With the unlikely suggestion this morning that Greece has the money to build a Formula 1 circuit – believe that one when you see it – I am off to the airport shortly to fly to Japan. As usual I will be bouncing through Dubai on the way and so with that and inflight wireless connectivity (is nowhere sacred these days?) I should be able to keep up with any breaking news – if I am not asleep.
Sleep well, Joe.
I’ve always wondered when f1 freelancers – and staffers – fly and stay at GPs, who pays travel costs? They must be horrendous!
They are. Generally the freelances pay their own bills. It is about £25,000 per year.? It can be done for less but that is miserable. At this level we do not stay in nice hotels. Just average. And we travel Economy unless upgraded with gold cards.
Who are the lowest paid in the paddock, pay drivers?
Nigel Roebuck used to say the journalists are well paid…
Roebuck has always been overpaid.
OooooOOOOOoooooh! Suspect I’d agree though, if I knew the figure. Wrote some good stuff when I used to read him in Autosport, but also a lot of nasty biased… I’ll stop there.
There has to be a market for someone awesome at booking flights to ease the pain. My very retired mate once described as a bucket shop king (not casually, he practically invented the business) was truly good at getting business class down to the same level as economy, or full open tickets at normal fare.
Even I found that if you telephoned rather than online booked BA you could get far better deals, even when I was hardly putting in the miles when I sussed that. (Business open within 20% of economy fixed!)
I should suggest it to him, pretty sure one of his sons carried on. I have not used them, and having not signed up I’ve not even been able to see the actual itineraries, (strikes me as marketing fail, right there, what is it with the proliferation of so called exclusive web commerce sites where you have to hand over precious – to them for sure – personal info before you see any deal, bloody cheek says this premature fogey!) or whether this website isn’t a bit of backpacker fantasy, but a place called flightfox.com pitches people against offered rewards for the lowest multi leg bookings. But their rules are online verifiable only, and I know that doesn’t always lead to better deals – on-line prices are very gamed by statistician loonies, you probably want to wipe all your browsing history because those super cookies mean they literally “see” you coming.
As for the flight booking for a bounty idea, there was a “ask me anything” on reddit once that caught my eye: a flight agent for a unnamed major: had quite a few reveals in it, but impression I got was there’s all manner of inside knowledge that can make or break a budget, and they’re there to bulk up their margins, not cut you the absolute best. (logical, but then also not what it says on the proverbial tin when they pitch you for custom)
Anyway, someone with a bit of get up and go should get a list of who’s who in F1 media circles and work on cutting some deals to make life more comfortable.
There’s whole tomes of very serious books full of maths that bang on about “pricing optimisation” and one of these days I shall wade into one. Full disclosure: this price gaming bugs me and my biz partner so much we’ve been trying to come up with commercial “countermeasures” to the gaming to see if there’s a slice for us, or a angle to sell ads. Just spent the night getting our brains fried, dawn came up and we were still killing each other with the mind bending things we separately found out . .
It’s the same thing with much online buying. Dell, last time I was up for a new bit of their kit, and not a large quantity at that, beat their online quote by nearly 40% just because I asked. It’s a fun game, this mythology that general public have been saturated with the idea they get better prices online. That doesn’t fit at all with the fact that network economies drive websites towards pseudo monopolies: consider whether there is a direct competitor to eBay or Amazon . .
ouch, nearly getting Extra Dull today, with a bit of fogey-ish moaning thrown in. . but I just bet there’s someone out there with the talent to improve the travelling lot of the freelance F1 crowd, and crikey that’d be some cracking word of mouth marketing if they were actually effective.
Safe journey, Joe. There’s always a off button to your laptop, and it’s not like you’re on call to some loony boss paging you all the time . . .oh, yeah, the blog, ouch! but hope you have a good rest and are well looked after.
Getting paid by the word are you, John?
John, please carry on posting. Yes I only understand about 80% of what you’re going on about and sometimes you go on a bit. But, without blowing smoke up your backside, you remind me (a bit) of LJK from Car magazine. Not just because of your ideas but also your prose.
…i’d say coffee this time
An average of £1250 per GP, that does seem incredible value for money and probably a huge amount of shopping arround for the long-haul events.
I don’t have time to shop around.
Is it not the case that, with some racing series (not F1), the series will pick up media travel costs in order to get the coverage? A UK-based journalist at the WTCC Race of USA suggested as much to me.
Lucky him.
I am sure it is a direct reflection of how badly some series desire press coverage (I can’t comment on the potential for conflicts of interest because I would be speculating). F1 presumably has no such need and so makes no such offers to the media. Understandable. Safe travels JS.
I did have a bit of a giggle when I saw the Greek gp story. The quoted figure to build the track looked low to me, and obviously building he facility is the cheap part!
Greece doesn’t have the money to build an F1 circuit but the Germans do.
Wouldn’t it be ironic if German funds, through the ECB, facilitated this mad idea since they apparently can’t afford a GP at the Nürburgring?
