The recent post about Indianapolis kicked off quite a debate on the blog and it struck me that it might be an idea to look at where Formula 1 wants to be, where it can go in practical terms, and whow it could all be paid for, without undermining the international price of a race.
The first question that must be addressed is does F1 need America? Clearly then answer to this is no as we have gone many years without one in the past. Is it desirable to have a US Grand Prix? Yes, absolutely. The United States is still the world’s largest consumer market. It is the major market for automobiles and, despite the recession, there is money to spend. It is a mature market and people understand motor racing. The American are a nation that likes shows and fairs and in the right place – and at the right price – it could be a huge success.
So where is the right place? Indianapolis managed to pull in crowds but they were lost in the vastness of the place. It is clear that corporate America, and indeed the corporate world in general was not interested in being in Indiana. This is important for sponsorship dollars. Indianapolis is nice enough city, it has a great racing tradition, it is a brand, but it did not fit well with F1. It is much more a beer-and-hot-dog audience than the wine-and-prawn F1 set.
So where is better? There are a number of elements that need to be addressed when considering this. There are the good racing venues, but there must be analysed not as racing fans would do, but rather as to whether a race is sustainable in that region. If one looks at Europe, even the great Spa-Francorchamps struggles to survive because it is located in the wrong place. Spa needs government backing to survive. Is the US government going to pay for a race? No. Are there state governments or cities that might? Perhaps. But they need a good reason to do so. Thus if F1 is to make it in America, it needs either to be willing to make an investment, or it needs an area that has a reason to want F1.
Bernie Ecclestone has long dreamed of New York City. It is a great dream, but New York City does not need any more tourists. Its hotels are always well-filled. It does not need to alter its image. It is New York and F1 has nothing really to offer. Thus its value to the city is minimal. If, for example, there was a desire to revitalise an area of the city, to give it some glitz, then F1 might work but the revamping of the many docklands, old military bases and industrial lands has gone ahead without much F1 interest. NASCAR tried to build a speedway on the marshes of New Jersey and ran into trouble even there.
Elsewhere in the east there is potential if someone can be found to invest. If New York is impossible, Formula 1 would be happy with Miami, but again it is finding the right venue that is important. Running a race on the infield at Miami Homeland, for example would probably not be a bad idea and permanent venues, such as the Palm Beach International Raceway, which has a 2-mile road course, would require considerable investment. There might be potential for other venues in Virgina an the Carolinas, but the fear with these is finding spectators. The IndyCar event in St Petersburg, Florida, has been a big success but the track is too short for F1 and in any case there is a contract with IndyCar which runs until 2013. There is a tradition of racing in the downtown area that dates back to 1985, but after 1990 complaints about noise stopped the race until 2003.
As previously explained, the timing of the races is important for the live TV audiences – which is what sells a sport to the sponsors. The major audiences these days are in Asia and so F1 needs a time zone that will allow Asians to watch races, without having to get up in the middle of the night. Thus the West Coast is difficult. That would work if there were four or more races a year in the time zone (ie, two in America, one in Mexico, one in Canada and one in Brazil). This would create regional prime time interest and then more fans might watch the races in Europe and Asia. It is really a two-way equation. A US F1 race needs an audience in Asia and Europe and in order to grow the sport there need to be follow-up possibilities for fans. It would help to have a team and drivers, but one cannot hope for everything at the same time!
The West Coast has a number of great venues, some of which might work well for F1: Sears Point is within easy reach of San Francisco, the wine country of Sonoma and so on. It would be good, but the facility is a little basic in F1 terms. Laguna Seca would be terrific, but the same applies. The circuit needs better infrastructure. The Monterey Peninsular probably has the accommodation for the F1 circus, but it would not leave much room for fans. The area is close enough to the Bay Area to draw crowds but the roads could use improvement, but access from the south and Los Angeles is a long haul, unless there is some serious improvement done. Tourism is already the peninsula’s main industry. With the exception of Long Beach, I think Laguna is the one place that might work, but only if there was financial help from the region.
Long Beach would have been perfect for Formula 1, but when the opportunity to buy the race came up in 2005, Formula One did not move. That was a sign that the sport really had no interest in getting into the United States if that involved investing money. Instead the race was acquired by Kevin Kalkhoven and Gerald Forsythe, ensuring that the circuit would continue promoting US open-wheeler racing. In March 2008, the Grand Prix Association of Long Beach signed an agreement with the City of Long Beach to continue running races until 2015, with an additional five-year option. So F1 is locked out there. The price of that transaction was $15m, which is peanuts in the world of Formula One. To put that into perspective, for the year ending December 2008, the Long Beach Grand Prix’s turnover was $15.5m so the 2005 deal was a real bargain. And a huge opportunity lost for Formula 1.
The other project that has been discussed of late is one in the desert region to the south of Palm Springs where attempts are being made to build up tourism, mainly related to casinos, as California is losing much trade to Las Vegas. The plans have been plodding slowly along but it seems that funding is needed if the area is to get a Grand Prix and the state of California finances are not good.
Las Vegas has always attracted Bernie Ecclestone, because there is so much cash flowing about there, but all attempts to take racing into Vegas have flopped. The city exists to feed the casinos and anything that disrupts that business is bad for business. The only way that could work now was if a casino owner decided to put a race track inside of its facilities. The only man who might have done that was Steve Wynn, but he decided not to do that when he revamped the old Desert Inn golf course. That was an opportunity lost.
The Pacific North West might offer some kind of potential particularly as IndyCar has turned its back on Portland International Raceway. At under two miles this is really too short for F1 and has a crowd capacity of only 86,000, but there is room for expansion in the infield and it has the advantages of being a long established race, a well-located circuit and it even has a light rail station and freeway access next to the venue. The parkland setting means that it has the potential to develop in much the same way as Albert Park. The Portland metropolitan area boasts a population of two million and there is easy access to the cities of Seattle and Vancouver, just across the border in Canada. Portland is also known as a technology town, with the biggest employer being Intel and something like 1200 technology firms clustered there. In many ways, with enlightened government, Portland is perfect for Formula 1.
joeblogsf1 
A city circuit in down town Miami is quite possible. It has been done for Le Mans series few years ago. A town circuit like Monaco, Singapore. Why not? Miami has all it takes to welcome such an event
There’s nothing wrong with the location of Spa, but there’s a structural problem with the ticket prices, they’re outrageous.
There are 2 things that seems to be against the odds of Mr. E & FIA, being affordable ticket prices and on-track overtaking (rear wings, diffusers, etc.)
It is such a shame that Road America has fairly primitive facilities and is in the middle of nowhere. What a track!
New York would seem to be the answer but if Nascar struggled to go there, what price F1?
