Aussie GP under threat

[<_Spike_>]

In a surprise admission, Bernie Ecclestone has revealed that the Australian Grand Prix could be moved away from Melbourne if they don't consider switching to a night race once their contract expires in 2010.

Australia has been a popular home for Formula 1 over the years, with Albert Park hosting the traditional season opener every year, with exception to 2006, since it replaced Adelaide on the calendar back in 1996.

However, with several new venues determined to win a place on the calendar now, Ecclestone has admitted to Australian national newspaper, the Sunday Herald Sun, that Albert Park will have to make a compelling argument to maintain his position

For Ecclestone, this means the race will need to be held at night to maximise European audiences, a concept that has received plenty of attention recently with the preliminary inclusion of the Singapore Grand Prix for 2008.

"When the contract comes up, we have to have a look and see exactly what we will be doing with Melbourne," he said. Unless they (organisers) can come up with something satisfactory, I'm pretty sure we wouldn't be able to continue there.

"I would like to make sure we can watch (the race) in Europe and other parts of the world at a respectable time rather than having to get up at three or four in the morning."

Furthermore, the Australian Grand Prix itself could be under threat regardless of venue if a better Television deal to show other Formula 1 races is not sought, while a reverse in falling attendance numbers is also being demanded.

"Ron is not stupid and he knows exactly what is at stake," Ecclestone added. "It seems that Melbourne tried to get behind F1 and always has done, but the rest of Australia doesn't seem to get behind it.&quot;

However, sceptics are thought to believe that holding a night race in Melbourne will not be a success, while the Brack Government has also hit back at Ecclestone's remarks, claiming that negotiations are yet to even start.

"We strongly support the race,&quot; said a spokesman for Tourism Minister Tim Holding. &quot;The contract runs until 2010, but we haven't begun negotiating that yet. And a night Grand Prix has never been formally proposed. Ultimately the Victorian Government will decide what is best for Melbourne."

Source SkySports

Christ, they don't even know if the Singapore night race is actually going to be successful, and they're already threatening other tracks to consider it or they're axed...think Bernies lost his head in the idea of getting everything right for the UK to watch without getting up at silly hours, what's next, Malaysian night race? Come on Bernie, whilst you're at it pull the US, Canada and Brazil GPs back a few hours, stick them on 12-1pm too...

 

[Casio]

"I would like to make sure we can watch (the race) in Europe and other parts of the world at a respectable time rather than having to get up at three or four in the morning."

Yeah...that would be nice....

 

[TheCracker]

I think this is Bernie's usual trick of using the media to manipulate existing venues into believing their race is at risk of being dropped off the calender. F1 is truely a global sport with a broad spread of fans across all the time zones. Europeans have always got up early/gone to be late to watch the Austrailan, South American, etc, etc GPs - it's half the fun and i doubt we'd want it any other way. What about the next generation of Aussie F1 fans, the ones who could potentially give Australia a much broader fan base - will these younger kids be allowed to stay up late watch GP's starting late into the evening?

There are a lot of countries jostling to host F1 races, many of them are willing to bend over backwards to make their venue seem apealing to both live spectators and TV viewers, Bernie just likes to play one organiser against another, keeping everyone on their toes for the benefit of putting on the best show possible.

 

[Small_Fryz]

Ditto ^^

We're lucky we even get the races on TV.

Too much crappy football AFL, NRL (not soccer "football") on TV for F1 to be broadcasted live. Racing takes a back seat to the footy. I dont care about a night race but i do hope we can get better coverage. Ive never seen a GP2 race or F1 qualify session other than Australian Qualify

 

[Jay]

Bernie Ecclestone can threat all he wants I don't care, I just hope this latest threat (has he always does when he doesn't get his way) isn't taken overly serious by the Melbourne government/organisers. Should come back to Adelaide anyway, it was better here.

We're lucky we even get the races on TV.