With Frau Merkel facing elections I’d be surprised if this wasn’t brought to her attention.
It’s certainly one of the most stupid stories I have read this year.
It is also completely fake as far as F1 is concerned (Bloomberg does not have a single quote by anyone related to the project) but never mind that, it happens all the time when the goverment negotiates with the troica. Like other people said this circuit is not intended for F1 testing or more so F1 GP.
And for the aviodance of doubt it was Bloomberg that was the starting point of this nonsense, all other media reproduced the their story.
Your belief that a quote will save the day is quaintly naive. If people are willing to lie about anything than there is no value in quotes except to highlight a lie, but if one already knows that the people are liars, there is no need to do that. Many if the best stories in F1 do not have quotes.
Well Al Jazeera bothered to get a quote and guess what, one of the two project leaders renounces any plans for a F1 race
http://www.aljazeera.com/video/europe/2012/10/2012104163149927969.html
Have a good trip, stay safe!
We leave for California tomorrow, birthday pressie for my lady from a close family friend.
Don’t know if United have WiFi on their fleet? Probably settle down with the Sony E-Reader and something from Anne McCaffery.
United are at one end of the spectrum, Emirates the other…
They have it on planes flying within the USA, no coverage over the Atlantic.
We don’t mind who we fly as long as we are comfortable and get there in one piece.
25k a year !! Jesus. Are you flying Emirates, Joe ? I’m flying with them via Dubai to Ho Chi Minh City, 1st November. Wireless connectivity on board would make the dull night flight considerably more interesting
Though, I expect it’s expensive..
I guess there are only so many “sympathetic, in-depth” interviews that one can schedule with Bernie through his PA, before Bernie refuses to pay for the Cipriani Hotel lunch and the wine bill..?
I’d take Bernie out to lunch for a good interview. But who is to judge what is a good interview.
He does seem adept at being the Quote Shark, everything said a function of continuous motion, caused by inability to stop, or reach conclusions, including one to his career. In a way, there’s brilliance: he’s got authors observers – whoever, really – trying to write his story, but instead he’s still making it up. There’s much to admire, but I’ve seen a lot of private sadness in a old fox or two who have never made the pause to wonder what is actually complete in their lives. One is a friend, and barely a week from Bernie’s age, who one time managed to do some very clever things to shake up the directory publishing game, busting some state monopolies and rather silly laws as he went. (and though I think it was in no small part a set-up, quick summary his managing director cuckolded his wiffe and they drained the money and my mate got in trouble for that, he fell foul of a few laws as well, was made pariah in the papers) But my friend never saw a STOP sign, not ever, and whilst you have to admire he’s tough as nails, a phenomenon for his years, he’s cut a wake of emotional pain which does nothing but put him forever on the run. Bernie is past the age of personal adaptability. In a way, with so much income from the playing off one track against another, he’s created a kind of Ponzi scheme. My friend, and he is dear to me in many ways – you know someone, you know their frailties – whether he saw it or not, got mentally stuck with a kind of Ponzi with his own business. One parallel is that both have a tremendous knack of off the cuff remarks that are pure deflection. It comes across to me as a mental prison. Not going deeper into this right now, because I was very affected by getting to know my pal, actually very confused and emotionally upset by his confusion for at first, I think that there may be behind these kinds of characters a true personal upset we don’t know about. Something buried away – many men are like that, some women I’ve met also, it’s the pulp fiction stereotype for a villain to have had a broken childhood or suffered the indignity of disfiguring injury. All I can see is that Bernie is not going to go with any grace, he’s not self aware enough to find a neat exit, and to be honest, I don’t think he’s someone who ever can be satisfied so that he might call it job done. The worst aspect of this, if my conjecture is valid, is that eventually people tire of the relentless argument such people create, and start to slowly drift away, thereby causing even more reason for someone who has a “my way or the highway” bent in their mentality, to try to redouble their grasp. So, such people fail hard, and bitterly. Getting a bit depressing, so I’ll stop this line of thought. I do rate Bernie very highly, but he’s not super human, and what he saw that he could do, in a nice little friendly and somewhat amateurish paddock, well, he created such a huge thing, politically and economically, you hope he saw that systems that complicated would eventually wear him out. Fixing things by autocracy worked well for him, but at some point, oh dear, you don’t have the skills to manage. Sharks don’t take a break to go learn new tricks . . . (sorry, still trying to find the worst mixed metaphor I can . . )
Well, could be worse, you could be flying a leg with Kingfisher . . ahh, umm, pretty sure it was on the news they have been grounded as punishment for not paying up what they owe in taxes . .