” … with enlightened government, Portland is perfect for Formula 1.” I’m sorry Joe, but this attitude gets up my nose. On what possible grounds can you justify public funding going into organising a GP? I know it happens all over the world, but that doesn’t autmatically make it morally acceptable. I think it is greatly to the Amercans’ credit that they refuse to hand over the tax-payer’s money to Bernie. Yes, yes, I know all about the benefits to the tourism industry that comes from hosting a GP (or the soccer world cup for that matter), but if that’s the case, then the tourism industry can put together the funding.
But to see a modern F1 car go through the corkscrew at Laguna Seca would be worth it!
It’s a pity Indy actually has a decent infrastructure (thanks to the 500), and the rest of the good tracks lack the essential left hand turns.. Oh well.
Interesting thoughts, Joe. I covered two ALMS rounds at Portland and always thought that the track (literally a drag strip with a winding return road) underutilised the ground it stands on. At the moment it’s like a less hilly version of Fuji Speedway; the question is, once all the supporting infrastructure for an F1 paddock and the support races is put in, would there be enought room for a more adventurous circuit layout and more grandstands? And would the locals stand for it? From memory, they’re a bit hippy-ish…
I like Portland. I’m confused by this preoccupation with having long Grand Prix tracks – let’s have some variety and throw some short ones in there too.
A sub-two mile track means a lot of traffic and hopefully no shortage of action.
The failure of USF1 can’t have helped. Anyone in the US thinking of promoting an F1 race cannot help but feel that the lack of support for F1 in the states was defined by this spectacular flop.
The US has always had it’s homegrown sports, often not found anywhere else. American football and baseball are almost unique to the US, at least at top level. Soccer has been gaining ground at junior level, but still at very senior levels it has found it hard going.
Much of it’s motorsport is unique to the US, defined by it’s can do mentality, and a desire to put on a show for the fans at a price they can afford. The exact antithesis of F1 in fact.
Look at how vritually all the drivers were absent from the grid in Bahrain because Bernie refused passes for their physios’, so hardly any driver interviews. Another classic PR mess. Rory Bremner had no trouble getting a pass though, maybe Eccle$tone thought he would do all the driver interviews for Brundle.
Venues in the USA?
There are merely two options….either Motown Detroit, plenty of space to build a track, all industrial areas are deserted and useless and a huge potential of spectators all week long, since unemployement is close to 100%, and last but not least, they have a habit of wasting money there and don’t care about environemental issues…
Second option ofcourse is skipping Mardi Gras in New Orleans and replacing it with a F1 event. It is completely unharvested territory, since the South has never been interested in racing and this suits the present situation in F1 perfectly. No racing, just well over 20 cars on a string that are spread out over the track after 10 laps and provide contineous action, just like the Mardi Gras parades.
Bartus(who is more than willing to give some additional free-of-too-much-charge marketing advice)
You mean wine a prawn crowds like Interlagos, and Silverstone? Guess again!
More like beer and cheese sandwichs.
@ Keith,
I believe it is in the regulations that track’s need to be at least 2.5 miles long. The only exemption to this is Monaco.
Wow. This is quite a statement. There is definitely a lot of potential here to get new audiences, but are we in Asia more major than, say, Europe? Also, why is it that this doesn’t translate into crowds at circuits, even at places like Sepang where the tickets are dirt-cheap?
But with 24 cars on the grid, this will also create a lot of lapping. Given that Bahrain actually added to their original circuit length to lessen lapping, I don’t see how F1 in general would decide to go the other way on this one.
Now I know why I’m always swimming against the tide – I’m the beer-or-wine-and-hot-dog-you-keep-the-shellfish set.
Indy is the only turn-key solution. Nobody here is going to invest significant money in F1. Sad but true.
Actually the best place that would draw the largest crowd by virtue of its location is where it always used to be – Watkins Glen. New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Montreal and Toronto all within driving distance and a much better and more challenging circuit than Portland or any of the F1 street circuits for that matter – how interesting have the races at Valencia and Singapore been so what is the point of replicating that in the US? The problem really isn’t the lack of a suitable venue or venue that could be made suitable the problem is the attitude of Formula One and I suspect the fact that Bernie Ecclestone wouldn’t own and financially control the event.
I live in Portland and I would LOVE to have the F1 circus make a stop here but there are movements to close the track since it is located in within the city and people who live near it are complaining about the noise. Importantly, not only are people complaining but they are getting allies on the city council and, unusually, the track is owned by the city of Portland.
On the plus side – as noted by Joe, there are many high-tech companies, good location to other dense population centers (Seattle and San Francisco), the course itself is close to the downtown area, the metro line literally drops you off at the entrance to the track and a high profile race race would be welcome since it currently does not host one.
Everything negative you say about Indianapolis as far as location would hold for Portland. It’d just be more amplified because the Pacific Northwest is more isolated than Indianapolis in the Heartland of the Midwest.
“New York would seem to be the answer but if Nascar struggled to go there, what price F1?”
New Yorkers by and large just flat out do not care for racing. I can’t see any race working there. NASCAR if they ever built their 3/4-mile on Staten Island would certainly have filled it just due to the population there on offer, but it’s not so much filling the track but getting the local media to pay attention, and they never have.
Since I can’t see Bernie going to a natural terrain American road course because it’s too far out in the sticks, the one that makes sense is a street event in Miami.
Indianapolis will host the NFL Super Bowl in 2012, and much has been done to bring the downtown lodging nearer to “Eccelstone Standards”, a lofty goal for sure. The new airport terminal has opened as well, which is quite remarkable. Suffice it to say Indy will be much better overall should F1 decide to return. There is no facility equal to IMS anywhere in the USA. The only other location I could see as even a remote possibility is Las Vegas, which would be a great fit, but would require massive investment in a currently weakened economy. If there is any hope of a Grand Prix event in the US this decade, it would have to be in Indianapolis for sure.
Nice article Jo,
So what about a night race in Hollywood to coincide with the launch of this new movie we are hearing about?
Sly Stallone as grand marshall of course and perhaps Arnie could drive the pace car (oops, sorry Safety Car!).
That would surely be showbiz enough for everyone.
Failing that Portland would be great I seem to remember ther being some good ChampCar races there in years gone by.
When it comes to F1 movies, I believe them when I see them…
Yeah, I vote PIR too. I have family over the Columbia in Washington and have visited the raceway twice whilst on visits. Nice venue, nice location, but would certainly need upgrading. The area certainly has the infrastructure to support plenty of visitors and the changeable weather woould certainly make things less predictable.
This is way out of left field, but New Orleans might be something to think about. Sure, it has a snowball’s chance in hell of actually happening. But the city seems to be recovering from Katrina, yet still has some ways to go. Tourism is a big part of its revenue and an international event like F1 would shine a very bright light on the city. It’s a southern city, but with an european/caribbean flair.
