raise his profile in times of trouble. can't see it happening.

[chillibowl]

classic Greece!

the one thing they have going for them is tourism. this might just be an attempt to bring in more tourists....which probably means building a race track right through the middle of the Acropolis.

[Knowlesy]

Well it isn't like America has much money either and they have a new track.

But yeah. Greece really should not be allowed to do that surely?

[Bononi]

Originally Posted by Alan Raine

Another one to possibly add to the list and I find this quite bizarre!

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/102997

Why would a country in the deep financial mire and with very little Motorsport history want to build a GP Circuit?

It might keep a few workers employed but not for long...

Strange, but strange things happen out there.

[Sodemo]

If they built the most epic racetrack ever, then it would become a mecca-like destination for race fans and might actually do some good for the country. However it will probably be another dull cut&paste tilkedrome, so you can forget that.

Let me design the track and I can assure you it would be awesome.

[Alan Raine]

Originally Posted by Sodemo

If they built the most epic racetrack ever, then it would become a mecca-like destination for race fans and might actually do some good for the country. However it will probably be another dull cut&paste tilkedrome, so you can forget that.

Let me design the track and I can assure you it would be awesome.

I'll give Turkey as an example. Even though the Tilke effort was better than most, they probably had more dogs than humans as spectators and I'm sure lost a lot of money (that's from memory so I stand to be corrected).

[TrueBlueFlyer]

there's no such thing as too many races

[Sodemo]

Originally Posted by Alan Raine

I'll give Turkey as an example. Even though the Tilke effort was better than most, they probably had more dogs than humans as spectators and I'm sure lost a lot of money (that's from memory so I stand to be corrected).

Yep, very true. The track was better than most he has designed. I just think its a massive shame when tracks get built or altered to cater for "F1's needs" then after 5 years the country or the track promoter gets the boot, leaving a track to ruin. The A1 Ring, Mt Fuji, Donington Park. Now whilst all these tracks are still in existence they were left in various states once F1 had discarded them. The A1 Ring is the cruelest "knife in the side" of them all. A magnificent track (previously the Osterriechring), altered in 1996 to F1's specifications, destroying what was for me, the best racing track in the world. I know Red Bull have recently renovated the track, however its still a shadow of its former self.

[Flavio Galtieri]

Originally Posted by Alan Raine

Another one to possibly add to the list and I find this quite bizarre!

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/102997

Why would a country in the deep financial mire and with very little Motorsport history want to build a GP Circuit?

It might keep a few workers employed but not for long...

I wonder if Mrs Merkel knows about this? Elections coming up too!

Pretty ironic really since the Germans will be paying for it and they can't even afford to keep a GP at the Nurburgring!

It's the most ridiculous idea I've seen for years!!

[Mekola]

In the past there were much more races that were depicted in the original stats. Drivers like Clark, Stewart, Hill drove about 20-25 races per year and only counting the use of their F1 cars in official champ and non-championship races. They lasted in the past even racing in winter, why not now?

[Rob29]

Originally Posted by Mekola

In the past there were much more races that were depicted in the original stats. Drivers like Clark, Stewart, Hill drove about 20-25 races per year and only counting the use of their F1 cars in official champ and non-championship races. They lasted in the past even racing in winter, why not now?

Agree 100% thereStirling Moss raced just about every weekend in 1955-when there was only 6 WCF1 races. Problem started I think,when Clark was killed in a F2 race.

[Born Racer]

I must admit, whilst I don't have a sense of saturation, I have less of a sense of anticipation than before when they set off on the warm-up lap once again and when those lights come on. It feels a bit less "special".

And yet, 20 is not a crazy amount; it's still far from every weekend of the year, so a few more should be good. Basically, I prefer 20 to 16 even if it does have a bit less novelty value for me. I suspect being almost 30 years old reduces the sense of novelty and kid at Christmas feel.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Personally I'd like to see fewer races if it produces better racing. What are GPs like Bahrain and Korea doing on the schedule and they produce lacklustre racing? Their souls purpose, as far as i can see, is to line Bernie's pockets.

If there must be 20 GPs, expand where the racing will be better and better appreciated, i.e. Europe but European tracks either don't want to, or can't afford Bernie's fee, so we have a Catch 22. Therefore, I'd rather see fewer GPs on the calendar.