Saudi Arabia added to 2021 calender
Discussion
DrDeAtH said:
I suspect, if they get the track finished in time, it will be a very slippy track for this race.
Tracks done by all accounts, good to go. And I expect you're right, it will be slippery - unless they have gone the other route and negated the problems with fresh tarmac by selecting a particularly abrasive mix for the surface, although that could easily bring it's own problems too.Any new circuit combined with brand new tarmac is going to spin the heads of Pirelli and the teams engineers and strategists.
Good for us viewers though...
Not trying to be all virtue signally about this but I don't think F1 should be going to places with such a poor record regarding human rights. I'm choosing not to watch this race even though I'm an F1 fanatic and loving the 2021 season. The line has to be drawn somewhere and viewership figures (money) are the only language the organisers seem to understand.
F1 can paint this any way they want but it's a money decision plain and simple.
F1 can paint this any way they want but it's a money decision plain and simple.
patmahe said:
Not trying to be all virtue signally about this but I don't think F1 should be going to places with such a poor record regarding human rights. I'm choosing not to watch this race even though I'm an F1 fanatic and loving the 2021 season. The line has to be drawn somewhere and viewership figures (money) are the only language the organisers seem to understand.
F1 can paint this any way they want but it's a money decision plain and simple.
So is China. Their campaign against the Uhyguirs has not stopped.....F1 can paint this any way they want but it's a money decision plain and simple.
So is Bahrain. Remember when F1 boycotted the race over the Arab Spring only to return a year later?
So is the UAE and their slave-built empire...
So is Narco-Mexico.
F1 will always prostitute itself to the highest bidder.
Or are we being selectively outraged depending on which country it is?
Maybe boycott the British GP as well then... https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/feb/09/uk-a...
Schermerhorn said:
patmahe said:
Not trying to be all virtue signally about this but I don't think F1 should be going to places with such a poor record regarding human rights. I'm choosing not to watch this race even though I'm an F1 fanatic and loving the 2021 season. The line has to be drawn somewhere and viewership figures (money) are the only language the organisers seem to understand.
F1 can paint this any way they want but it's a money decision plain and simple.
So is China. Their campaign against the Uhyguirs has not stopped.....F1 can paint this any way they want but it's a money decision plain and simple.
So is Bahrain. Remember when F1 boycotted the race over the Arab Spring only to return a year later?
So is the UAE and their slave-built empire...
So is Narco-Mexico.
F1 will always prostitute itself to the highest bidder.
Or are we being selectively outraged depending on which country it is?
Plus remember, no one will know/care you’re not watching or have any impact other than robbing yourself of your own interest.
patmahe said:
Not trying to be all virtue signally about this but I don't think F1 should be going to places with such a poor record regarding human rights. I'm choosing not to watch this race even though I'm an F1 fanatic and loving the 2021 season. The line has to be drawn somewhere and viewership figures (money) are the only language the organisers seem to understand.
F1 can paint this any way they want but it's a money decision plain and simple.
The middle east is fked up in many ways by western standards. Why don't you want F1 to go there as a beacon and motivator for change? Don't you think a few young and confused people in Qatar might have been influenced and bolstered by Lewis's LGBT whatever helmet this weekend gone? Or the local girls watching the race and seeing female's working alongside males in the garages?F1 can paint this any way they want but it's a money decision plain and simple.
It's fine to show displeasure at what goes on in the ME region, but it's plain selfish imo to argue to keep western influence out of that region - if you agree western ways are better, you should support sharing and spreading of those ways. You can't do that without actually going to other places..
LM240 said:
Schermerhorn said:
patmahe said:
Not trying to be all virtue signally about this but I don't think F1 should be going to places with such a poor record regarding human rights. I'm choosing not to watch this race even though I'm an F1 fanatic and loving the 2021 season. The line has to be drawn somewhere and viewership figures (money) are the only language the organisers seem to understand.
F1 can paint this any way they want but it's a money decision plain and simple.
So is China. Their campaign against the Uhyguirs has not stopped.....F1 can paint this any way they want but it's a money decision plain and simple.
So is Bahrain. Remember when F1 boycotted the race over the Arab Spring only to return a year later?
So is the UAE and their slave-built empire...
So is Narco-Mexico.
F1 will always prostitute itself to the highest bidder.
Or are we being selectively outraged depending on which country it is?
Plus remember, no one will know/care you’re not watching or have any impact other than robbing yourself of your own interest.
mick987 said:
LM240 said:
Schermerhorn said:
patmahe said:
Not trying to be all virtue signally about this but I don't think F1 should be going to places with such a poor record regarding human rights. I'm choosing not to watch this race even though I'm an F1 fanatic and loving the 2021 season. The line has to be drawn somewhere and viewership figures (money) are the only language the organisers seem to understand.
F1 can paint this any way they want but it's a money decision plain and simple.