It would also make news countrywide as it would be a sign of how far the city has come along after only “5, 6, 7, 8” years after Katrina. It has the hotel and transportation ifrastructure. The government is looking for ways to attract visitors so there might be some money in it for FOM. Although I don’t think ANY city or state government in the US would shell out the kinds of sums the Montreal government is shelling out, for example.
Chicago is another place to think about. They’re always competing with NY and it’s not too far from Montreal.
Of course in either case it would have to be temporary street tracks, but that’s where Bernie seems to want to go anyways.
> I think it is greatly to the Amercans’ credit
> that they refuse to hand over the tax-
> payer’s money to Bernie.
Perhaps, but our football, baseball, and basketball “Supremos” have emptied those purses before Bernie could sneak his paws in for a grab.
Very few places in the US would be willing to consider the enormous fees F1 requires. Not to mention, very few Americans would be interested in seeing F1 “racing” over $200 a seat. That would buy you excellent NBA, NHL, MLB, College Basketball, College Football, NFL tickets.
Simply put, if Bernie and F1 wants to be in the U.S. they had better offer a hell of a deal to whichever promoter/municipality would be willing to take the risk to host it. And I don’t buy that Bernie would be afraid of offering a deal would create a domino effect with other markets since there are few others that are as attractive as the U.S.
Does Watkins Glen still exist? I’ve never seen it but in the Stewart era it always sounded a romantic place.
Otherwise a street circuit in one of the major US cities might be an attractive alternative Miami already having been mentioned.
From the outside looking in it always seems as though the US isn’t really interested in Formula 1 anyway and perhaps doesn’t want to be – after all their various headline motorsport series haven’t crossed the Atlantic to Europe (or at least not for many years)
Joe, IndyCar or rather ChampCar left Laguna a few years ago because the cars outgrew the track. Legendary as it may be, it’s too small and tight for fast open wheelers and would require considerable changes before being acceptable to F1.
Currently the only major series that visit are MotoGP and ALMS and its a damn shame because Northern California and the Bay Are have a strong road racing and European sports car tradition with huge numbers of Formula One fans residing within a few hours’ radius. Still, I pray to God it happens.
Keep up the outstanding work here on your blog.
Perhaps a good start would be to have an F1 Street Demonstration in New York?
The great circuits in America (Watkins Glen, Laugna Seca, Road America, Road Atlanta come to mind) are just way to far from any major audiences and would all require work on their facilities. And like you said, they’re more hot dog and beer than wine and cheese (classic!).
The one thing that’s always puzzled me is why people like Chad Hurley or George Lucas (big F1 fans) haven’t gotten involved. I guess they’re more interested in turning up at Monaco than helping at home.
The F1 fans in America are a really knowledgeable passionate bunch but what F1 really needs here is a way to educate potential fans about the beauty of F1. A lot of people I talk to here are intrigued by F1 and take a mild interest but aren’t willing to make the commitment of subscribing to SPEED channel or gettin gup at 7:30am all the time.
Is Long Beach really such a non-starter?
To the best of my (admittedly limited) knowledge Indycar racing isn’t in rude financial health, so if Bernie made a decent offer to buy the existing contract that Indycar has with Kevin Kalkhoven and Gerald Forsythe, he could then stage an F1 race at Long Beach.
Indycar would get some funds for their coffers and could easily find another venue to stage a replacement race.
Kalkhoven and Forsythe would still be fulfilling their contract with the City of Long Beach, perhaps to greater benefit for all concerned as F1 may be more of a draw than Indycar.
I realise it’s not likely to happen but it’s not completely outside the realms of possibility, is it?
Dear Joe,
I love your blog.
I live in the State of Rhode Island which is in between NYC and Boston. Rhode Island was the host to the Americas Cup races till 1983 and is in the running to host the next races. In the 1970’s the Navy pulled out of the state and left a huge base complex that sits on Narragansett Bay. Quansett Point has an up to date runway, marine docking, rail link and new highway access. There is more than enough space for F1/ NASCAR track. Rhode Island has, in it’s capitol Providence, very fine hotels and some of the finest restaurants on the East Coast. Newport as the former host city to the Americas Cup and current host to many yachting events/regattas is used to servicing wealthy visitors. The state is only about 40 miles long and 20 miles wide and is 3 hours from NYC and 1 hour from Boston.
“It is much more a beer-and-hot-dog audience than the wine-and-prawn F1 set.”
“In many ways, with enlightened government, Portland is perfect for Formula 1.”
It’s stuff like that, that make me miss CART all the more. It had the cars and the drivers, without the attitude…
It has got nothing to do with how F1 views itself. It is a reality. There is no point in kidding yourself otherwise.
Timo Glock’s demo laps in the Toyota proved that Laguna just isn’t enough track for a modern F1 car. Being a North West native I’d love to see the circus come to Portland. The track would need a complete overhaul and a serious expansion…it’s a club level facility at best.
Don’t be fooled though, Portland is a very small city with some extremely vocal fringes…getting public money for a car race would be almost impossible.
Palm Beach International Raceway? You’re kidding, right? That dump is not even worth a mention as an inadequate alternative. It’s a mosquito-infested reclaimed swamp, with the occasional alligator crawling around the pits.
I used to live about 10 Km down the road. Horrible, nasty, godforsaken place. For a few years it hosted a 3rd-rate Ferrari historic race, hosted by a gigolo from (nearby) Jupiter Island using his wife’s considerable fortune. Other than that, the place is largely abandoned.
It is perfect, however, in one respect. It is dead-flat enough to (in theory) host yet another mind-numbingly boring Tilkedrome.
Next time you’re in Florida, Joe, I suggest you go there and actually see the place. But wear high boots (protection against rattlesnakes) and bring a shotgun in case a gator comes after you.
JBUSA
As I said. It is all theory.
How about somewhere North of New York. Rhode Island, New Hampshire maybe. The yachting community has cash, that part of the US has cash swilling about. Possibly a Monaco for North America. New Hampshire speedway has a 1.6 mile 12 turn road course.
I happen to love that part of the world as well…
I am glad that you mentioned pacific northwest!! There is a huge F1 following there and a wonderful tradition of motorsport more similar to Europe’s then the rest of the US especially the south and middle of the country
Joe,
The solution “IF” Bernie wants the USA is Indy. And Bernie knows that now Max is gone he has to at a minimum to make the right noises about the USA to keep the teams (at least the ones that sell road cars in the USA, Mercedes, McLaren, Ferrari) happy. The other teams with sponsors in or trying to get into the USA also have a dog in the hunt too. Bernie is aware without Max to get up those teams noses and keep them distracted he has to do more about the USA. B
ernie may want a high end, high roller location for appearances BUT the races have always been kept solvent by the beer and hot dog crowd, unless Governments pumped in the money to make up for the lack of a crowd! F1 did not need to do a deal in the past couple of years because a LOT of Government money was taking races to locations with no crowds. That gravy train is drying up from the recession. Not completely, but enough that Bernie is smart enough to want to open a route back to the USA and a location where enough people will turn up to pay the promoter enough money to make it worthwhile to run there. So open the door in public and hope the Indy folks call and say OK we are interested. Problem for Bernie is the contact he had (Tony George) is gone so starting that discussion is going to be hard. So why not get the media to help pave the way.