Too much crappy football AFL, NRL (not soccer "football") on TV for F1 to be broadcasted live. Racing takes a back seat to the footy. I dont care about a night race but i do hope we can get better coverage. Ive never seen a GP2 race or F1 qualify session other than Australian Qualify

Exactly, besides the Bathurst 1000 and the Australian F1 race we get very bad motorsport coverage, and like you say usually because of crappy footy (AFL).

 

[Duke]

Furthermore, the Australian Grand Prix itself could be under threat regardless of venue if a better Television deal to show other Formula 1 races is not sought, while a reverse in falling attendance numbers is also being demanded.

Oh, so it's Australia's fault that the current F1 scene is duller than crap and not worth the price of admission? If the race itself is too boring to draw a big enough crowd, how is Australia supposed to make up the difference?

Social Worker: Here's your monthly stipend check, sir, but I'm afraid that to maintain your eligibility, you'll need to attend the Formula 1 race at Melbourne this weekend.

Dole Recipient: Bloody hell, is there no end to the red tape? It ain't fair - I may be unemployed, but I've still got rights, mate!​

Ecclestone needs to get his prodigious head out of his posterior.

 

[jammyozzy]

"It seems that Melbourne tried to get behind F1 and always has done, but the rest of Australia doesn't seem to get behind it."

What? I thought Australia was motorsport mad?

Besides, why should Europe get all the good TV coverage and everywhere else get stuck watching races at night? Surely Australia should get to see their own grand prix at a reasonable time? With the time difference it's one of the only races Australians get to see during the day.

 

[Cap'n Jack]

What? I thought Australia was motorsport mad?

No, no. Most Australian's can't see a visual difference between a V8 Supercar and a Formula 1 car.

I'm not too keen on a night race in Australia, sure it's interesting, but its about the only chance I get throughout the whole year to watch the F1 at a reasonable time.

 

[Blake]

And you can be sure as hell we won&#8217;t get live coverage because Big Brother or Australian Idol will be on instead. 👎

 

[Casio]

And, admittedly in Melbourne. One of the reasons the crowds were down was because of the stupid amount of events on in Melbourne in March.

Australian Formula One Grand Prix, the FINA World Swimming Championships, the Melbourne Fashion Festival, Melbourne International Motor Show the AFL preseason grand final, Moomba, the Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show, the Melbourne Osaka Cup (yachting) and, at Avalon, the Australian International Airshow.

Also a small event known as the Commonwealth Games interrupted ticket sales last year.

Take it back to the last race of the year?

 

[Jay]

And you can be sure as hell we won&#8217;t get live coverage because Big Brother or Australian Idol will be on instead. 👎

Wow that is dead-on true, sadly.

 

[Kylehnat]

F1 being a GLOBAL sport and all, it makes sense that every fan will have to sacrifice the ability to watch some races live, no matter where they are. I don't cry one bit that the UK can't watch the Australian GP at a decent hour. I can't watch any of the European races live, and I'm in a market that Bernie supposedly wants to expand. I submit that all European races be moved to 10 PM local time. That way, I can get up at 11, have a full breakfast, get in a quick 9, and be back in time to watch the race .

Seriously, TiVo was created for a reason...

 

[prisonermonkeys]

Wow that is dead-on true, sadly.

But fortunately, Big Brother and Austrlaian Idol aren't on around the time of the Grand Prix (also, since the race starts at 2pm, there's no danger of them crossing over if they were on at the same time as the race). Of more concern is how we're going to get races live; the Malaysian Grand Prix was bumped back to the 10pm slot because of - wait for - The Search For The Next Pussy Cat Doll. Admittedly, the show is absolutely hilarious (though for all the wrong reasons), but it's a bit of a worry when we can't watch four of the five Grands Prix in our time zone without having to wait until some ungodly hour because of some dodgy teenybopper programme.

 

[cpl_richie]

No, no. Most Australian's can't see a visual difference between a V8 Supercar and a Formula 1 car.

I'm not too keen on a night race in Australia, sure it's interesting, but its about the only chance I get throughout the whole year to watch the F1 at a reasonable time.

