Discussion
thegreenhell said:
Confirmed cases of the virus are doubling every five days, and all British nationals in China are now being advised by our government to leave the country. It will likely be months, not weeks, before things return to normal and travel becomes possible again.
Also the Chinese have themselves started to close roads and rail - which adds further logistical impossibility. China is effectively in lockdown, and tomorrows meeting to discuss potential cancellation, seems more likely to be a meeting to discuss 'how to make the news official', along with whatever realistic alternative venue options might exist.The last GP to be cancelled was bahrain wasn't it? And that was never added back in later in the season as expected. The teams agreed to deal with the hassle of of a re-organised calendar, with India being shoe-horned in to the original Bahrain slot on the basis that Bahrain was simply dropped for the year, not moved to late in the season. In the event, The India circuit was not really ready come GP weekend - it went ahead but there was an awful lot of whinging and stories of the shortages of the most basic utilities, missing temporary buildings etc. Maybe that situation could be improved today, based on the past experience. Or maybe the teams nor circuits will be at all inclined to want to mess with the calendar last minute again.
If they were looking to replace the race at short notice then wouldn't Malaysia be ideal?
The circuit only came off the calendar just over a year ago so is presumably still kept to the FIA standard. It also used to host the race at around April time before it was moved to a later slot.
Malaysia would require smaller logistical adjustments than a Sochi swap as its not that far from Vietnam which will have been the previous round.
The circuit only came off the calendar just over a year ago so is presumably still kept to the FIA standard. It also used to host the race at around April time before it was moved to a later slot.
Malaysia would require smaller logistical adjustments than a Sochi swap as its not that far from Vietnam which will have been the previous round.
TwentyFive said:
If they were looking to replace the race at short notice then wouldn't Malaysia be ideal?
The circuit only came off the calendar just over a year ago so is presumably still kept to the FIA standard. It also used to host the race at around April time before it was moved to a later slot.
Malaysia would require smaller logistical adjustments than a Sochi swap as its not that far from Vietnam which will have been the previous round.
Malaysia stopped because the Government money stopped. Someone would still have to pay to hold the event ?The circuit only came off the calendar just over a year ago so is presumably still kept to the FIA standard. It also used to host the race at around April time before it was moved to a later slot.
Malaysia would require smaller logistical adjustments than a Sochi swap as its not that far from Vietnam which will have been the previous round.
F1 would need to fund it if they wanted it to take place.
Exige77 said:
Malaysia stopped because the Government money stopped. Someone would still have to pay to hold the event ?
F1 would need to fund it if they wanted it to take place.
Wherever they ask to swap or double up (if anywhere at all), is going to want money and/or some form of favourable adjustment to their contract for the next season. Not only is there very little time to get the agreements sorted and sell the tickets, which won't sell very well in any case, it will ALSO cost them more than usual to prepare the circuit and all facilities, many of which are temporary, at very short notice. In terms of shows and event, the shorter the notice period the greater the cost for everything. You pretty much have to start bribing people to get it done.F1 would need to fund it if they wanted it to take place.
Willing to bet there is no swap, unless some circuit steps forward that for whatever reason has their own motivations for wanting a swap and makes it reasonably affordable. This one race is only worth so much to Liberty..
Looks like the local government have stepped in, although could well be overruled by the national government..
https://twitter.com/albertfabrega/status/122497673...
Translation into English is here..
https://twitter.com/peke_formula1/status/122498306...
https://twitter.com/albertfabrega/status/122497673...
Translation into English is here..
https://twitter.com/peke_formula1/status/122498306...
Deesee said:
Looks like the local government have stepped in, although could well be overruled by the national government..
https://twitter.com/albertfabrega/status/122497673...
Translation into English is here..
https://twitter.com/peke_formula1/status/122498306...
Predictable. And overruled or not, public transport bans... Travel limitations, road closures and rail between provinces suspended.. Our own governments travel advice (thinking of travel insurance) and ultimately the fact that there are plain common sense reasons for the teams and fans to not want to go...https://twitter.com/albertfabrega/status/122497673...
Translation into English is here..
https://twitter.com/peke_formula1/status/122498306...
I'd say central government in China could overrule local, and it's not going to make any difference. Even if they do want the GP, it doesn't mean it's able to or willing to turn up.
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/chinese-gp-coro...
In a nutshell sounds to me like they'd rather the promoter calls it off than anyone on the F1 side...
As for finding a slot to run it later on the year.. that would effectively be another 2 weeks more work for the teams, 2 weeks less prep time for 2021, why would they agree to that? It's already the busiest season for them ever with the hectic calendar and 2021 prep.
