German GP is Bernie's Failure

[Dare]

If Bernie has his way and does away with the non-Asian races
I'll have to say adios to F1.That's were F1's roots are and
without them it's just another racing series
     
from Planetf1

Andrew Davies asks, has Bernie’s failure to secure a German GP deal brought the sport into disrepute?

If there is any luck, the official loss of the German Grand Prix for 2015 should mark a watershed in the history of the sport. On Friday, what had long been suspected would happen was confirmed, the World Motorsport Council cut the German GP from the official calendar giving us a 19-race season.

German circuits Hockenheim and the Nurburgring were due to hold the race in successive years. But thanks to high prices, only 50,000 turned up to see the race at Hockenheim in 2014 and the Nurburgring circuit went into administration and was taken over. The new owners didn’t fancy plunging themselves into debt by taking on the contract negotiated by the previous circuit owners.

Needless to say, if the biggest economy in Europe - with three home drivers, with a four-times World Champion, and with an iconic German car marque that will win the title – cannot get crowds in through the gate, then something is very definitely wrong.

The reason for the high ticket prices has been the cost that Bernie Ecclestone, representing the Commercial Rights Holder, charges circuits for hosting a race. Race hosting fees vary from little or nothing for the Monaco Grand Prix (where grandstand seats cost in excess of £300/$450) to huge sums of $25m for F1 debutants, such as Azerbaijan or Russia.

And whereas in the UK sports fans are used to paying out quite a lot to see International Rugby and Premier League football matches,  ticket prices for the German football league, the Bundesliga, are much more regulated. You can go along and watch FC Koln in the Bundesliga  for 10 euros – that’s £7.50.

So German fans have been leaving the sport in droves – and what has Bernie Ecclestone done in response? Threaten to take races like the British, German and Italian races away and fling them round the globe to oil-rich Caspian Sea states like Azerbaijan, or countries desperate for some political impact such as Turkey and (maybe soon) Qatar.

The setting up and then abandoning of races in non-traditional F1 supporting countries makes the sport look like it has no idea what it’s doing – Turkey, Korea and India have all come and gone, having been obliged to create a massive infrastructure along the way. Bernie knows that holding an F1 race brings prestige and worldwide media attention and has traded on that.

The evolution of the F1 calendar isn’t about bringing new fans to the sport, it’s about bringing money in the only way Bernie knows how. The former motorbike salesman loves a deal and renegotiating hosting contracts and planning new ones, keeps the 84-year-old out of the pub and off the golf course. He’s not planning for the future, he’s just carrying on the only way he knows how. That’s why we have 20-race (or 21-race, if you include the stillborn 2015 Korean GP!) seasons reduced to 19 all the time.

How long can we go on like this?
Deep in the FIA’s book of rules are various statutes about bringing the sport into disrepute. And Bernie’s failure to secure a German Grand Prix must surely do that. It unbalances the calendar, creating a three-week gap between races; what’s more, given overwhelming German success in the sport and the Schumacher legacy, it tempts the analogy "couldn’t organise a p*ss-up in a brewery".

Grand Prix racing started off in France in 1906, the FIA are based in Paris, yet there is no French Grand Prix because of the high race hosting fee. That’s embarrassing enough. The loss of this year’s German Grand Prix and the harassment of the Italian Grand Prix at Monza should surely tip the FIA into action.

There was once British Racing Green, Belgian racing Yellow and Italian Racing Scarlet, with the French in Blue and the Germans in White (which they famously scraped off to create a silver arrow). All these countries’ home races have now been threatened or lost during Bernie’s watch, purely in the interests of his paymasters.

It’s time the FIA took some action and wrested control of the GP calendar and set a limit on race hosting fees. The loss of the German race should mark a watershed. It’s now up to FIA boss Jean Todt to acquire some cojones and take some action before we see headlines like: 'Qatar Replaces Monza in GP Schedule'

Andrew  Davies

[lkjohnson1950]

I fear Andrew Davies has read only part of the rule book. When Bernie bought the commercial rights, he gained complete control. The FIA would not be able to reign him in. Really only 2 things would have effect, CVC tells Bernie to restore the race, or perhaps Merc says no home race, no Merc. That might get his attention. I fear however that The FIA has no legal standing against Bernie.

[cosworth151]

Remember that the FIA is far worse, far more corrupt than even Bernie. While Bernie has been screwing up the venues, the FIA has been dealing crippling blows to the heart of the sport. They stuck us with colicky kitten, teeny tiny turbo F1 cars, no testing, everybody stuck with what they started the season with.......

And now they want to destroy the highly successful LMP2. I'd swear that the sole purpose of the FIA is the total destruction of motorsports.

[Scott]

Both right. 

FIA begs the 'money saving' excuse when concocting crazy rules and regs that ultimately cost everyone a ton more money than if they had just been left alone or left to gradually evolve season by season.

Bernie begs the 'I'm just an employee' excuse, that he is working for CVC trying to maximize return on their investment. 

There is a ton of sponsorship money out there, but F1 is having a more difficult time attracting it because it just doesn't bring the return that sponsors need.  Shaking down the teams and venues every year just makes everything that much worse.  How can a sponsor even make plans for events at races when Bernie is likely to yank a race out from under their feet.  I bet Mercedes has had plans in place for months for the next German GP, but now?  Nothing. 

I'm with you Dare, off to the Mud Races when F1 takes everything East.

[Ian]

As I said in an earlier post, I can see myself switching back to watching MotoGP, didn't even watch the highlights of the Aussie race.

[Scott]

So for anyone still moaning about those sad F1 team employees not getting enough time off in summer with their families, there is now a 3 week break, Hungary, and then a 4 week break.  They can now all go to Hungary for two months and have to work 4 days in the middle. 

