No French GP in 2009.

[fisetdavid26]

It wasn´t called FIA Formula One European Championship back in the day. Why did no one complain back then?

I was being sarcastic.

[Wouter Melissen]

It wasn´t called FIA Formula One European Championship back in the day. Why did no one complain back then?

Because all of the teams and drivers came and come from Europe.

[ScionDriver]

Two things:
1) After reading this thread I think we maybe to get some sort of [SARCASM][/SARCASM] thing on here because no one is getting it. And
2) F1 is going down the tubes and fast. I understand wanting to get new races but at the same time let some of the historical races keep on going. Should it really cost $30 mil+ to HOST an F1 race!?

[scottie300z]

And will have a better time.

I bet they'd still argue. Most likely over how many lumps Ferrari gets.

This has been a crazy season on all fronts and some of it can really test a fan.

[ZeTurbo]

Ever seen a building implosion in those super slow motion cameras? That is F1 as i see it.

[Canam fan]

Frankly I think today's formula 1 cars are a joke. If you painted them all the same color and set them side by side almost no one could tell one car from another. The only series where this is not true is ALMS. I hope that Montreal can somehow get a combination IRL -ALMS weekend like Detroit.

[teatako]

Because all of the teams and drivers came and come from Europe.

So what? The important part is where the paying customers are, be it ticketholders or the viewers who make Formula 1 a profitable TV show, or a soap opera nowadays. That´s where they´re going to go.

My point is: is this about the racing or about nationalisms? There´s been many many GP´s lost over the years, many with a lot of history to them, in Europe and elsewhere. Argentina comes to mind, just to keep it Latin American (hint: 1958)

Is the bawwing and complaining because F1 is going to Asia and the Middle East or because it´s leaving Europe? I don´t see what the bad part is, Formula 1 is going is new tempting markets where there´s plenty of new and not so new money and a need for circus. And it´s becoming more global in the process. Yes, it´s becoming less Eurocentric but how bad is that?

The drivers haven´t been exclusively European for a while now. I´d dare to say they´ve very rarely or never been. The teams are slowly but surely following suit, at least on a names level (I realise they´re all de facto Europeans and Europe-based. That will have to change as more and more GP´s are held elsewhere)

Tradition´s nice and all, but no business can survive looking at the future with the back of the neck. I´d say let´s embrace new legends, new exploits in new battlefields.

With this management though,I doubt new legends will form anytime soon.

[Ferrer]

I don't know why anybody cares about F1 anymore.

So what? The important part is where the paying customers are, be it ticketholders or the viewers who make Formula 1 a profitable TV show, or a soap opera nowadays. That´s where they´re going to go.

Those are the Europeans. That's why they made the night race in Singapore in the first place.

[LeonOfTheDead]

So what? The important part is where the paying customers are, be it ticketholders or the viewers who make Formula 1 a profitable TV show, or a soap opera nowadays. That´s where they´re going to go.

My point is: is this about the racing or about nationalisms? There´s been many many GP´s lost over the years, many with a lot of history to them, in Europe and elsewhere. Argentina comes to mind, just to keep it Latin American (hint: 1958)

Is the bawwing and complaining because F1 is going to Asia and the Middle East or because it´s leaving Europe? I don´t see what the bad part is, Formula 1 is going is new tempting markets where there´s plenty of new and not so new money and a need for circus. And it´s becoming more global in the process. Yes, it´s becoming less Eurocentric but how bad is that?

The drivers haven´t been exclusively European for a while now. I´d dare to say they´ve very rarely or never been. The teams are slowly but surely following suit, at least on a names level (I realise they´re all de facto Europeans and Europe-based. That will have to change as more and more GP´s are held elsewhere)

Tradition´s nice and all, but no business can survive looking at the future with the back of the neck. I´d say let´s embrace new legends, new exploits in new battlefields.

With this management though,I doubt new legends will form anytime soon.

there is not reason to leave a good place or a nice track though. I like Magny Course, and like SPA (please, don't cut it!) or Imola, or even Montreal. on the other side, new circuits are rarely as good as old ones, no matter where they are built.
the problem isn't that they are slowly leaving EU, but that they are moving just fore $$$. there isn't a single piece of passion, tradition or even real motorsports in there. just business.
how are you suppose to cut costs if you are continuing force teams to run all around the world?! that's one of the complaints from GT championship, for example. F1 is born in EU, fine but not restrictive, so it's free and very welcomed of expanding and spread, not moving though.
teams are still all based in EU, mainly because there actually aren't new teams, just replacements. the last actual new team was...Toyota, IIRC. I suppose it would be quite difficult for teams outside of the EU to establish fast enough a good technical level, because while being in EU, and mainly in UK, you have access to a "local" level of technical knowledge of external small factories that can help in the development of the car or of smaller parts. not saying there isn't such an advanced situation in other places, but F1 is a kinda peculiar thing, quite different from IRL, for example.
nowadays F1 is more about politics than racing, sadly.

[f6fhellcat13]

This is like the Big Three selling all their valuable assets, sure, you make money in the short term, but in the long term you're left with a bunch of shitty races (cars) that nobody wants, so you go down the tubes. And I will bid you good riddance.


...To Bernie's F1 , not the Big Three.

[kingofthering]

I guess appeasing Ferrari isn't as cheap anymore, with the economic downturn and all.

[f6fhellcat13]

Oil baron $s > Small Italian Supercar maker $s

[Zytek_Fan]

I might have said this before, but this might be the beginning of a new Group C era eg. sportscars more popular than F1

[f6fhellcat13]

And then the FIA will reignback the sportscars, everything will suck, and we will all die.

[Zytek_Fan]

And then the FIA will reignback the sportscars, everything will suck, and we will all die.

FIA doesn't hold control over sportscars anymore