In a nutshell sounds to me like they'd rather the promoter calls it off than anyone on the F1 side...
As for finding a slot to run it later on the year.. that would effectively be another 2 weeks more work for the teams, 2 weeks less prep time for 2021, why would they agree to that? It's already the busiest season for them ever with the hectic calendar and 2021 prep.
TheDeuce said:
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/chinese-gp-coro...
In a nutshell sounds to me like they'd rather the promoter calls it off than anyone on the F1 side...
As for finding a slot to run it later on the year.. that would effectively be another 2 weeks more work for the teams, 2 weeks less prep time for 2021, why would they agree to that? It's already the busiest season for them ever with the hectic calendar and 2021 prep.
In a nutshell sounds to me like they'd rather the promoter calls it off than anyone on the F1 side...
As for finding a slot to run it later on the year.. that would effectively be another 2 weeks more work for the teams, 2 weeks less prep time for 2021, why would they agree to that? It's already the busiest season for them ever with the hectic calendar and 2021 prep.
If F1 call off the race, they will have to pay some sort of compensation, if the promoter / government does it then no need.
Exige77 said:
If F1 call off the race, they will have to pay some sort of compensation, if the promoter / government does it then no need.
Also to a lesser degree, I suppose no one wants to be seen as the spoilsport that called off the GP.. although I'd like to think the majory of F1 fans are just about reasonable enough to understand why.
TheDeuce said:
Exige77 said:
If F1 call off the race, they will have to pay some sort of compensation, if the promoter / government does it then no need.
Also to a lesser degree, I suppose no one wants to be seen as the spoilsport that called off the GP.. although I'd like to think the majory of F1 fans are just about reasonable enough to understand why.
If Government call it off, it will be covered by “force majeure” and no one will have to pay anything.
Exige77 said:
It’s a business so “spoil sport” doesn’t come into it.
If Government call it off, it will be covered by “force majeure” and no one will have to pay anything.
Disagree - it's a business whose product is sold to fans who look forward to receiving. The spoilsport element is not of zero value in that equation. The fact cold hard cash is the number one concern doesn't mean that other angles angles are of zero concern.If Government call it off, it will be covered by “force majeure” and no one will have to pay anything.
Just to reiterate, I certainly don't see it as spoiling anyone's fun, it's very sensible for it not to go ahead. But I do also think some people will roll their eyes as and when it's officially called off.
It's better for F1 on many a level if the authorities call it off for them. It's a bigger concern than the costs associated with just the organisers and circuit.
TheDeuce said:
Deesee said:
The teams only accepted last season's and this seasons schedule begrudgingly. There was never much chance of them accepting yet more pressure and hassle. Time to crack on with the season ahead and accept that China simply isn't part of it this year.
thegreenhell said:
Deesee said:
Makes you wonder what Bernie would have done...
Probably threaten to cancel Silverstone and have the Chinese race then instead...It's a tricky one. There has always been a need to negotiate with the teams, typically they concede one thing in return for another, fairly standard negotiation technique that BE was pretty good at, and certainly did seem to end up with a little more than he offered in return in the long run
The problem is, the give and take process for this season, in respect of the calendar, has already been and passed. The teams have already no doubt conceded certain things in return for others. The idea of shoehorning China back in to the schedule at some vague point in the future is a lot to ask them to support at a time they have already accepted such a hectic season, whilst also trying to keep any spare resources directed at 2021.
The cost in terms of upset to force this GP back in to existence this year probably isn't worth it. I say 'probably' as we don't actually know the full cost of losing the GP to liberty from the perspective of TV rights agreements.
It's just another unforeseen side effect of increasing the calendar as much as they have. It wouldn't have been nearly as much of a problem back in the days of 16 or 18 race seasons. If they want to pack the calendar as tightly as they can then they just have to accept that races are cancelled rather than postponed when stuff happens like this.
thegreenhell said:
It's just another unforeseen side effect of increasing the calendar as much as they have. It wouldn't have been nearly as much of a problem back in the days of 16 or 18 race seasons. If they want to pack the calendar as tightly as they can then they just have to accept that races are cancelled rather than postponed when stuff happens like this.
Exactly. Even back in 2011 we were told Bahrain would be postponed not cancelled when the 'Arab Spring' caused it to be postponed. The teams formed a united front about that too, and it did not return later that year as a result. There were only 20 races on the calendar that year. Subsequently just 19 ran. The teams can't run efficiently enough to fit so many races in and also deal with vague schedules.With increased efficiency comes decreased flexibility. Anyone that's ever asked for their Big Mac to cooked medium rare should know that
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