Michelin we are told may come back after Bridgestone. Who says the price for F1 is not restoring the reputation of Michelin in the USA after the big screw up at Indy in the past; in which Michelin took way too much heat for its role in the whole sad affair. Again Max want crazy and did not think past his own self interest and pushing others around to show he was in charge. So don’t underestimate the power of the only tire game in town! And Bernie will do a lot to avoid paying for a tire supply! He would rather sit in the stands with the Beer and Hotdog crowd than loose that bit of prestige!
Been to Silverstone GP a lot, been to most of the USGP’s at Indy, Indy has the facilities, local hotels etc and was better value for money, so for regular fans it was a great location. Beats Silverstone and I love that place, for many reasons, but not for the logistics of a weekend away!
So I suspect that a three year deal for Indy will pop up soon unless several high paying new locations can generate enough money for Bernie to find a deal to keep the pesky teams quiet about the USA and someone other than Michelin to supply tires, and Goodyear would want a US Race! So this could be more complex than has been discussed here to date!
“…NASCAR tried to build a speedway on the marshes of New Jersey and ran into trouble even there….”
Actually it was Staten Island, an already over populated burb of NYC with some open space where a land fill was completed. The problem was he population density and access to the venue. Staten Island has only a few bridges to NJ and Brooklyn and ferry service to Manhattan. the one major highway, I-278, is overcrowded 24X7.
The Meadowlands in NJ where the Giant and Jets football teams have their stadium would make sense for NASCAR, but I don’t believe they entertained that location.
I’m going to assume Joe is either glossing over some details or simply doesn’t know, so for the record:
“but the revamping of the many docklands, old military bases and industrial lands has gone ahead without much F1 interest. NASCAR tried to build a speedway on the marshes of New Jersey and ran into trouble even there.”
First, I’d be interested in which particular “docklands, old military bases and industrial lands” have been realistically considered. I can’t think of any that are suitably large, not already designated parkland (with EPA issues), or near neighbors who would complain about the noise and traffic.
Corona Park and the old Expo grounds are the only possibility. You could work with the MTA to get folks out there via subway and bus. It’s in the Laguardia flight path so noise might not be an issue.
But… NASCAR tried twice to build near the city with no results: the Meadowlands and Staten Island. Not going to happen.
“Sears Point [Infineon Raceway] is within easy reach of San Francisco, the wine country of Sonoma and so on. It would be good, but the facility is a little basic in F1 terms.”
True. Of the candidates, probably the most likely west coast venue to be upgraded, assuming space is available for expansion. But it’s a goodly drive from civilization and there’s no public transport at all.
“Laguna Seca would be terrific, but the same applies. The circuit needs better infrastructure.”
Actually the infrastructure is pretty good by US standards, having been updated for MotoGP and ALMS. But I don’t think it has suitable runoff for F1 and there’s no further room for expansion. The track is completely surrounded by parkland, and Californians are touchy about that stuff.
“The other project that has been discussed of late is one in the desert region to the south of Palm Springs…”
Wait! You think Indianapolis is dull and in the middle of nowhere, but you imagine the paddock elite would get a kick out of rural Coachella valley. I’m guessing you haven’t visited one of our fantastic indian casinos yet… Hahahahahahahahaha!
“Las Vegas has always attracted Bernie Ecclestone, because there is so much cash flowing about there, but all attempts to take racing into Vegas have flopped.”
NASCAR pulls it off somehow. You’d think these days, with traffic down due to the economy, Vegas would welcome any tourism draw. Could it be the problem lies on the F1 side of the equation?
“The Pacific North West might offer some kind of potential particularly as IndyCar has turned its back on Portland International Raceway.”
Nope. The track is already under attack from neighbors and is pretty much only used for amateur racing and club events these days. It’s a nice enough venue for sports cars, but far too small for big-bore racing. There’s absolutely no room to expand, and the pit facilities make those old ’60s photos of Silverstone look plush. I can only imagine what Bernie would say about it…
You’re also talking some pretty vast distances between Vancouver, Seattle, and Portland, much less populated points south of that.
And we haven’t even considered whether any of these venues would contribute to good racing — passing opportunities and such.
Backing up for a minute…
“Is the US government going to pay for a race? No. Are there state governments or cities that might? Perhaps. But they need a good reason to do so.”
Again, no. California is broke. Florida and New Jersey are, basically, broke as well. So no municipal money is going to be available even if it was a good idea. Hey, I’m a racing fan, but if someone in NY wanted to build a track on the state’s dime, I’d raise an unholy racket about our crumbling city infrastructure.
You also need to realize that, in the political landscape, the US seems to be in the midst of a battle between doing pretty much nothing to create jobs and actually reducing the size and fiscal efficacy of government. Maybe if you found a senior senator who would trade F1 infrastructure earmarks for a vote on healthcare reform….
Now, I don’t like being so negative about this stuff, so let me offer some positive points:
1. Watkins Glen is no less developed than any other top venue in the US and is situated in a somewhat remote but very tourist-oriented part of New York. It’s no farther from NYC than Portland is from Seattle.
2. Sebring and Daytona both host world-class events and can accommodate lots of teams, equipment, and fans. Near Orlando and the beaches, not too far from Miami, and they know how to host hundreds of thousands of tourist visitors several times a year. I personally would love to see F1 people get involved with the Rolex 24 as a run-up to the new season.
3. Road Atlanta. Nice track with some recent expensive updates. Atlanta is a relatively cosmopolitan and wealthy area.
4. New Jersey Motorsport Park or Monticello Motor Club. If an unbuilt Palm Springs facility is a candidate, then why not two well-designed club tracks within two-hours driving (or a quick heli trip) of NYC?
5. Don’t dismiss VIR. It’s a beautiful facility and has all kinds of runoff for safety. Not particularly near anything, but a short helicopter ride to DC, Raleigh-Durham, and Charlotte, where there is money, motorsport, and more importantly, people with power.
And on a slightly tangential subject… if there were interest in building enthusiasm for F1 in North America — let’s include Canada and Mexico, the biggest economic block in the world combined — they probably could have done something useful with the now-defunct Formula Atlantic series as a feeder.
But let’s be honest. It’s all about putting money in the pockets of Bernie/FOM/CVC. Chad Hurley aside, it seems few Americans are foolish enough to do that without an obvious benefit in return. That’s the problem to be solved first.
Joe, I recall you mentioning at one time the teams themselves promoting a US event. Was that idle speculation, or was there a germ of action behind those thoughts?
