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As Germany's F1 future hangs by a thread, Italy [Monza] too could be facing the axe in the near future as Bernie Ecclestone and Italian politics go hard-ball.
According to Bernie Ecclestone, since "the old contract was a disaster for us from a commercial point of view", he has already warned that he doesn't think there will be 'another contract., so it's bye bye after 2016', with Italian organisers seemingly under pressure to part with an appreciably higher fee to retain its spot on the schedule.
Mr Ecclestone wants to double the amount of money which the Autodromo yearly deposits in his bank account, from current 11-12 to 20-22 million Euros, a figure which would be very hard to collect for SIAS, the society who runs the circuit. In fact, their only source of revenue left comes from selling tickets for the grandstands, after Ecclestone himself asked and obtained full control of the VIP lounge located just above the pits."
As Germany's F1 future hangs by a thread, Italy [Monza] too could be facing the axe in the near future as Bernie Ecclestone and Italian politics go hard-ball.
According to Bernie Ecclestone, since "the old contract was a disaster for us from a commercial point of view", he has already warned that he doesn't think there will be 'another contract., so it's bye bye after 2016', with Italian organisers seemingly under pressure to part with an appreciably higher fee to retain its spot on the schedule.
Mr Ecclestone wants to double the amount of money which the Autodromo yearly deposits in his bank account, from current 11-12 to 20-22 million Euros, a figure which would be very hard to collect for SIAS, the society who runs the circuit. In fact, their only source of revenue left comes from selling tickets for the grandstands, after Ecclestone himself asked and obtained full control of the VIP lounge located just above the pits."
Please retire ASAP, Bernie! .
Meanwhile Qatar & Azerbaijan are on the pipeline. How exciting! /s
Barcelona testing next week - maybe we'll get an idea of where everyone shakes out. Although I doubt there will be many surprises.
The two Barcelona tests should be more relevant. Jerez is strange as a circuit and the surface is like nothing in the calendar. We should be getting a better idea of the pack order.
I feel Mercedes is still the best car by far. Williams, Red Bull and Ferrari (assuming their Jerez runs weren't glory ones) look like the next group. McLaren is a complete question mark, they need to settle that Honda engine first.
As for the midfield, I have the feeling that Lotus will be pretty strong now that they have Mercedes engines, and that Force India will suffer a lot from all those delays (they are only sending the 2014 car to the first Barcelona test, and still no word on how much of the final test they'll be able to do with the 2015 car).
As far as the cars go, I like the new designs for the noses much more than the old, just wish we could deal with the "go kart" noise those engines make.
I suspect Honda will not be up to speed for most of the first season, certainly they have great potential for next year but it's tough to match Mercedes from a standing start.
For those in the US, the Australia broadcast schedule
Thursday, 3/12 9:30 pm (Pacific) - Practice 1 LIVE (Friday 12:30 am for the east coast)
Thursday 3/12 10:30 pm (Pacific) Practice LIVE
Friday 3/13 9:30 pm (Pacific) - Practice LIVE (Saturday 12:30 am east coast)
Friday 3/13 10:30 pm (Pacific) Countdown to F1
Friday 3/13 11:00 pm (Pacific) - Qualifying LIVE (Saturday 2:00am east coast)
Saturday 3/14 9:30pm (Pacific) - Race LIVE (Sunday 12:30am east coast)
not a lot of repeats for showings, so don't miss (or don't miss recording) the LIVE showings.
Other than the races on this continent, this is the only race on at a time that works for those of us on the left coast to watch them real-time!
Location: By the sea, by the sea, by the beautiful sea
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tigerbalm1985
I get Qatar and all, but Azerbaijian?
Where Bernie smells $$$ the F1 circus is sure to follow.
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