“Let’s See If We Miss America” - No F1 Race For America In 2008
America’s only Formula One date is going away in 2008. The United States Grand Prix, held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway won’t be returning next year because the racetrack and the sport’s sanctioning body couldn’t come to terms. Indy has hosted the F1 race for the last eight years.
Neither party is ruling out a return to Indy (or the U.S.) for Formula One in the future, but series czar Bernie Ecclestone was worryingly quoted as saying “Let’s see if we miss America.
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Comments
The Stig
After the Michelin tire debacle and the considering the fact that F1 barely registers on most Americans interest radar, this really doesn't come as a total shock. It's a shame, but not a surprise.
Iain
While I have enjoyed the F1 races I have attended at Indy, and the track is somewhat unique in layout, we still have Montreal - fabulous circuit, great city and always a good race. So all is not lost for those of us with F1 running though our veins...
Greg
Leave it to Bernie and his instituitional greed. I'm not saying Indy is blameless, but there are some F1 fans in the US who can't afford to jetset around the world to follow the F1 circus, and Bernie just screwed 'em (including me).
Mark Arnold
Bummer.
We can only hope that this means a USGP at Laguna Seca sometime in the not-too-distant future.
André
F1 received so little coverage in the States. Indy racing does have spots on major network television, but viewership is small. I could see why F1 wouldn't be operating in America for the coming season, after the tire debacle and little interest. If domestic automakers could put a factory effort and market that into their products, then Formula One could catch on. If Speed TV would dedicate some more programming time to it instead of the twenty-three hours if devotes to NASCAR, interest would rise.
I think professional racing, in general, is facing troublesome times up ahead. It may not seem like it with the coverage and publicity, but there is nothing grabbing the average Joe's attention. I am an ALMS fan, but I see Audi consistently dominating the events. It is good to see Chevy and Aston duke it out in the GT class after years of Corvette dominance. Overall, there isn't the feeling of real competition. The IRL has less people watching it in the US than soccer. NASCAR is bringing nothing fresh to the table.
Where does racing go from here?
Steve
A few thoughts...
1. This makes me all the more glad I was able to attend the USGP at Indy this year... with seats at Turn 1, no less... Simply splendid.
2. Thank you, Winding Road, for not referring to Bernie as F1's "supremo."
3. Suprise, no. Disappointment, absolutely.
4. Soon, we'll have 20 hours of NASCAR per day on SPEED, and 4 hours of NASCAR commercials... and no real racing. Damn shame, really... Especially as the F1 races are really the only reason I keep my cable TV...
Mena
Don't worry Steve, F1 was on Speed for YEARS before the USGP and it will continue as such. If it doesn't, you can always download all the races from practice to race day from the internet.
Steve
Mena... Where might I find them online? If so, I might dump my monthly cable bill right now...
Chris
Im not suprised.
However, if they actually want US fans to stay interested in the sport, getting rid of the USGP on the heels of the only american driving likely getting the boot at the end of the season, they aren't off to a good start.
Personally I love F1 racing, but I almost can't bear to watch a whole race with the shoddy coverage it gets. I don't want to watch the top 4 cars do nothing other than finish in the same position they began, they need to try and cover the rest of the field where some of the actual racing takes place.
I always record the F1 races so I can FFW through all of the uppity snobs talking through their thousand dollar sunglasses like they got something better to do. (they don't)
Ive enjoyed watching Nascar almost solely because of the number of races there are and the coverage options it has available. I LOVE racing, I don't care if its a lawnmower or the worlds most technologically advanced machine ever, so long as someone's actually getting some racing done and your not just watching qualifying laps done by cars all by themselves all day.
Maybe they will return the USGP to Watkins Glen or Detroit.
Robert Temple
The US today, maybe France tomorrow? I don't know much about Bernie, but what I do know seems to point to a simple formula (no pun intended), Bernie = greed.
