The end of road for Indy

[Only_in_f1]

Teletext suggests that Indy wont be on the 2008 FIA F1 Calendar.

Your thoughts and can someone please find the article and post it please

 

[Bleached]

http://f1.gpupdate.net/en/news/2007/07/12/ecclestone-no-us-grand-prix-in-2008/

Well this sucks.

 

[McLaren]

Looks like we've gotta head up to Montreal then.

 

[Digital-Nitrate]

Max Mosley is doing a great job killing interest in F1 in the states... you'd almost think F1 hasn't been losing their world wide audience and sponsorship money and thus losing American interest in the sport wont have any impact on their bottom-line.

Scott Speed isn't enough to build American interest in F1 and if they abandon an American GP, especially one at Indy, it’s very likely what interest there is in F1 in the States is likely going to shrink considerably.

 

[ExigeEvan]

What's stopping them going elsewhere? I'm sure plenty of choices have been aired in the past.

 

[Earth]

Most if not all U.S. road courses don't live up to Formula 1 standards so I don't expect a USGP again unless they come back to Indy later or a purpose built course is constructed.

That's fine, I won't miss F1. There is no American teams and only 1 American driver that I and I'm sure most Americans never heard of until he was in F1. The Indy 500 and Brickyard 400 are much more entertaining races anyway

 

[Tornado]

What's stopping them going elsewhere?

Where, though?

 

[Only_in_f1]

There must are many tracks in Usa that are used for Cart i believe. Many street circiuts. I think Indy is a fine race anyway. If its not broke dont fix it, as they say.

I dont think the FIA are intrested in what the USA think, which personaly i think is a mistake. He wants to take F1 to Asia. He seems to make that very clear.

 

[ROAD_DOGG33J]

So now, they'll be flying overseas just to get to one race in Montreal.

 

[Alex.]

Formula 1 began to die on may 8th 1982.

Senna was another large step, this is one of the smaller steps to killing off the great racing.

Somthing must be done


Clarkson sums it up quite well

 

[Lee]

I guess I'll miss it only for the high attrition it usually brings up.

Roll on....

India!
Singapore!
Velencia!
Dubai!
Russia!
South Afirca!

And so on and so forth..

 

[Only_in_f1]

Woo...

CCX whats that got to do with this thread?
I agree but, why this thread?

 

[daan]

Formula 1 began to die on may 8th 1982.

Senna was another large step, this is one of the smaller steps to killing off the great racing.

Somthing must be done

So Bernie Ecclestone killed Villeneuve and Senna?

What does your post have to do with the US GP being removed from the calendar?

 

[Dougboy]

Americans were interested in Formula One but i guess there just wasnt enough of them interested for Bernie to care about the American fans.

Trying to introduce Formula 1 to Americans is like trying to make them like Soccer (football).

So why not just leave and hold races in countries where people actually watch and show interest in the sport. Americans can stick to their nascars and football

 

[prisonermonkeys]

There must are many tracks in Usa that are used for Cart i believe. Many street circiuts. I think Indy is a fine race anyway. If its not broke dont fix it, as they say.

I dont think the FIA are intrested in what the USA think, which personaly i think is a mistake. He wants to take F1 to Asia. He seems to make that very clear.

No there's no. As has been said, most US circuits don't meet F1 requirements. Laguna Seca, for example, only has two main grandstands and no real pit buildings. Sears Point (Infineon) has more grandstands, but once again, they don't have the required pit facilities.

 

[Kylehnat]

Trying to introduce Formula 1 to Americans is like trying to make them like Soccer (football).

The reason we don't like soccer is because the soccer we have here sucks bigtime. The best players are elsewhere, which means the game we have is not top-quality. It is not fun to watch, and there is no passion, like in European matches. I watched many matches during the World Cup, and got into it. You can't point enough guns to my head to make me sit through an MLS game.

If you brought the best form of the game here, Americans would take to it.

