FIA scrapping historic races in favour of new circuits

[haza]

Lots of rumours circulating about the future of some tracks on the grid, Spa, silverstone and zandvort are at risk of loosing their spot on the calendar with kylami, South Korea and a 4th race in the US in contention, I think loosing these tracks would be a huge loss to F1 and racing they produce some of the best races of the year and to replace them instead of half the boring tilke circuits on the calendar now is a joke, in my opinion Stefanno Dominicalli is starting to ruin F1

[chrisc90]

Agree. I even seen somewhere London was being considered.

Utterly stupid. Sport revolves, but don’t take away the heritage of it. Nobody is interested in strew circuits.

Rubbish view for the fans who get so see minute sections of corners or track.

[haza]

Agree. I even seen somewhere London was being considered.

Utterly stupid. Sport revolves, but don’t take away the heritage of it. Nobody is interested in strew circuits.

Rubbish view for the fans who get so see minute sections of corners or track.

A race in London would be awful it’s a mess nowadays. It’s getting ridiculous the FIA are considering up to 25-30 races a year that’s a lot of stress on team and drivers physically and mentally

[chrisc90]

Agree. Seen the pictures of the New York strip getting re-tarmac’d?

[JordanMugen]

FIA? Is it not FOM who makes circuit decisions?

I don't think anyone is a fan of the Middle East races, but what can you do. I would love to see Sepang back on the calendar, it is a great track and well supported by Malaysian motor racing enthusiasts.

Nobody is interested in strew circuits.

Rubbish view for the fans who get so see minute sections of corners or track.

Yes and no. There are lots of iconic street circuits. They allow fans to get much closer to the cars at full pelt than a permanent circuit. Literally within 1.5m at Adelaide, given cars running out to the wall on corner entry or exit, a concrete wall, a 1.5m buffer and then the fan area right there!

I see that they have pros and cons, and are inevitably more convenient than travelling 2 hours to a race circuit in the middle of nowhere.

[Greg Locock]

Yes Adelaide was a much better circuit than boring old Albert Park.

[mendis]

I don't know what is the reason behind why tracks like Spa and Silverstone would struggle to retain themselves on the calendar. Some of these tracks charges much higher than the others that are retaining themselves on the calendar. Is this something to do with commercial disagreements? I don't know how many F1 race promoters/organizers across the calendar have government backing. But certainly not all of them, which begs the question why some promoters struggle more than others to get a deal with Liberty. Who is being adamant to hold on to higher profits? Obviously, F1 is no charity and wouldn't simply race at historic venues for free to let the promoters enjoy higher profits.

https://thesportsrush.com/f1-news-how-m ... t-in-2023/



https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2022/ ... -continues

2022 News.

The British Grand Prix at Silverstone has sold out in the shortest time in the race’s history and is now expected to break all previous attendance records. The race organisers cite an unprecedented demand for tickets that reflects a surge in Formula One’s popularity, and not only here. F1 expects all its remaining 20 races this year will also sell out.

https://thesportsrush.com/f1-news-half- ... -sold-out/

2022 News

The Belgian GP is set to return in 2023 with an exciting turnout of fans as half the tickets are already sold out.

The Belgian Grand Prix passed Liberty Media’s selection process and has confirmed its presence in the 2023 F1 season. Similar to this year’s race at the Spa circuit, a massive turnout of fans is expected for the weekend in 2023 as half of the GP tickets are already sold out.

The 2023 Belgian Grand Prix ticket prices range from $223 to $685 on F1’s official website. Currently, the portal is offering Gold 9: Pole position, Gold 6: Chicane and Bronze tickets priced at $685, $627 and $223 respectively.

[JordanMugen]

Some of these tracks charges much higher than the others that are retaining themselves on the calendar. Is this something to do with commercial disagreements?

I wouldn't be using the ticket prices as the only factor, there is also capacity, but more importantly the hosting fees FOM charges are not all the same.

According to Dieter Rencken, the approximate hosting fees in US dollars are:
Bahrain 45 million
Saudi Arabia 55 million
Australia 35 million
Imola 20 million
United States (Miami) n/a (FOM is the race promoter, the same for Las Vegas)
Spain 25 million
Monaco 15 million
Azerbaijan 55 million
Canada 30 million
Austria 25 million
Great Britain 25 million
Hungary 40 million
Belgium 22 million
Netherlands 32 million
Monza 25 million
Singapore 35 million
Japan 25 million
Mexico 25 million
United States (COTA) 25 million
Brazil 25 million
Abu Dhabi 40 million
China 50 million
Qatar 55 million
https://racingnews365.com/how-much-each ... -formula-1

As you can see 'historic' Western European races like Imola and Spa have some of the least lucrative fees for Formula One Management, while 'modern' Middle East races like Jeddah and Qatar have some of the most lucrative hosting fees.

Even the semi-historic Hungaroring circuit pays twice as much as the historic Imola circuit to host a race! While Baku city pays nearly three times as much as Imola.

Obviously Formula One Management would prefer that as many of the hosting fees as possible are the full $55m USD and not the "discount" fees!

[McL-H]

Out of current races, I would like to see the following ones scrapped of the calendar: Melbourne, Qatar, Imola, Zandvoort, Abu Dhabi, Austin, Miami, Vegas.

Instead I want Sepang, Mugello, Road America, Sebring, Hockenheim.

And 20 races is more than enough and Spa, Monza, Monaco, Silverstone, Interlagos should never leave the calendar.

[Juzh]

People still living in the past when it comes to tracks, same as with the V10 crowd. It's gone, get over it, or stop watching if it's so much bother.

[Baulz]

Tracks such as Spa have to charge high prices for tickets as that is their main source of revenue to pay the hosting fee. A lot of the new races have the fee paid by their government in order to bring a race to their country.

[Zynerji]

I don't live far from COTA, and have looked into attending a race. The paddock passes were about $7500 each. I find myself feeling that I would rather watch the stream (multiple angles, replays, commentary, pause button, etc) than go to a race. Now a paddock pass would allow a much different experience, but I'm not sure its worth that kind of cash. Maybe a bucket list item for me.

With that said, I see the tracks merging into partnerships like the Hockenheim/Nurburgring rotation from a few years ago. It would make more sense in the long run while preserving the historic tracks and allowing new entries without extending the calendar.

[AR3-GP]

People still living in the past when it comes to tracks, same as with the V10 crowd. It's gone, get over it, or stop watching if it's so much bother.

[Edax]

People still living in the past when it comes to tracks, same as with the V10 crowd. It's gone, get over it, or stop watching if it's so much bother.

.

That discussion actually predates the V10. When Ceasars palace parking lot was featuring half the people were proclaiming this would be the future of F1, the other half where predicting the end.

As I see it there are three schools of track builders and they have alway been there. .

1) Those who believe tracks should consist of a natural progression of challenging curves inspired by the landscape. where the driver can make a difference and where an overtake takes several corners to set up. Suzuki and Spa are classical examples, but also Austin.
2) those who believe a track should be predominantly fast an feature a runway for overtakes like Monza and abu dabi.
3) Those who don’t care tor the track at all as long as it has a nice backdrop and enough seats for paying spectators Ceasars palace, Monaco as well as Miami.

In the end F1 always has been a mix of the three. The balance has shifted back and forth a bit over the years but there seems to be a natural straightening mechanism, which prevents them from going too extreme In one direction.

[Big Tea]

The concern to me is that in 5 years or so once the 'boom' has worn off, the older tracks will not be able to manage the upkeep as they have been operating with very narrow margins, and of course the 'boom tracks' will have become estates or repurposed and unsuitable for F1.