Talk of a Formula 1 race in Russia goes back so many years that no-one really takes it seriously any longer. The first such discussions took place back in the early 1980s when, legend has it, Bernie Ecclestone had meetings with a number of top level Soviet officials, including President Leonid Brezhnev. These failed to produce a Grand Prix and so Ecclestone did a deal for a race in Budapest.
By the late 1980s there was much dissatisfaction with the Soviet government and the rise of Mikhail Gorbachev resulted in more liberal political and economic policies, notably glasnost and perestroika. This resulted in the beginning of the breakdown of the Soviet system and more freedom of speech and the weakening of the old Communist Bloc, leading to the the wave of revolutions in 1989 when the Berlin Wall was torn down and there was upheaval across Eastern Europe. This was followed in August 1991 by a coup d’état against Gorbachev. Boris Yeltsin seized the moment and defeated the coup, putting a much weakened Gorbachev back in office. By the end of the year the Soviet Union was dissolved and Yeltin emerged as head of the Russian Federation. It was not long before Ecclestone was back, trying to establish a Grand Prix but the instability of the era made things difficult as Yeltsin became an autocrat and a group of “oligarchs” took over many of the nation’s industries. It was not until 2000 that Yeltsin handed over power to Vladimir Putin. There was a further attempt to stage a race in Moscow, led by Tom Walkinshaw, but this failed. In recent years there have been various other projects but all have failed to get off the ground.
Earlier this summer Vladimir Makarov, a close ally of Moscow mayor Yury Luzhkov, said that Moscow is preparing plans for a street track, but much depends on next year’s mayoral election in which Luzhkov might be voted out of office, after 18 years in control of the city. He has been damaged by a number of corruption allegations.
For the last three years there has been a Formula 1 demonstration in Moscow, organised by the Dutch promoter Bavaria City Racing. This year the event claimed a crowd of 200,000.
There was also another project under discussion in Sochi, a celebrated Black Sea resort city, but the talks appear to have stalled as there was no money for the race. Having Vitaly Petrov in F1 will obviously help the situation, but there will not be a Russian Grand Prix until someone is wiling to pay the bills.
While the idea of F1 cars blasting round Red Square is appealing I would be surprised if the Russians could organise an event of this type long term. As for other tracks getting built this is also unlikely for the financial reasons outlined above.
Lets say however that an F1 loving Oligarch decides to stump up for a track to be built, Im sure he would enjoy being schmoozed by Bernie and co and the first race would be a great personal triumph for him. But what then? The fees have to be paid untill the contract ends and noone likes a loss making business in his portfolio. What happens if the Oligarch end up in the Gulag?
Often the problem is maintaining an event not getting of the ground in the first place.
Isn’t the Moscow Raceway, 77 km from Moscow near the Riga Highway under construction?
Or is that another project on hold?
A circuit in Russia is in fact under construction. It’s called Moscow Raceway, a 4.070 km circuit designed by Tilke and built to FIA Grade T1 spec. It is located 77 km from the city. and should be ready in 2011.
Obviously a street race around the Red Square would be a much more interesting prospect for F1 though. The roads certainly look wide enough. Tilke is working on a layout there according to the Bavaria City Racing website.
If the money is there then it’s a done deal, everyone knows Bernie wants to go to Russia.
Completely off topic joe but just in case you are interested, here is a lap of Korea in the upcoming F1 2010 video game. Gives a reasonable idea of the track!
http://www.vandal.net/video/13405/f1-2010-corea-vandal-tv-gc
It is a while since I was in Moscow but from memory Red Square is cobbled. Not really suitable for F1 cars.
I think they are ready for it now – looking at Bahrain, I think the bling bling of new F1 races could be a fun “competition”!
In St Petersburg in ’99 i had a drink with a chap who worked sometimes for George Walker, ex boxer, bankrupt of 1.4Billion GBP, back when a billion meant something, with Brent Walker Plc. Walker was building Premier Telesports, a specialist broadcaster, bet-taker in Russia.
I don’t know what happened to that, but in my mind Walker is the commercial spiritual cousin of Walkinshaw. I believe Walker was also involved in some F1 negotiations. As if Tom Walkinshaw wasn’t a shady wheeler – dealer too many.
But, yeah, St. Petersburg about that time and a few years earlier was the place to be for Brit bankrupts with hard noses. (No, that didn’t include me, just my take on the tiny smidgeon of the expat scene i encountered in passing)
My mind still boggles at how cool, and likely messy, a F1GP in Russia would be. Would be awesome in so many ways they have to do it sometime :~)
Tim, if the race were in Moscow, any deal would have to go through their omnipotent mayor, Yury Luzhkov, who is a man to be reckoned with. I dare anyone to try shenanigans under his nose. Not that means Luzhkov himself wouldn’t and couldn’t bust a deal if he so chose, after the fact.
Money up front is probably BE’s sticking point, and i’m with BE on that.
And Oligarchs being schmoozed by Bernie. Hmm. Maybe. What precisely can he schmooze them with?! :)
On a side note, there are some vast new business districts being built, both in Moscow and Petersburg, where possibly the roads are even driveable. I’d hit up the RE investors for a pitch, right away.
The commercial success of Bavaria City Racing’s event mystifies me – the great majority of the spectators watch for free. So somebody somewhere up high is, presumably, backing it with cash. Whether Luzhkov keeps the job is won’t be decided by an ‘election’ – a successor might be appointed by the Kremlin, though he’s been written off before and… personally I’d not bet a single kopek on him being replaced.
The city’s main thoroughfares are super wide but not super smooth, so you could have 1970’s Silverstone lap speeds yet the cars would, probably, need to run with ride height set similar to Hedifeld’s 2007 demonstration at the old Nurburgring – that’s going to make for very interesting viewing. And probably some wide eyed drivers!
Hope it happens soon.
Knowing Russia pretty well (got family there) I think Formula One still has a long way to go until there is a Russian GP.
It’s unlikely Luzhkov will disappear as a mayor in Moscow. He is firmly protected by Putin who made a deal with him a couple of years ago: if Luzhkov would stay out of national politics, Putin would guarantee that Luzhkov could keep Moscow for the rest of his life. So as long as Putin has a say in Russian politics, Luzhkov will stay. Elections won’t hurt him. Luzhkov will simply buy his re-election, if necessary. He’s got the funds: his wife (who’s in the Forbes 500) is one of the richest women in the world.
This says it all, really. Russia is one of the most corrupt nations in the world – the situation gets worse every year. You can order building a race track today, but you are never sure if the money you send to realize the track, will be used for what it’s meant for. And since the justice system is just as corrupt as politics and business, you can’t expect to see your money back.
Ecclestone is used to taking financial risks. But I think he knows it’s safer to invest in a race in Burkina Faso than in Moscow.
Steven Roy
F1 on cobbles would be amazing! If it is a success maybe we could have a Barnsley grand prix!
John
Will bow to your superior knowledge about Mayor Luzhkov.
On the schmoozing front Bernie is a god in the business world and I certainly think that any self respecting Oligarch would enjoy his company if not the negotiations.
[…] de uma etapa da F1 na Rússia são bastante antigas e remontam à época da Guerra Fria.O insider Joe Saward publicou em seu blog um interessante histórico das negociações entre Ecclestone e o então Estado Soviético sobre um […]