As a Portlander, the idea is music to my ears. But I find it very unlikely that local government would be able to provide the finding to both make the improvements Bernie would require and also line his pockets to the level he desires. It’s a great track in a beautiful setting and it’s provided some fantastic Indy Car races.
Keith, it’s in the FIA regulations; Appendix O to the International Sporting Code. To be sanctioned for F1 racing a track has to be longer than 3.5 km (a little over 2 miles).
The Miami Homestead track using the infield circuit is far too “Mickey Mouse” for F1. Think Daytona 24 Hours, but shorter and simpler. Totally unsuitable.
As for a street race in downtown Miami, that possibility no longer realistically exists. Yes, there have been ALMS and Cart?Indy car races here several years ago, but downtown development and construction of new buildings and park reconstruction now make much of the temporary circuit that was used for those races permanently unavailable. And those circuits were nowhere remotely close to F1 street circuit standards. Much to my chagrin, because as I sit here typing in my office, I overlook much of that street circuit, and was able to watch those races from my office….
Well, I hate to burst any bubbles, but I live in Portland, Oregon & I doubt sincerely that F1 will get any assistance out this way.
I would LOVE to be wrong…..but we’re more towards the tree-hugging side of the road, than building up the track any further.
Portland International Raceway (PIR) is owned by Paul Allen, don’t know where he ranks in relation to Bill Gates, but he was the *other* founder of Microsoft. I’m sure he could throw down the money if he really wanted to. But like Stuart C pointed out a few posts above, the track really isn’t all that much. There is no paddock to speak of & no permanent pit facilities.
The last two nails in this coffin is that the track is built close to a wetlands preserve. There’s no way that any expansion that would make the track worthwhile would receive approval. Also, some of the locals have complained of noise levels in the last few years that the CART / ALMS races were in town.
Again, I’d love for someone to pass on this site & these updates to Paul just to see if he could prove me wrong. I’d love to stay local & see my first F1 race. I’m just realist enough to know better.
Thank you for thinking about us though!!
It was not based on anything but logic…
Portland is too short – it’s under the minimum for a Grade 1T in the FIA’s (not Bernie’s, the FIA’s) rules.
Joe, you mentioned the viewers being in Asia. That seems surprising, but entirely possible (bearing in mind the time difference gives them artificially good times). Would I be right in saying that they’re more focused in Japan rather than countries like Malaysia and India?
I think the US GP should be restored as a priority. The issue is finding a venue – Las Vegas would be a good option for an attempt I suppose, but they would need to cite the race in a good location. Bear in mind that Vegas is the largest city in the US without an NFL, NBA or NHL team.
Bernie toys with us so adeptly. Joe is right, when Bernie says he is negotiating with Indianapolis, it means he is definitely doing something else. His statement doesn’t cause the slightest rise of hope in my mind, and I could walk to the track from my folks house!
(Using words likes “folks”, by the way, is surely another example of the beer-and-hotdog crowd we Hoosiers are, and we’ve never seen a prawn except on television food shows.)
Whatever F1 does, wherever in the U.S. or world they go to next, please please please do not be a street circuit. A permanent road course wide enough to pass in a turn – how I wish the racing were as important as the economics and politics!
I’m a Portlander myself and I has always considered Laguna Seca as the west coast’s best bet for a USGP (after a facility upgrade of course). Portland is an interesting choice and I actually hadn’t thought of PIR as a venue even though I live a couple miles away from the track.
But now that you mention it, it’s a great idea. Portland has been considered one of the most “European” cities in the US with it’s mass transit, foodie and cafe culture. It could go over very well with the F1 crowd.
The only things that I could see a potential problems are Portland’s lack of money for building improved racetrack facilities and that there is a pretty big environmental movement up here so there would probably be some ‘green’ resistance to a GP in Portland. Nevertheless I’d love to see it here.
I will come out again to second Laguna Seca. The Red Bull folks have done a bumper job of moving crowds around for Moto GP, through the use of shuttle buses. There are adequate hotels located nearby. For years everyone in F1 traipsed to Magny-Cours, which (from what I hear) is bereft of decent lodgings.
Champ Car/Indycar tried street races all over the country, with little resonance. Watching cars point and squirt across a series of 90 degree angles holds no interest for American fans. But an F1 race on a gorgeous flowing track, just 90 minutes from one of the most cosmopolitan cities in America? Easy case to be made for it…(yes, I am from San Francisco, so am biased).
It is often said on this blog (which I love) that F1 needs to remember its history when selecting circuits. Aside from Watkins Glen and Indianapolis, few contemporary circuits hold as much history as Laguna Seca.
There are only two permanent tracks in the USA that are suitable for F1 cars, Watkins Glen and Road America (Elkhart Lake)
Watkins Glen? been there done that, but might be worth a second look if you have the money to improve it to suitable F1 levels. Just then got to find the money to support the cost of getting BCE to put on the race.
Road America? Same comments as Watkins Glen, its really a drag strip up one side and back down the other and is really dangerous for quick cars. I just can’t see Bernie camping and eating brots, but who knows!
Road Atlanta is a very dangerous joke for hi performance cars and despite what has been written, the current owner won’t spend any money to improve it and it cant hold enough people to make it viable, its a club track.
Lets face it, there are no tracks in the USA that are suitable for modern F1. And that’s before you start looking for the money to host it.
There are only three places in the USA that could provide the structure for a street race, New York, Las Vegas and Miami.
Las Vegas, been there done that and F1 is way to late to that dance.
New York, for all of the reasons that have been written about it, good luck!
Miami? Now you just might have a chance if you found a way to co host it with Bernie and the teams.
The only way to get a F1 race in the USA is to arrange a race in Cuba (Havana) then, and only then, will you get the attention here in the USA that such an event would require for it to take place.
I live near Portland as well, and there’s no way the citizens would go for it. They hate the noise, even though the track has been around much longer than the neighborhoods it annoys. In fact I was present last fall for the first 24hr race there in 40-something years and even though the cars were street cars with enforced low-90s dB limits, they still got enough complaints to shut down any future 24hr races (somehow the late-night drags have not been shut down though). The track, parking infrastructure, grandstands, and paddock especially would also need massive improvements.
I would love to see it though. The fact that Joe considers it a possible venue makes me pretty darn excited.
Joe.. I love your vast knowledge about American tracks and cities.. Being from NYC I must say taht it would be one of the most amazing spectacles in the world to see and F1 race there… but seriously would never ever happen. Doesn’t the Glen already have a Grand Prix Circuit?? It is owned by the France family and I have heard of bad mojo between Bernie and the Frances..
Now on the other coast(where I reside now) LA would be a good spot. I could see a track out near Palm Springs, but something to consider is that California Motor Speedway is seriously getting a look at from NASCAR after the piss poor attendance record from the past few races.. Now I know NASCAR fans are well.. I can say it.. less sophisticated while F1 fans a bit more glamour and bourgeois, so maybe F1 would appeal more to the Los Angeles type..
