british grand prix axed for 2005

30-09-2004, 17:59

its a disaster for british f1 fans.bernie ecclestone should hang his head in shame

andy

Mal · 30-09-2004, 18:20

More info ...

30-09-2004, 18:23

Thats me no longer a F1 fan

paulyoung666 · 30-09-2004, 18:23

i am saddened but not really surprised , the rot set in when middle and far east countries started hosting more races , i am not saying they are bad races , far from it , its that they are more lucrative from a sponsorship point of view

30-09-2004, 18:25

i suppose we'll just have to wait for this A1 grand prix racing thats all.

paulyoung666 · 30-09-2004, 18:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by andy 1

i suppose we'll just have to wait for this A1 grand prix racing thats all.

it will be ok if you have sky sports iirc it is only going to be shown there

i will be ok though

30-09-2004, 19:51

At the end of the day all the other established circuits pay the same amount and they make a profit. Why cant Silverstone? Its not as if Bernie hasnt helped. He contributed a large sum to the road changes

30-09-2004, 19:54

no great loss, F1 seems intent on self destruction, its just another nail in its coffin.

paulyoung666 · 30-09-2004, 20:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by timewarrior2001

no great loss, F1 seems intent on self destruction, its just another nail in its coffin.

its a shame but i am going to agree with you , it will be interesting to see what this years rule changes bring

basa · 01-10-2004, 08:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by paulyoung666

its a shame but i am going to agree with you , it will be interesting to see what this years rule changes bring

Agreed also. Hopefully the new rules will revitalise the high speed queue that is F1 currently ! One thing is clear, that all the new rules in the world won't get Silverstone back on the F1 calendar !

It is scandalous that the home and founding country of F1 can't provide a decent state of the art race track. We can do it for football, olympics, tennis, golf etc, etc, why not F1.

It is a major spectator sport. I dunno if I'm right but I heard that as many people watch a Grand Prix as watch Premiership football on a race weekend. (Well maybe not now as it seems to be no more than a high speed procession ).

MovedGoalPosts · 01-10-2004, 09:48

I'm not surprised at this. For so long now it's been known that the Silverstone event was in trouble.

Quote:

Originally Posted by basa

It is scandalous that the home and founding country of F1 can't provide a decent state of the art race track. We can do it for football, olympics, tennis, golf etc, etc, why not F1.

It is a major spectator sport. I dunno if I'm right but I heard that as many people watch a Grand Prix as watch Premiership football on a race weekend. (Well maybe not now as it seems to be no more than a high speed procession ).

We may be able to get funding for improvements, but the majority of that funding comes from within the individual sports and the sponsorship it attracts. That works well for events that run over a period of time, or for which the facility can be used regularly over the year. Silverstone has one or two major events in a year and a few minor ones. It's never going to be able to reinvest at that rate, whilst the cost of the F1 race, excluding the sum paid to the F1 owners must be huge with policing, stewards, marshalls and so on. I can see how, despite vast ticket costs, the money just disappears.

Anyway, F1 these days is just a procession. Touring cars and the like are far more interesting, either to see in person, or to watch on TV. F1 has to level the playing field between teams and add some unpredictablitly if anyone is going to remain interested in it. It may currently employ a lot of people in the UK, but the continual money needed and requests for bail outs from the government surely is lower priority than spending wisely on the NHS, law and order, etc.

01-10-2004, 09:56

I dont really understand why Rockingham wasnt developed to a standard to be able to take a grand prix. Its a new circuit and im sure it wouldnt have cost much more to improve the pit facilities. However it is a dog to get too.

But then again Indianapolis did the same, spent a bit of money, have a good seating capacity and that place is not that easy to get too either.

Nemesis · 01-10-2004, 10:05

Silverstone is Old and in need of a great deal of investment. In comparison to the newer circuits around, I'm not suprised that it's going to be dropped.

It's been on the cards for a while ...

01-10-2004, 10:16

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nemesis

It's been on the cards for a while ...

Stop reading those cards or you will be refered to as Gypsy Nem

sherer · 01-10-2004, 10:59

i'm not 100% convinced this is the end of the British GP just Bernie's way of forcing Silverstone and the BRDC into action.

if you look at it the only income Silverstone get from a GP is from ticket sales and merchandise and the rest goes to paying Bernie for the race. We pay 9 million but some races in Europe and other areas pay more.

if you look at the circuit it is a classic with lots of fast sweeping corners rather than just 3rd and 4th gear turns which is all Herman Tilke seems able to design.

Spa, Brasil, Imola have worse facilities and maybe even Monza as well.

Of the new cuircuits they are GPs of nowhere that circuit could have been built by anyone on any bit of land