PH blog: Why Bernie makes me angry
F1 In Europe is 'the past' reckons Bernie. How to lose fans and alienate people, pt94
Cheers, Bernie. Kick a continent while it's down, won't you? Of course, Formula One is a business, so Ecclestone is bound to go chasing the money. Hence the Arabian peninsula GPs, Singapore, China India and Korea. Next up is Russia, and Bernie is keen to get F1 into even more global markets. Russia is coming, and Mexico and South Africa could be in the running, too.
All of which is well and good, but it could be a short-sighted plan. If you don't have a decent fanbase, a GP won't make money and Bernie will shut them down. Low spectator numbers for Korea, Bahrain, China and Turkey have proven that big investment does not necessarily equate to big public support.
Which is why I reckon Europe still has a massive part to play in the F1 game. All the F1 teams are based in Europe, and most of the European F1 races draw big crowds (even if the circuits don't make big money). I would also be willing to bet that, as a continent, Europe has the most consistently committed F1 followers.
Writing off a continent of 500 million people that has been at the heart of motorsport for a century in favour of an uncertain future gain seems like madness. Lose the fans and, in the end, F1 is nothing. Bernie would do well to remember that.
Riggers
What a dickspring.
ETA:
- This is surely his Ratner moment.
- I'm glad 'dcikspring' has been cleared for deployment the PH profanity hamsters.
By suggesting that those races in Europe are in jeapordy, he sparks serious interest from those wannabe F1 hosts, who see an opening in the calendar. He also makes those already on the calendar sit up and take notice, realising (he should really just issue a monthly memo to them all really..) that they are not invincible.
The upshot? Better scope for negotiation for Bernie, and potential for higher revenues as a result.
As an F1 fan, no Euro races does gall me, but, when it comes to appreciating Bernie's business brain, I can see why he is doing it.
Guys pinching his Hublot would have to wait in line to give him a kicking now; it seems.
Long time supporter of F1 but this last couple of years the motoGP has been so much more interesting, watching the riders balance on one wheel as they drop through the corkscrew at Laguna seca showed what F1 is missing for all the DRS, Kers and blown diffuser what nots.
Excitement and the ability to see and marvel at the drivers skill. No question the F1 boys are at the top of their game but it all seems so controlled and manufactured to the arm chair enthusiast Sky is welcome to it all.
Please BBC put your F1 teams knowledge into the motoGP and educate us new starters to the sport in all we have missed.
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