I love Laguna, but I can’t see it working there..
Sear Point would be a great one too!
But I will have to agree.. Portland may be the best.
I don’t believe that attendance really needs to be an issue for a US F1 race……
“if you build it, they will come”
I have to reneg on my comment about Portland,
A further look into it states that
there does seem to be a bit of squabbling from the neighbors..
Oh well..
But I will say that in response to a comment from Terry about Palm Springs..
Man The Coachella Valley is booming… and in my view not only because of the Casinos.. You have 2 HUGE music festivals they each get between 90,000-160,000+.. So there is infrastructure, hotels, resorts, golf courses, there is public transport.. albeit limited..
Palm springs has really made a come back in the past decade, it is once again becoming the “cool” getaway..
it is freaskishly hot there in the summer though… un godly… hot…
The US is simply too big for just one F1 race per year. One race per year barely scratches the surface of the marketing and revenue potential. Compare it to Europe where, because F1 has many races there per year, the marketing effort pays off.
My suggestion: Do a month-long F1 tour through the States, Triple Crown style, like they do with the horse racing. One on the West Coast, one at Indy, and one on the East Coast. Get the drivers on the talk shows, flaunt the pit babes, team up with a beer company (I think Champagne is banned in most states :-), etc. Then you’re talking interest, sustainability, and most importantly, money.
But whatever anyone suggests or dreams, remember that Bernie always demands total control (especially over the money), and given the Americans’ history of having to save Europe from its own dictators and despots, they are leery of short, cocky European dictators like Bernie. Make that any dictator or despot!
Bernie, on the other hand, seems to get along well with dubious heads of state who all too willing to raid the state coffers on his behalf.
Perhaps one day, in the era that will hopefully follow the current dictatorship of F1.
My brother and I went to Indy in 2007, we live in Vancouver, the flight was cheap. It seems to me the city has the fancy hotels for the rich (Joe if the prawn set are needed to feed a GP race, is it not the race weekend @ the track that they are in town for, not every race has a Monaco to blow their riches over the weekend on)
It has the hotels for the hoi polloi (like me), the tix were affordable. The tickets were cheap. I went to Spa in ’91 and it was $300.00 then.(crazy)
The facility was marvelous, such history just walking to to track, the museum is amazing. The crowd seemed to be huge.
I don’t get it, why do so many run the USGP @ Indy down.
F1mikey again,
I agree that Indianapolis was fine for me as well, but the money people don’t like it. And they are the ones who make the decisions.
End of story.
Also I’ve been to Portland numerous times.
A GP there…hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaaha!
Not in a million years!
f1mikey,
I used to say the same thing about Magny-Cours. You have to use a little imagination and ask: what could this be? Not, the rather more negative approach of “this can never be”.
Joe,
You mention that Sears Point is “a little basic” in F1 terms. You’re greatly understating the meagerness of US road courses.
There’s not a -Single- existing dedicated US road course that wouldn’t be seen as an EMBARRASSING step backwards for F1. Not only is there nothing close to what’s offered by Bahrain and Abu Dhabi, there’s nothing nearly as good as the regularly slated and dated Silverstone.
While we do have a few amazing natural terrain road courses, the facilities at those venues are 1970’s era or worse. I’ve been to many of them, I’ve driven some of them. Fun to drive, -far- too narrow for F1, -far- too little runoff for F1, far, FAR too UNSAFE for F1.
The money required to bring a Sears Point, Laguna Seca, Watkins Glen, Road Atlanta, Mid Ohio, VIR, or Road America, up to F1 safety standards would run into the tens of millions, that’s before building up a minimum of F1 facilities. Keep in mind, most of those tracks don’t even have covered paddocks. Some are miles away from the nearest highway and almost none have adequate parking for an F1 crowd.
This is why F1 talk -always- returns to Indy. It really is the only show in town.
Indy stands alone in a number of ways. It’s the only place that can accommodate F1 cars, service F1’s massive crowds and pass F1’s safety tests while having reasonably modern (if not extravagant) F1 facilities.
It’s true that some Nascar ovals might be similarly re-purposed to serve F1, each would require massive investment in infield paddock structures. Given Indy’s money-losing F1 experience, I just can’t see the Nascar boys paying for F1 paddocks.
All that said, I never attended the Indy race and wouldn’t attend it now. I prefer to travel much further to a nice venue like Montreal. Indy has the goods, but it’s a really bad location. Of course, if Bernie offered Indy a deal allowing the venue a meaningful profit, they’d probably take it in an instant.
If Bernie wants an US F1 race, he’d be best served to arrange a street race in some east coast or west coast city. He can’t have NYC, but he could almost certainly get a lesser, nearby city. The kicker is that I don’t think Bernie could easily find a promoter for such an event. I suspect he’d either have to promote it himself or fund the promotion.
Bernie using his *own* money to promote an event? No, I don’t see it happening either. Neither do I see a USGP happening until the teams FORCE him to put a USGP on the schedule.
Bottom Line: I think the current talk of a USGP is really nothing more than Bernie laying to ground to report to the teams that he tried to get a US venue, he “really” did.
Random,
I know that US tracks are pretty basic. I was simply comparing them.
one more then I will stop posting…
http://www.wilsonmotorsport.com/public_html/code/popups/nygp.htm
“It is much more a beer-and-hot-dog audience than the wine-and-prawn F1 set.”
Well that’s the problem joe. As much as I love F1, race fans here in the U.S. are the beer and hot dog crowd, We like the fact that NASCAR has the drivers do things to interact with the fans. The F1 drivers act they are heads of state and don’t want to mingle with the serfs unless they paid $8000 or more to sit with “wine and prawn set”.
There is no way that the Federal, State, or Local governments are going to pay for a F1 race. Well not at those prices and limited to what they can do with the track on other weekends. Now if they could get the IRL, ALMS, NASCAR, GRAND-AM, MOTOGP etc. series to race there then maybe that might work, but i don’t see Bernie letting that happen or the other series that compete against each other doing that also.
I’ve solved this problem for you Joe! See the following post on my blog from last summer about Boston…
http://crumplezoneblog.blogspot.com/2009/08/modest-proposal.html
The American are a nation that likes shows and fairs and in the right place – and at the right price – it could be a huge success.
I think there is more to be taken from this sentence that it seems when first read.
America is very entreprenuerial. Lots of fortunes have been made in America. Made by providing a good product, more often than not at a fair price (however, please excuse my guffaws when it comes to the subject of static analysis tool pricing, coverity, klocwork).
America knows what its populace think is the fair and reasonable price to attend a race. Sure, there is a range of prices, but none of them come near the stratospheric prices that F1 charges.
