Mosley:More F1 Races in North America

[davewilson]

From Reuters as appeared on the FIA web site in transcript form on Thursday, following a meeting with reporters in Germany on Tuesday:

Formula One teams may have to accept a 20-race calendar if more European Grands Prix are not to be axed in future, according to FIA president Max Mosley.

"There are still a disproportionate number of races in Europe," the head of the sport's governing body said at a meeting with newspaper reporters and BMW's Burkhard Goeschel in Munich.

"If you look at the Olympic Games, for instance, over the last 100 years around 50 percent of them have been in Europe and that is a little bit out of balance and we are even worse," declared Mosley.

"But we will get to the right balance between European and non-European races as markets develop," Mosley added. "Places like India, China, Russia, South America, Central America, they are all very important markets."

Formula One has dropped two European races, at the Nurburgring and Imola, from a 2007 calendar that stands at 17 Grands Prix after 18 this year and a record 19 in 2005.

Nine of them, including the Turkish Grand Prix in Istanbul, are in Europe.

"We would like to see another race in North America and probably not lose that many in Europe," said Mosley. "The ultimate sacrifice may have to be made by the teams having 20 races. That is to be discussed."

Formula One's commercial supremo Bernie Ecclestone is planning to add a South Korean race from 2010, with India also hoping to reach a deal for the same year and other countries also knocking on the door.

To accommodate them he must either axe some of the European races, at circuits with fading facilities, or expand the calendar.

Ecclestone suggested recently that the British and French Grands Prix, two of the historic races that are safeguarded in the current 'Concorde Agreement' governing the sport, could alternate from next year.

The British side rejected the idea.

Goeschel, hosting a meeting that highlighted a new-found harmony between the governing body and the car companies to end a long power struggle, said Europe and the United States were key regions however.

"There might be very fast growth in China, but more or less these are mass production cars. But in India the growth is a lot slower than China," he said.

"The United States is still the most important market in the world. It is an area where F1 still has some weaknesses. There might be an interest from the car manufacturers to improve the situation in the United States."

The Stig

I hear the Bells.

I think this is the time to worry about Silverstone!

[Dare]

    Give USA 1 race ,no korean or india Gp,keep
    all European races,that where the history
    comes from

    Keep the British GP and bring back San Marino
    and Suzaka.Get rid of Bernie and Max and
     bring someone in give F1 to the fans

[romephius]

AUSTRALIA!!!!

That's one race that's sooo important, it's the only one broadcast live at normal hours of the day here.  The asian races are broadcast late at night because they typically fall on the same weekend as V8 Supercars.  I personally would like to see the calendar stay the same for the balance of races due to the fantastic historic tracks there in europe.  My personal fav for europe is Spa.

Have a good one.

[cosworth151]

Wait a minute-is this the same Bernie who said that the USGP is just an annoyance? The same one that has done everything in his power to torpedo the race and p*ss off the fans? The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is the best run sporting venue of any type that I have ever seen. Tony George, Joie Chitwood and everyone else at the track have bent over backward to build up the race. Now Bernie is all hung up on Las Vagas, undoubtedly the WORST sight F1 has ever raced at. I know, I was there both times.

Keep Indy, Silverstone and France, loose Bernie.

[Wizzo]

I agree, isn't F1 supposed to be 'the pinnacle of motorsport racing' - 'Technical advancement' and 'Steeped in heritage and tradition'??

These are the very things that Bernie and his money grabbing gang are chipping away at. Do they not realise that the only reason they have so much money is because of the loyal fan base. 

It's not rocket science - if you stop trying to make money and start making the fans happy you will therefore gain a bigger fan base. A bigger fan base means more sponsors which equals more money.

It's not a business - it's a sport!

[romephius]

I actually know many people with the same mindset as 'dear ole bernie'.  Trust me when i say, as soon as they make their first million, every aspect of life is business to them, they don't have friends, they have potential sales and oppurtunities to exploit others.  They don't socialise, they network.  And the B**tards don't give a crap about tradition or peoples hapiness, just as long as they make more money. 

And that my friends is the fundamental thing wrong with the glorious sport of F1.

All thoughts and comments welcome.

[Dare]

   Sadly greed is in all sports not just f1.I basically
   stoped following American sports thru the years
   because of 1st the greed of the owners then the
   players.And I'll be damned if college football and
   basketball isn't getting the same way.

   Give me the f1 of the olden days when most
   drivers drove for the love of the sport and
   not the money.
   

[davewilson]

I agree with all of the comments!    ..And sadly money is the be-all and end all in this sport.
As i said in an earlier post,it is in every sport not only F1.And unless someone puts a lid on things the sport will become a no go area for up and coming teams who will not have the money to compete.I do not like the way they  priced Jordan out of F1, and at this rate even top flight teams had better watch out. When the sport loses someone like Eddie it is a disaster in the making

The Stig