I do think the F1 broadcast crew on Speed does an excellent job of bringing the sports basic concepts, excitement, and insiders knowledge of Formula One to the audience. Bob Machet, David Hobbs, Peter Windsor, et al, are a big part of why I enjoy watching F1 on Speed.
Brad
I've been a huge F1 fan for several years and I attended every USGP since 2001. I told the guys I went with this year that I had a feeling we were going to the final USGP.
I think that the 2005 debacle started a downhill slide that Indy just couldn't pull out of. Plus Bernie's huge ego and greed pretty much doomed the race.
When France said they could no longer afford to pay for the race, I knew Indy was over also.
Speedtv does a very good job with their F1 coverage. I absolutely love the broadcast team of Varsha, Matchett, Hobbs, and Windsor. They signed a 5 year agreement with FOM to telecast F1 so I will still be able to get my fix even though I can't go see F1 in person anymore.
James
Formula One would be better off if both Bernie and Max Mosley were to leave this realm for the next plane of existence. Then, together they can go ruin whatever racing series there is in Hell.
Max is systematically gutting F-1's technical appeal, turning it into a slightly more advanced version of NASCAR, while Bernie sucks up every last dollar (pound? euro?) in his manic quest to be the world's richest man before he dies. Meanwhile, the poor, small teams go begging for resources.
If Max really wants to save the planet, he should shut up, 'cause, after all, he's expelling CO2... instead of turning F-1 into Formula Prius.
Maybe Michael Schumacher figured he might as well get out while the getting was good.
Jerry McHugh
Having attended every USGP at Indy I will miss the show. The crowd had setteled at around 125.000 down from the first races 200,000.However it was a world crowd, and one that was much more commited to the sport. Everything comes down to money,that's what racing is to promoters .Tony George had to pay for the show, and he only had ticket sales to do that with. I personaly believe that the ticlet prices were not high enough,and if they were raised by 20%, attendance would not suffer. I think Bernie Ecclestone has a product to sell. This product was developed over many years to be what it is today. Those who don't like what it has become may not remember Watkins Glen of the 60's and 70's.To day races are held in a park-like setting,with proper equiptment to handle every need of the crowds. Further Tony George must pay for all this,there is no government help as in other countries.Compare the track in Malaysia,to Indy.The govt.paid for the track,pays the $10,000,000 fee to bring the show and since tickets are so costly for the locals, they give many away, to fill the seats.Why do they do this? How else can an emerging economy, such as theirs get this type of world recognition and prestige.Look at the F-1 calendar, the Malaysain govt is just the first of many to use this plan. This is what Tony George and Indy are up against,no help from outside, just Tony George.By the way,I've never met Tony George, but as Bill Clinton would have said "I feel his pain."
Mena
Steve, best place is the newsgroups. There's a F1 newsgroup: alt.binaries.formula1. You'll need some newsgroup software, GrabIt is the easiest, and you'll need to find out what your ISP's newsgroup server is OR you can pay ~$10 month for a newsgroup service. If you pay for one make sure it has unlimited downloads.
detroit9000
I've only visited Indianapolis once. That was enough.
Richard H
I am also a big F1 fan. I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall listening to two of the biggest money grubbin egos in racing trying to screw each other out of a dollar. I blame George for the downfall of open wheel racing in the US. His EGO is wholly responsible for the destruction of Open wheel US Racing. The Indy 500 is a sham, What happend to all the American drivers, and I don't really care that NASCAR is there. However, the facilty needs to be used anyway.
I never attended an F1 race at Indy just because I was not going to put any dollars in Greedy Tony's pocket.
There are several tracks in the US that would better serve F1. I hope it does come back.
Johnny Rocket
F1....in Indy?
Russ Bellinis
I think the lack of an US F1 race will probably see BMW and Mercedes leave F1 either to start a competing series or to simply drop out of open wheel racing. If I remember correctly they have already indicated that they are not interested in supporting a series that shuns their major market.
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