As any racing fan Down Under will tell you, the Australian Grand Prix has a long and rich history. The event has been held annually since 1928, and has been a staple of the Formula One calendar since 1985, usually either kicking off or ending the season. History might not be worth as much as cold hard cash to Bernie Ecclestone, though, as the F1 manager is reportedly preparing to scrap the Melbourne event in favor of a new one in Russia.
This weekend Ecclestone was slated to meet with government officials in St. Petersburg to discuss building a new circuit there to host a Russian Grand Prix. But with the calendar already stretched thin, something's got to give, and Ecclestone has reportedly grown impatient with the Aussie event, whose organizers have been resistant to the idea of turning their event into a night race like Singapore's, prompting reports that Bernie won't renew Australia's contract beyond 2010. With the Indian Grand Prix set to debut in the same year, F1 could be dominated by events in Asia by the end of the decade.
[Source: F1-Live]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
jones @ Feb 12th 2008 3:12AM
Man, Bernie is perhaps the greediest man on planet Earth.
He'll go anywhere for a buck.
why not the LS2LS7? @ Feb 12th 2008 3:32AM
I'd be a little bit surprised if F1 pulled out of Australia as long as Champ Car is still there.
Patrick @ Feb 12th 2008 4:01AM
Great... more asains... stupid monkeys are taking over the world and no one dares say a thing.
chris @ Feb 12th 2008 4:15AM
What does Champ Car have anything to do with this? The average Australian motorsport fan wouldn't even recognise Will Power if they saw him, they probably don't even know that Champ Cars is the open-wheel series that races here alongside the V8s once a year. The only series that means anything here is V8 Supercars, F1 has lost a lot of support due to being increasingly boring as the years go by, and it doesn't pull in enough money to Melbourne to justify the cost of running the event. Costs that would skyrocket with the installation and running of lights if forced to run the race at night. 2010 will definitely be the last Australian GP for quite a long time.
why not the LS2LS7? @ Feb 12th 2008 11:45AM
Right right. I guess all those people at the Surfer's Paradise race are cardboard cutouts.
It doesn't make sense to leave a market to your competitor, even if you competitor is weak. You're only going to give them a chance to increase in stature. Maybe they'd offer some up and comers (like Whincup or such) from V8 Supercars a ride in Champ Cars to hope to transfer fans. You never know.
I understand what you're saying about the race costing too much. I'm sure the sanctioning fees are enormous for F1. But lighting isn't that bad. In the US, they will set up temporary lighting for college football games. Lighting a race would cost more (due to more installations), but it can't be that bad. They currently set up those huge videowalls simply to make seats more attractive, setting up a few lights can't be that bad.
I guess you think Bernie doesn't consider himself in competition with Champ Car, which might be true given F1 left the US already. But I think that there's a chance Bernie might be wrong.
ronnie @ Feb 12th 2008 6:07AM
F1 could be dominated by events in Asia by the end of the decade. this is true!
http://cars.ozfreeonline.com
Peter L @ Feb 12th 2008 6:19AM
I guess new criminal generated money in Russia is more plentiful than hard earned Aussie dollars where there are many true fans with a long motoring history.
Bernie should be ashamed of himself
Shaft @ Feb 12th 2008 7:17AM
Denny Hulme turns over in his grave.
saycheese @ Feb 12th 2008 10:17AM
What does that make you, getting taken over by "stupid monkeys", you silly goofy racist prick?
saycheese @ Feb 12th 2008 10:19AM
The above comment was aimed at Patrick the prick's comment
"Great... more asains... stupid monkeys are taking over the world and no one dares say a thing."
Fix the freaking reply function autoblog, and keep these racist bigots off the site.
Bryan @ Feb 12th 2008 10:50AM
Yup, go where all the money is being thrown at you. It would be better to add another race and venue. Don't take that away from the Aussies.
pmiddle5 @ Feb 12th 2008 12:38PM
If they keep it as a rotating schedule I dont really care. Maybe they can officially have a world championship instead of a European championship.
NarutoRamen @ Feb 12th 2008 2:05PM
In Russia, F1 car drives you!
Anyways, I wonder how the Aussies feel about their race going over to Russia.
Smeagle @ Feb 12th 2008 4:22PM
@ Patrick:
Insecure much?
Chrisd @ Feb 12th 2008 4:37PM
Hello All
I am a Aussie racing fan ( love F1, Indy and V8 Supercars ) , and would be sad to see our F1 event go to Russia, unfortunately I am enough of a realist to realize that if Melbourne isn't interested in renewing the contract after 2010 then Bernie has no choice but to find a replacement. The Gold Coast has been named as an alternative, but the thirty five million Bernie wants in fees will probably make that a non starter.
Patrick @ Feb 12th 2008 5:20PM
Is that you in the pic?... = monkey
chris @ Feb 12th 2008 5:22PM
No, a good 95% of the people at Surfer's Paradise are there to watch V8 Supercars, to party and to get drunk. As someone who actually lives in Australia, and knows about the Australian people, I know that Champ Cars is about as much of a competitor to Formula 1 in Australia as Mario Kart is.
why not the LS2LS7? @ Feb 13th 2008 2:15AM
If going to races didn't involve partying and getting drunk, both V8 Supercars and F1 would have a lot of problem lining up fans.
I'm not saying V8 Supercars isn't popular, but the Champ Car race has been there for 17 years and V8 Supercars has only been around for 11. So surely Australians found something interesting about the Champ Car/CART/Indy, is that so difficult for you to admit?
I don't know about in Australia, but Mario Kart is pretty big here.
Anton LANG @ Feb 13th 2008 6:24PM
And he's not even Australian.
Anton LANG @ Feb 13th 2008 6:27PM
Same problem with the reply tab.
Above comment regarding he's not even Australian a reply to the Denny Hulme comment, Denny, being a very proud New Zealander.