The revised F1 Calendar:

March 15 Australian GP
March 29 Malaysian GP
April 12 Chinese GP
April 19 Bahrain GP
May 10 Spanish GP
May 24 Monaco GP
June 7 Canadian GP
June 21 Austrian GP
July 5 British GP
July 26 Hungarian GP
August 23 Belgian GP
September 6 Italian GP
September 20 Singapore GP
September 27 Japanese GP
October 11 Russian GP
October 25 USA GP
November 1 Mexican GP
November 15 Brazilian GP
November 29 Abu Dhabi GP

[lkjohnson1950]

Remember, the manufacturers asked for "teeny tiny turbo motors" and Merc and Renault have both said that any attempt to return to the V8s will cause them to leave. I totally agree about testing and updating and I would add that 4 engines for the season is ridiculous.

[cosworth151]

Viewership has plummeted since the kitten cars debuted. Cosworth wanted no part of them and wisely left. Merc and Renault will leave someday. Renault will probably go sooner rather than later. The sport needs fans far more than they need Merc or Renault.

[Irisado]

As much as I actually like the turbos, four engines per season is ridiculous.  It was daft enough last year with five.  All these rules which are meant to cut costs really are not helping at all.


I am very disappointed that the German Grand Prix has gone.  Nurburgring is one of the better tracks still left on the calendar, and Hockenheim, while a shadow of its former self, is still pretty good too.  I find myself agreeing with Andrew Davies about the reasons why this has happened, but I too am sceptical that the FIA represents the solution.

[Jericoke]

Viewership has plummeted since the kitten cars debuted. Cosworth wanted no part of them and wisely left. Merc and Renault will leave someday. Renault will probably go sooner rather than later. The sport needs fans far more than they need Merc or Renault.

A quick internet search makes it hard to find a reliable set of TV ratings for F1.  However, they are inarguably down.

However, they are down in numbers that seem to line up with NASCAR's American ratings.  NASCAR has not changed their formula, at all, so it's hard to point to the engines as the problem in F1.

I've almost posted to this thread a few times, but decided agasint it.  not this time.

The problem is that the age of the automobile is drawing to an end.     People aren't interested in watching cars race because people aren't interested in cars.  Just as horse racing has been relegated to a regional event with a few 'crown jewel' events, I suspect the same will happen to racing.  Indy, LeMans and Monaco* will always be a big deal, but I don't think that interest in series around these events will continue.   There will always be local tracks, and many regional championships.  Just nothing as big as we have now.

*we can quibble about the list of 'important' races that will endure.  I just picked the existing 'motorsports triple crown' to keep it simple.

[cosworth151]

Remember that NASCAR's target audience was always working class Americans. They made a huge mistake when, instead of simply saying that they were allowing foreign marques, they claimed that Toyota is really an American car. Ratings & attendance have been heading downhill ever since.

[lkjohnson1950]

Or you could say they have dropped since they introduced the Car of Tomorrow" and it became hard to tell the brands apart. Or you could say it's down since they began abandoning the traditional southern tracks and went north and west. Aren't there just too many mile and a half tracks?

[Alianora La Canta]

The fans have gone to WTCC, WEC and non-motor-sport viewing. The former two are well up on previous figures (to the point where WTCC has more viewers than F1, taken globally), due to playing to their strengths, providing quality racing and avoiding excess stupidities. The latter has become more popular as motorsport-pretending-to-be-entertainment is rarely as entertaining as actual entertainment (or actual sport for that matter).

[Jericoke]

Or you could say they have dropped since they introduced the Car of Tomorrow" and it became hard to tell the brands apart. Or you could say it's down since they began abandoning the traditional southern tracks and went north and west. Aren't there just too many mile and a half tracks?

My point was it had nothing to do with V8 engines.  There are piles of mistakes by both series.  Certainly the change in the sound of F1 isn't helping, but it's not the millstone dragging it down either.

[J.Clark]

Remember that NASCAR's target audience was always working class Americans. They made a huge mistake when, instead of simply saying that they were allowing foreign marques, they claimed that Toyota is really an American car. Ratings & attendance have been heading downhill ever since.

I would tend to agree with this in general terms. 

I believe however, that F1 is the flagship in international auto racing and having teams from any country, even outside of Europe is good for the sport and the fan base.

I can't put too awfully much into the sound, or the technology aspects; although, I do miss the V-12, the V-10 and even the V-8 sound.  It is far greater than that.

Formula 1 is not marketing itself.  The elite know of it and have the money.  The upper middle-classes do alright with the money side even though they may complain about it.  Everyone else must scrimp and save and cut corners on things to attend a race that is basically local, eliminating the huge travel expenses.

Formula 1 has no special deals for anyone.  NASCAR is inexpensive to attend for the most part.  It is well marketed.  Their drivers, at least those in the top half of the field, are on the TV often doing commercials and F1 drivers are all but recluse.  There were a few ads for a couple of years for a few products that most people would use, but not now, not on a regular basis.

Indy Cars and Indy Lights provide a lot of driver access at events.  Most (JPM excluded) are very friendly and willing to chat it up with a fan.  Formula 1 drivers are the complete opposite on race weekends.  Getting a handshake and an autograph from the Indy series drivers and car owners and crews is as easy as can be, while almost impossible in the case of F1.

TV and other rights are so tightly controlled that it makes even delving into F1 to "check it out" overwhelming for many who might become interested.  It may help with the new YouTube channel, if they don't make us pay to watch videos.

If Formula 1 is to survive, it needs to be more accessible and less costly for the fans.  It must be promoted.  Bernie needs to make drivers, team principles and others do spots on the sports networks, especially in the US, which is a huge market and one generally overlooked, regardless of what Bernie says.