So is China. Their campaign against the Uhyguirs has not stopped.....F1 can paint this any way they want but it's a money decision plain and simple.
So is Bahrain. Remember when F1 boycotted the race over the Arab Spring only to return a year later?
So is the UAE and their slave-built empire...
So is Narco-Mexico.
F1 will always prostitute itself to the highest bidder.
Or are we being selectively outraged depending on which country it is?
Plus remember, no one will know/care you’re not watching or have any impact other than robbing yourself of your own interest.
Joking aside - it does fascinate me that me that one of the most meritorious, gender and race neutral sports on the planet, going to less awakened parts of the world is somehow seen as a bad thing. The only reason the west is so open minded about equality is because multiple travelling and invading forces have proven that the domestic way of thinking is not always the best.. So, duh, obviously if we think Western culture is more palatable than eastern culture, go to the east and share our culture over there.
I'm well aware that the Mid east are prone to use such sports to 'wash' themselves of various other less globally accepted practices. But that intent doesn't actually mean there is not value from sharing sports and, thus, culture.
jsf said:
I dont recall Emily pankhurst invading the UK.
Lasting social change comes about by internal pressure and desires.
And where do internal desires come from..? At least in part it has to be from what the people witness as a different way of living life.Lasting social change comes about by internal pressure and desires.
I'd never claim a big, or even measurable effect from that all western sports, let alone just F1 can do. But showing women at work alongside men working on the cars, and Lewis with whatever 'message' he selects next week, can only help in some small way to set minds thinking. It's not about attributing F1 with anything specific at all, it's about a general willingness to take opportunities to share and influence cultures in general.
There is certainly no reason for western sports to NOT go to such places. At worst they will have a fractional positive effect. At best, they will raise headlines about only going there in the first place because the receiving country wishes to sports-wash. Either way, I'd vote to keep going to such places.
thegreenhell said:
Maybe boycott the British GP as well then... https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/feb/09/uk-a...
and Germany, who had a slightly troubled past.....In fact, we wouldn't have to try to hard to find a reason to every country that hosts a F1 race.
All the talk of slave labour.... Yet no one mentions that the majority comes from a country where 80 million people live in extreme poverty, where over 1 million children die each year of preventable disease, over 100 million don't have access to clean water.....
Yet has a government with a space programme.
Granted, the working conditions aren't anything like aligned with the western world, but they remain better than their home country.
Yet has a government with a space programme.
Granted, the working conditions aren't anything like aligned with the western world, but they remain better than their home country.
TheDeuce said:
And where do internal desires come from..? At least in part it has to be from what the people witness as a different way of living life.
I'd never claim a big, or even measurable effect from that all western sports, let alone just F1 can do. But showing women at work alongside men working on the cars, and Lewis with whatever 'message' he selects next week, can only help in some small way to set minds thinking. It's not about attributing F1 with anything specific at all, it's about a general willingness to take opportunities to share and influence cultures in general.
There is certainly no reason for western sports to NOT go to such places. At worst they will have a fractional positive effect. At best, they will raise headlines about only going there in the first place because the receiving country wishes to sports-wash. Either way, I'd vote to keep going to such places.
I know they’re starting from a very low base, but the younger leaders in KSA are at least trying to modernise the country, and the F1 is part of this. I'd never claim a big, or even measurable effect from that all western sports, let alone just F1 can do. But showing women at work alongside men working on the cars, and Lewis with whatever 'message' he selects next week, can only help in some small way to set minds thinking. It's not about attributing F1 with anything specific at all, it's about a general willingness to take opportunities to share and influence cultures in general.
There is certainly no reason for western sports to NOT go to such places. At worst they will have a fractional positive effect. At best, they will raise headlines about only going there in the first place because the receiving country wishes to sports-wash. Either way, I'd vote to keep going to such places.
Rather like with Greta the climate activist, if all people do is criticise whatever steps are taken as not being nearly enough, then the often huge progress that has been made gets ignored. KSA in 2021, is a very different place from only a decade or two ago.
Better to see, as you say, dozens of women working and not wearing burkas, and Lewis wearing his rainbow helmet.
We can always find reasons not to go to any country, but it’s always much better to try and show the people in these countries the good parts of Western customs and values.
Super Sonic said:
sgtBerbatov said:
I'm quite excited to see the return of Stewart GP, if that second image is to be believed.
Otherwise, roll on a woman getting in to F1 and winning a race there.
Will she be allowed to drive in a Saudi gp?Otherwise, roll on a woman getting in to F1 and winning a race there.
They had female drivers in a session when Formula E first went to Diriyah I'm pretty sure, I think it was said to be at the request of the Saudi authorities even. They know they need to outwardly appeal to the west, that's more important than allowing women to drive on the roads was.
When the circus leaves town they can relax and do some chop chop again.
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