That story about Greeks and F1 tracks, I’m sure it’s cover to say they’re going to employ a bunch of guys on full salary 20 hour weeks with gilt edged pension guarantees to dig a track shaped hole one place and fill it in from another, for a 10 year contract . .
actually, no, that’s not it, it’s literally Cargo Cult behaviour – they are invoking the bounteous visit of the Bernie deity by offering up track shaped earth symbols:
http://www.lhup.edu/~DSIMANEK/cargocul.htm
(Richard Feynman’s classic and fun lecture on Cargo Cult Science, but I think there are other versions because he liked to tell that kind of story)
ouch and ouch, that does really seem to fit with what the non traditional racing counties have been doing, only with real circuits. I wonder what historians would make of it, if we were looking back as we can on ancient Roman ruins!
Get a good sleep, Joe. You deserve it.
After reading comments regarding the Greek racetrack all through this morning, I have to say that i’m amazed at how easy it is for people, fans and journos, to jump on the “laugh at Greece” bandwagon. So, here’s some actual information on the matter:
1. Xalandritsa racetrack cost – €90 million. Government contribution – €30 million. That’s 0.1% of the latest loan installment, and 0.01% of the total debt. Drop in the ocean really.
2. It will create more than 800 new work positions, something which is desperately needed in the region.
3. There are no claims of hosting a GP. The track will simply be homologated to hold F1 races as well. But there hasn’t been a single word from Greek organisers about hosting a GP in the near future.
4. This project began its conception back in 1998, and it was put back several times due to the economy, and to focus on other priorities.
The way I see it, this project holds much potential, and it seems like the developers have gone about it right, which is amazing considering Greece’s track record of mismanaged projects. As far as I understand, the scope is to hold races of smaller categories, slowly building up towards global events, and gaining a following within the country’s healthy amount of motorsports fans, and the many tourists flocking Greece every year. Once this has been achieved, and hopefully with the economy recovering in the next 5 years, then they’ll begin pondering over handing money to FOM.
In my opinion, this is the best way of going about it, and not just because of the economic situation. There’s been many racetracks being built under much pomp and celebration from prosperous countries , only for the developers to realise that there’s no following or interest in their region. Istanbul Park is living proof; great track and facilities, loved by drivers and journalists, and the cheapest tickets in Europe. How many people attended? That’s right.. But it’s easy for execs of developers to fall for the glitz FOM sells, and promises of world-wide acclaim coming from hosting a GP. Yeongam will surely be next to suffer the short-sightedness of its conceptors. One can’t simply throw tons of money at a project, and expect people to just flock out of nowhere; a progressive built up must take place towards building a following, just like any other entertainment business endeavour.
The way I see it, Greece has been plagued by bad economic decisions, and been Europe’s scapegoat for their financial shortcomings. The country is desperate for growth projects, as it is clearly obvious that cuts have failed to turn its fortunes around. To moan about this “costly project” is akin to complaining about a pimple when diagnosed with heart failure.
As a final note, I am not directing any blame towards this blog’s contributors; I just feel my words would get wasted on any other F1 related site.
As always, with utmost respect.
@manoli – At last – some one who understands and appreciates the situation. I on a GreeK island (not far from the proposed track by ferry) and I would also confirm your comments – Xalandritsa racetrack is a private initiative that had received grant aid much previously, due to the economics it was put on hold now it has been “released”. The first I heard about a GP here in Greece was on BBC radio (a typical 2 min. sports round up football, hockey, Ryder Cup etc….) and not via reliable motor sport sources and certainly not via Greek media. The 800 jobs are really needed as is good PR that could come out of this project.
OK, Greece has been plagued by bad economic decisions but it it not just a scapegoat for their financial shortcomings it has become a scapegoat for the EU/Eurozone’s financial shortcomings. Like many, we sincerely hope this project goes ahead and succeeds, Greece needs it, the economic benefits are needed and it might spur more “good” projects that will benefit the country. Don’t forget, being Grant Aided this project will have scrutiny not just from Greece but also from the Troika
I certainly dont “laugh at Greece” – I shake my head that they cooked the books, took the cash and didn’t work hard or smart enough to be able to pay it back. And now the general population suffer
I paraphrase, but you get the gist
‘The way I see it, Greece has been plagued by bad economic decisions.’
Stop the presses! LOL
The Greek bid sounds as likely as Donnington having a F1 race.
Putting the earthmovers on site at Donnington was a clever move to get Silverstone to show its hand, and it worked!
Building a circuit is one thing, hosting and thus paying the sanction fee, is quite something else. And even though building a Grade 1 track is no guaranty that F1 will come.
Sleep well and enjoy your trip, i am looking forward to your blogs from japan…
Jo,
In response to your comment (complaint) about not being able to get away from internet access, may I offer some advice about your upcoming trip to Austen, TX… Fly Delta; they haven’t, yet, managed to introduce in-flight wi-fi to their transatlantic planes… though I’m sure it’s coming!
Make the most of it while you can!
I suspect if you looked close enough, you would find that the IMF are behind this one.
Joe,
Something I’ve noticed as conspicuously absent from ANY discussion about F1 in Asia is the Korean GP. I’m going this year because I’m dead sure it’ll be the last one. I have lived in Korea for more than a decade.
Any thoughts, or is the race not worth the electronic “ink”?
I hear it will go for another two or three years