And there is the rub. The rest of the world, rather stupidly in my opinion, doesn’t say “no” and forego F1 until the prices become sensible, they cave in and then force races to be run at a loss or force them to be run at barely break-even while the “punters” pay through the nose to have an inferior view than I have from my armchair or computer screen.
Good Business is win-win. That means the producer receives a price that allows them to run their business at a fair profit. And it means the consumer gets (a lot) more value from the product than the cash they paid for the product. I’ve used that dreaded term “fair”, which means many things to many people. Most people know what it means, something in the order 5% to 40% depending on your business, the cyclical nature of it, repeat business etc.
Unfortunately Bernie seems to think fair means a number much larger than that. Not quite sure of the number he thinks of, but I’m reasonably sure its way larger than 100%. And the worst part is that only Bernie/CVC really make any money, every one else is just pushing money up the chain until it reaches Bernie/CVC.
That isn’t good business, that is win-lose.
No wonder the USA is not interested in F1. And, until things change, they never will be.
The correct way to get F1 into America is to reduce F1 hosting charges worldwide to a level where all participants (circuits, promoters, race going fans, concessionaires, advertisers) benefit from the fees charged.
If F1 does arrive in America, I’d like to see it in Leguna Seca. Corkscrew!
I believe it is in the regulations that track’s need to be at least 2.5 miles long. The only exemption to this is Monaco.
In that case they should remove the exemption. I can’t wait until Monaco (the most boring track) is off the calendar. It’ll never happen. Terrible shame.
Red Andy
Keith, it’s in the FIA regulations; Appendix O to the International Sporting Code. To be sanctioned for F1 racing a track has to be longer than 3.5 km (a little over 2 miles).
3.5km is a little under 2 miles.
1 mile == 1.6km.
3.5km is a little under 2 miles.
1 mile == 1.6km.
Oh bollocks! Thats what happens when you read blogs AND read beer 🙂
Apologies.
Palm beach raceway in no way could host a GP. Seeing the comment from Stuart C above, his description of Portland (literally a drag strip with a winding return road) sounds exactly like PBR as PBR is a winding return road built around the old Moroso dragstrip.
Also, while Sebring hosts a “world class” event (this weekend actually) it’s a dump with no garages. It’s on an old airstrip where the track is like driving on a two lane road with concrete on each side with no runoff. The whole place looks like most of the facilities are 60 years old with some new bldgs scattered around.
Homestead is a nice new track at least.
My response to this blog post was too long to share here, so I put it on my blog. (LINK: http://www.racingeagles.com/2010/03/joe-saward-bring-formula-one-to-portland-international-raceway.html)
As a person living in Pacific Northwest, I would love to have a race. However, I think it is almost impossible.
I think Bernie brings this up every once in a while to give a carrot to public and media that he might do the right thing for once. He never does though. I have no hope for Formula One in the United States as long as Bernie and CVC are in charge.
F1 will have a hard time gaining access to the Homestead-Miami Speedway. The track is owned by the ISC (International Speedway Corporation), a NASCAR controlled company. I don’t think the France family, Mike Helton and Nascar will make it easy for Bernie & CVC to gain a foothold in the U.S. market, especially in their own backyard or tracks.
Wherever F1 ends up racing in the USA, Bernie & CVC (Like it or not) needs to Americanize their product. And most important of all, F1 needs to maintain a permanent and large presence in the country. Plus, they will need to effectively clash with the 200 lb Gorilla, known as NASCAR – a series that’s filled with American race teams (sponsored by Fortune 500 companies) and American drivers.
You also need to consider that F1 is way too European. As much as I love F1, it will always be viewed in the same light as Soccer (Futbol) in the USA – a global sport but viewed as too European, filled with exotic names, funny accents, and boring races with little passing.
Plus in America, there’s way too many sporting alternatives competing for sporting dollars. The USA has multiple sporting organizations that spend BILLIONS in marketing to compete for entertainment dollars (NFL, NASCAR, NBA, NCAA, MMA, ETC). These multi-BILLION dollar sporting organizations (in a single nation) have massive advertising campaigns that’s unrivaled to the rest of the world. Given this heavy dose of sporting competition, Bernie and CVC needs more than the SpeedTV channel or an ad in the USA TODAY to promote a single race. And we need to remember, F1 is a traveling circus that’s only held ONCE A YEAR in most countries.
CA State Hwy 68 goes from Hwy 101 (Salinas – the Lettuce Capital) to Monterey; Laguna Seca is located on the two-laned Hwy 68 – it’s only access. There is NO WAY Hwy 68 can handle all the trafic an F1 event would bring…no way.
Monterey/Seaside/Carmel residents would scream bloody murder at the thought of their only access east being clogged-up with long lines of traffic. CA could always widen Hwy 68……rotflmao…….uh no.
Besides the residents have a very strict db restriction imposed on Laguna.
Laguna is out.
John
When money is dangled over a region, sometimes things change. Nothing is ever out until it is out!
F1 will never race at the Homestead-Miami Speedway. The track is controlled by the ISC (International Speedway Corporation), a NASCAR controlled company, that owns many tracks across the USA (Watkins Glen, Daytona, etc).
I don’t think the France family, Mike Helton or Nascar will make it easy for Bernie & CVC to gain a foothold in the U.S. market, especially in their own backyard or tracks. Plus, NASCAR is already meeting the needs of mainstream USA with their American race teams, sponsored by Fortune 500 companies, along with American drivers & colorful personalities.
Wherever F1 ends up racing in the USA, Bernie & CVC (Like it or not) will need to Americanize their product. And most important of all, F1 needs to maintain a permanent and large presence in the country.
You also need to consider that F1 is way too European. As much as I love F1, it will always be viewed in the same light as Soccer (Futbol) in the USA – a global sport but viewed as too European, filled with exotic names, funny accents, and boring races with little passing.
Plus in America, there’s way too many sporting alternatives competing for sporting dollars. The USA has multiple sporting organizations that spend BILLIONS in marketing to compete for entertainment dollars (NFL, NASCAR, NBA, NCAA, MMA, ETC). These multi-BILLION dollar sporting organizations (in a single nation) have massive advertising campaigns that’s unrivaled to the rest of the world. Given this heavy dose of sporting competition, Bernie and CVC needs more than the SpeedTV channel or an ad in the USA TODAY to promote a single race. And we need to remember, F1 is a traveling circus that’s only held ONCE A YEAR in most countries.
Joe,
The 2 best tracks we have in the US are probably Barber Motorsports Park in Alabama and Miller Motorsports Park in Utah but I’m fairly sure both of them are not the sort of locale required for F1.
I forwarded your article to some friends here in Portland, who are all enthusiasts and a few club racers and many of them echo what is being said here – no way. Massive money would need to be spent to upgrade the facilities and the environmental Green ethos is much more prevalent than the other Green ($$) ethos around here.
But if you know something we don’t…..?