The same principle holds true for motorsport. Formula One is the top rung, and now it's being made less accessible to us. The majority of American F1 fans won't miss a beat. We'll watch every race until the end of time. However, for interest to grow among more casual fans, that access needs to be there. I think that F1 is/was gaining momentum here in the States, slowly but surely. Every balk by Bernie like this destroys that momentum and puts everything back to square one. It's like closing a new business because you didn't become a millionaire on Day One...and then re-opening that business 10 years later, only to do the same thing.

It's a mistake for Bernia (sic: I'm leaving it in, because that typo made me laugh) et al to ignore the United States. Tony George/IMS has the money and facility to host the race, fans are willing to come out 150,000 strong every year to see it, SPEED is willing to shell out the cash to broadcast it, and the manufacturers insist that they need to race in the largest automotive market on Earth.

Money? There's plenty of it in the United States. Not on TV at a decent hour in the UK? Then Canada should go, too. And do you really think that Russians are going to shell out a million rubles year after year in order to come to a race in Moscow?

Go to hell, Bernie. And take your ****ing fortune with you.

 

[bennyrrr]

Personally, why not do a nice F1 race at Laguna Seca? Whats wrong with that track?

 

[Tornado]

I'd imagine the chicane would lead to many accidents, the elevation may be too much for the cars to handle, there isn't much room to pass and there is little in the way of grandstands. The pits are somewhat cramped, as well.

 

[KAMKA-Z]

Where, though?

According to Autoweek, Bernie's been talking to a developer in Las Vegas. I don't believe any of the US's Road courses are close to what Bernie wants in terms of safety or other F1 infrastructure needs. I just visited Watkins Glen last weekend for the first time. Wonderful track! But Bernie would never go back. There was an ex-Villeneuve Ferrari (Possibly that same one from the video?) Running in the Vintage Grand Prix supporting event for the IRL race. All those Cosworth DFVs and a couple of 12 cylinder Ferraris made such beautiful music.

AutoWeek | Published 07/12/07, 11:56 am et

The United States Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway will not be on the 2008 Formula One schedule after eight consecutive events since 2000. IMS set a July 12 deadline for a decision on the race's future during June's USGP race weekend, after F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone made disparaging comments about the event before declining to sign an extension on the spot.

"After several discussions, Bernie Ecclestone and I were unable to agree how to keep Formula One in Indianapolis for the near term," IMS CEO Tony George said. "However, we have agreed to leave the door open for a potential future date.

"It has been a pleasure having the United States Grand Prix at Indianapolis, and I hope that as we approach our Centennial Era at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, an opportunity might present itself that would allow its return."

It is unclear whether the loss of Indy means F1 will not return to the U.S. at all. Ecclestone met recently with billionaire developer Steve Wynn in Las Vegas to discuss the possibility of a Vegas race in 2008. Results of that meeting are unknown.

 

[Blake]

I will miss Indy, but I don’t think F1 will. They didn’t do enough to sell F1, so they failed. Hopefully they come back in 2009 and do something a little different, but Indianapolis isn’t such a great place to attract fans to, as far as I have heard. A street circuit is probably the best way to get US fans to the tracks.

The CCWS does it, and it works.

Clarkson sums it up quite well

No, Clarkson takes a single example from 57 years of racing and hundreds of Grand Prix and uses it to try and tell the world F1 is boring. Watching older Grand Prix quite a bit, I can tell you, they’re not any more exciting.

Overtaking? There’s a little bit more, but as usual you have to have a much better car. You still saw trains of cars. Why? Because overtaking a driver who doesn’t make a mistake is hard!

Especially on modern circuits. Consider this: I watched the first GP at Magny Cours in 1991, and the drivers and commentators were bitching about it being incredibly difficult to overtake at that circuit. In 2007 they’re saying it has one of the best opportunities on the calendar to make a pass. Almost every track is a giant go-kart track, now.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

Personally, why not do a nice F1 race at Laguna Seca? Whats wrong with that track?