Even then most Australians think the V8s only race at Bathurst. Apart from Bathurst, there isn't a great deal of widespread support for motorsport in Australia.

The Melbourne GP is like the Spring (horse) Racing carnivals. The media is more interested in the celebrities attending and which party they have been seen at rather that the race itself and every person on the street thinks they are an expert but has no idea (every year my family and friends are stunned when Mark Webber doesn't win "its all the driver not the car, look at Schumacher, how could the teams be that different?")

 

[Jay]

But fortunately, Big Brother and Austrlaian Idol aren't on around the time of the Grand Prix

I'm sure they will find some other 'reality' garbage tv show to air instead.

(also, since the race starts at 2pm, there's no danger of them crossing over if they were on at the same time as the race).

We are talking about Night races here.

 

[Cap'n Jack]

I'm sure they will find some other 'reality' garbage tv show to air instead.

The Biggest Loser.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

Well we won't be getting Singapore live given that we don't get to see Malaysia, Japan or China on time, so I'm just assuming they'll bump it backward.

As for Albert Park ... it's going to be harder to light it than Singapore. The city-state's circuit is going to be a lot like Monaco, so floodlights can be right up against the track. But Albert Park has large run-off areas for a significant distance, and the lights will have to go behind the armcos. The distance means either more lights are going to be needed, or more powerful arrays will have to be used.

Assuming they can make it work and that Bernie isn't just putting pressure on the organisers, a few things still stand out:
A) He wants to capitalise on European hours, which means that the race will have to be held much later in the day. I'm guessing we won't be seeing races any earlier than about 9pm.
B) The likes of Big Brother and Australian Idol aren't run around March 18 because it's not really in the on-season for television programmes, so they're not really a threat (unless we get moved to the business end fo the season).
C) If Channel Ten want to keep the rights to broadcast the Australian Grand Prix, they'd pretty much be obligated to show our round live. If they didn't, they'd risk losing the contract, and with Channel Seven picking up the rights to the V8 Supercars this year, I don't think it's too hard to see them trying to buy the rights to the Grand Prix if Ten aren't interested in broadcasting our round live (and who knows, maybe we'll actaully get to see more than one round live ...).

 

[Jay]

The Biggest Loser.

Haha probably (and even more reality crap will be invented by then I bet)

Us motorsports fans actually end up the biggest losers....

A) He wants to capitalise on European hours, which means that the race will have to be held much later in the day. I'm guessing we won't be seeing races any earlier than about 9pm.

During this years Australian GP Bernie mentioned the race will be held around 8pm.

and with Channel Seven picking up the rights to the V8 Supercars this year

and doing a crummy job of it.

 

[tigermoth737]

Bugger it, double Post

 

[tigermoth737]

Considering that all the British people here get to watch nearly every other race at a reasonable time, I would'nt go ahead and wreck the whole point of hosting a race in Melbourne. "I dont want to get up at 3am to watch the Aussie GP", Stick it. We have to stay up from 10 to about 1 to catch any European race, and as for the Us, Canadian and Brazilian Gp's, just forget it. Besides, Why would a paying spectator want to watch F1 under lamps? May aswell watch Street racing in California.

 

[Jay]

Stick it. We have to stay up from 10 to about 1 to catch any European race,

Even then it's not live, we have to aviod any possible F1 news for many hours before channel 10 airs the race on TV.

 

[Blake]

I just want F1 to catch up and start broadcasting the races live on the internet. I&#8217;d pay for that. Thousands of people would. Sure, there still has to be TV coverage, but for people who can&#8217;t get TV coverage or aren&#8217;t satisfied with the coverage they get there should be a better option.

 

[Small_Fryz]

I wish fox sports had F1..
i watch motogp live on F1 and no longer have to wait for channel 10.

If we saw F1 live we wouldnt have to wait long at all. Most races would start at about 8 - 9pm which is a great time for a sunday night. We only have to wait ages because they just cram F1 into a crappy night slot full of shonky adds.