Awhile ago there was some talk of Miami-Homestead being considered for WTCC. Would be interesting to see what becomes of that.
As for a US GP, there is no suitable venue apart from Indy. A street circuit may work if properly done but then again Valencia looked good on paper too.
I’d personally rather see GPs in Argentina, Mexico and South-Africa. All countries have great motor racing heritage and races there would bring F1 closer to being truly global, rather than the Eurasian series it is increasingly becoming.
+1 for Miami!
Just take a look at it, it’s the most European US city! You can see Vespas & lots of EU cars, then you have lots and lots of Latin drivers, there’s lots of karting going on there… and of course it’s more like a resort!
Quite a popular resort & the local music scene is ever growing, it’s may be the most Euro like US scene:)
In a couple of days there will be the Winter Music Conference, which is an event attracting lots of young party people from all over the world like Ibiza.
It will be an awesome mix, an F1 opener in March @ European Prime time and let’s face it – the helicopter shots from the Miami beach will be the best!
I went to the first and a majority of the USGP races. I had no problem with Indianapolis, having last been there for the Johnny Lightning race cars (Al Unser Sr).
Indy is within easy travel distance of anyone east of the Mississippi – It’s an easy day drive from Atlanta, e.g.
Forget the talk of rubes, etc and just look at the attendance. Does it cover costs? Is it going up? Tony George gave me two extra tickets in the grandstand near the start/finish line as penance for the tire follies race. Seen that from any other promoter? Bernie sure wouldn’t…
@Joe I think you could say the same for the entire problem. America is “fine for me as well, but the money people don’t like it. And they are the ones who make the decisions.”
I’m going to crack open a beer and grill a brat. You’re welcome to join me.
🙂
@ Leigh O’Gorman
So change the regulations then!
Joe, with all respect m8 there was NOTHING wrong with Indianapolis. It always brought in huge crowds, is so very rich in racing heritage (is there any richer on earth?), has infrastructure in every level, PLUS always gave us a great race to boot!
But no, Bernie wanted the $$ and good for the Owners at IMS told him to take his race and get stuffed. Races should not have to be subsidized by local governments, period.
I have been to races in Europe and at Indy, and believe it or not it’s “Hot dogs and beer” that 99.99% of the paying public want, not champagne and prawns, or whatever the quote was.
Once again it’s a question of merchandising and figuring out what the public’s needs are to keep F1’s popularity intact……
An excellent article by Joe Saward and an interesting set of replies. Good reading at a great price!
I would like to point out that there already are Formula One cars running on a road course here in Northern California. Of course the cars are several decades old, but they look and sound wonderful. The track is of course Infineon/Sears Point for the annual two day meeting of the “Sonoma Historical Motors Festival”. The cars are a delight to see and a nice challenge to photograph, both in the paddock and on the race course. And the fields are large-upwards of 20 historic F1 cars from various eras last May. The cars run on the full course, not just the shorter NASCAR course, and the downhill carousel gives a nice opportunity to catch these cars at speed.
Of course this is the heart of the “wine and cheese” country for that crowd-which defines many of those living in this area.
In addition to the Formula One cars (many owned by the successful entrepreneurs of nearby Silicon Valley), there are various other classes of interesting racing cars to be seen. My guess is that Formula One fans will also enjoy the historic Can-Am racers, which included a full field of such beauties as McLaren M8s, Lola T-163s, and various others (including a “McLeagle”). The sound of a full field of these big bangers accelerating into the uphill turn one is beyond belief. (Only an over-flight of Spitfires or Mustangs could sound better!)
Hope to see some F! fans there this June-I will be the grey haired fellow with a Nikon D300 and 75-300 mm lens up at turn two, still enjoying trying to catch a panned shot of race cars at speed. The goal for this year is to get some more shots of the Ferrari T-312.
You fill the race park with the “hotdog and beer” crowd but the crowd BE is entertaining is the “Champers and prawn” folks. They have the long term money that keeps F1 moving along. They are the big dollar sponsors and thier cohorts. They don’t find Indy all that enticing. The track’s fine, the racing is fine, the wining & dining not so much.
America is not the place to go to get gov’t funding for a private enterprize either.
BE has been turning F1 into something akin to the Olympics and cities/states around the world have been swollowing this bated hook for some time now. F1 is over-priced on all fronts , from team expenditures to event costs. because it wants to be and because they can get gov’ts to pay. It’s all unfortunate, they’ve priced themselves out of north America. Montreal gets a race for political reasons. That town can’t afford to it’s own rent.
I must admit though, it’s a great place to see F1.
Just to add a further comment to this, I listened to an Indianapolis-based radio show on auto racing from Thursday this week, Trackside at http://www.1070thefan.com/trackside/ . It’s predominantly based on Indycars but a reader sent in an email asking about Bernie maybe talking with Indianapolis and the USGP returning. The Indycar/Speedway beat reporter on the show that works for the local paper and has sources inside the Speedway said “B.S.” He went back to the money kickback that Bernie requires, and since Tony George has been kicked out of power of the company by his sisters due to excessive spending, the current leadership of Indianapolis Motor Speedway would be even less likely to spend massive amounts of money on F1.
joe – you say your story isn’t based on anything but logic. Yet the facts dictate that the USGP/Indy was the highest or 2nd highest-attended GP per season.
You indicate that the crowds were “lost” in the vastness of the IMS. Who cares? Since when is that a measurement of success?
The only reason there isn’t a USGP Indy isn’t because it wasn’t fan supported, but because Bernie asks too much $. Being British, I’d think you’d at least understand that as Bernie plays massive hardball with the British venues due to the fact that they aren’t government supported either.
To this (somewhat bizarre) comment: <>
Well – then clearly F1 doesn’t need most of Asia and the Middle East either. Compare non-subsidized, fan-supported ticket receipts at Indy vs. China. Don’t you also defend manufacturer involvement in F1? Who is the number 1 or 2 market for EVERY brand of car. Exactly…
I’m not defending Indy as an F1-great track. But as an American, it provided an exceptional F1 experience. I’ve been to Barcelona, Silverstone, Montreal, Monaco, Magny Cours and visited Spa, and the access to the cars, the experience, etc… for an American is great.
Of course SF, LA, NYC, etc.. would all provide a better overall cosmo-feel, but in terms of getting fans in the door and sponsors in front of fans – Indy did the job.
Just ask the manufacturers if they’d rather have Indy or no US presence.
Bill,
Who do you think decided that Indianapolis was the wrong place to be? The sponsors and the manufacturers…
Joe, I think Indianapolis brought in the fans but maybe not the fans that F1 is used to. Race fans in America are hardcore beer drinkers and more of the Nascar crowd in general. Either way I think F1 still belongs in Indy.
tgatorz,
I think Austin sounds like a good plan. If the politicians there are so dim not to understand that the value that F1 will bring them, for very little money, then there is not much that one can do about it.