No grandstands (well, two, but nowhere near enough to hold an F1 crowd). No pit facilities. Access would probably be about the same as Magny-Cours. The first corner - the sweeping left, not the hairpin - wouldn't comply with mandatory F1 safety laws given where cars would re-join the track from the pits. Safety access needs to be brought up to FIA standards, and so on and so forth. In short, they'd have to do a lot of work to bring Laguna Seca up to scratch, but if Bernie feels that the event at Indy, one of the world's most famous circuits, isn't bringing anything to the calendar, you can bet your bottom dollar they won't even bother considering spending so much money on another circuit.

 

[Studentdriver]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but weren't there plans to build a huge motorsport facility in Alabama in hope of getting the USGP? I remember reading about this probably a year and a half ago now.

 

[Cap'n Jack]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but weren't there plans to build a huge motorsport facility in Alabama in hope of getting the USGP? I remember reading about this probably a year and a half ago now.

Are you talking about the $350 million motorsport complex? Apparently that's scheduled to be completed in 2009.

More Information.

 

[Sureboss]

Don't hold on to there being a Grand Prix in North America for long, the track at Montreal isn't up to the rigour of F1 imo.

 

[Muzaffar]

Wait!The USGP is no longer at Indy?What the.....i can't believe this.Its got to be said,one of the most unique F1 circuits on the calendar!(with the bank corners and reaching 330+km/h down the straightaway.Its one awesome layout if you ask me....) I think Bernie is a retard!How can he do such stupid things?All he cares is about money....(but some of his decisions are good.But not always....) Just give Indy a chance.It may go for a major renovation since MotoGP may host another round at Indy sometime next year.So is this going to make Bernie change his mind?But if Indy was drop,yet another part of F1 history has been erased.

 

[Only_in_f1]

No there's no. As has been said, most US circuits don't meet F1 requirements. Laguna Seca, for example, only has two main grandstands and no real pit buildings. Sears Point (Infineon) has more grandstands, but once again, they don't have the required pit facilities.

Ah sorry i didnt know that.
Didnt Las Vegas have a Gp?

 

[TheCracker]

No grandstands (well, two, but nowhere near enough to hold an F1 crowd). No pit facilities. Access would probably be about the same as Magny-Cours. The first corner - the sweeping left, not the hairpin - wouldn't comply with mandatory F1 safety laws given where cars would re-join the track from the pits. Safety access needs to be brought up to FIA standards, and so on and so forth. In short, they'd have to do a lot of work to bring Laguna Seca up to scratch, but if Bernie feels that the event at Indy, one of the world's most famous circuits, isn't bringing anything to the calendar, you can bet your bottom dollar they won't even bother considering spending so much money on another circuit.

Most of the older GP circuits, Silverstone and Spa for example, have little in the way of permanent grandstands. All they do is throw up a stack of temporary ones for the week - Laguna could do the same. Moto GP visits Laguna Seca, i'm sure their standards are not far behind what F1 requires.

 

[m7ammed]

Car makers will always push for a USGP if not in indy its going to be else where its just an important market for them, anyway we've got more new races in diffrent parts of the world

 

[peterjford]

Most of the older GP circuits, Silverstone and Spa for example, have little in the way of permanent grandstands. All they do is throw up a stack of temporary ones for the week - Laguna could do the same. Moto GP visits Laguna Seca, i'm sure their standards are not far behind what F1 requires.

The topography of Laguna Seca won't allow many temporary grand stands. Is very hilly. (And unlike GT4, the hills are covered with brown grass, not green, unless you are the day after one of the 3 days a year it rains there.) The best viewing places there sitting under a tree on a little hill over looking the corkscrew. Also, with Moto GP, I don't think they require as much room in the pits at F1 does. Moto GP is a high quality organization though, so Laguna Seca must be doing some things right. I never saw a 'professional' event there, I went as the pit crew for a friend that had a GTI cup car. Its a great track for smaller events but I don't think you could fit F1 there.

 

[ExigeEvan]

A1 raced at Laguna Seca, so a powerful open-wheeled formula could certainly race there.

But yes, it call comes down to infrastructure.