No more Monaco?

[Dukeage]

There is... except it is in Monaco, and that is close enough, and so is Spa... how many Gp's need to be within that small land mass called Europe?

You do realize that "that small land mass called Europe" is where - shock horror - the majority of the fans are?

[Super racing]

Super racing, independent of you liking or disliking Europe or European races, some respect regarding traditions, nationalities and countries is required. Monaco is not France, the sea or Italy. As many territories in the world and in Europe, they are an independent region with it's own government, traditions and even language. We don't know were you are from but I'm sure you wouldn't like to have your heritage and nationality put down and reduced to something irrelevant and that no one cares but yourself.

Monaco is not independent as you claim, they are dependent on France for defence and the official language is French, contrary to what you claim... Again I say the Monaco GP does well enough as a French GP(Spa isnt to far either, neither is silverstone, Nurbergring, Hockenheim) no need for both. Mexico, US, South Africa, Venezuala, India, Russia would be better choices than France for a new GP.

and no "some respect regarding traditions, nationalities and countries is required" is NOT REQUIRED, do not try to impose your beliefs on others

[Just_a_fan]

do not try to impose your beliefs on others

And yet you are allowed to do so?

Ultimately, F1 is a European sport just as baseball is mostly a US sport.

Sure, Bernie wants to take F1 to other countries but not because he cares about those countries; he wants to go there because most of them have Govts who are happy to use public money to attract an expensive 'sport' for their own reflected glory.

[Super racing]

do not try to impose your beliefs on others

And yet you are allowed to do so?

Ultimately, F1 is a European sport just as baseball is mostly a US sport.

Sure, Bernie wants to take F1 to other countries but not because he cares about those countries; he wants to go there because most of them have Govts who are happy to use public money to attract an expensive 'sport' for their own reflected glory.

In what way have I done so? All I claimed was that only europeans care about their "traditions" and "heritage".

Baseball is no longer a US sport... MLB is huge yes, but the teams are mostly comprised of players from central america and the carribean, and the US national team can no longer win the world tournements...

Who cares where F1 started... were you there? If it is truly a world sport it should be contested throughout the world. And so what if it goes to gov'ts that are willing to pay... isnt that the free market system? I'd rather my gov't spend money on F1 rather than wage war across the globe. Maybe the french gov't could buy 1 less jet fighter and fund an F1 race, but they wont.

and no Europe is not where most of the fans are, that is just where most of the fans are counted. are there more fans in Brazil or in France? F1T is testamony that there are more fans outside of europe than in it.

[manchild]

Super racing, F1 is a pretty, smart, well educated girl from good family which you'd like to kidnap and turn into global whore. No can do. F1 has wide family and lots of friends - worldwide.

If you have problems with F1 origins, heritage and location of majority of fans, than invent another series please.

F1 was always European sport, occasionally visiting other continents and welcomed as such. Good host turns to visitor's customs, bad host imposes his own.

[Super racing]

I dont have any problem with F1's origin, I DONT CARE, and again the majority of fans are outside of Europe not in it. And no F1 is not a nice pretty girl it is a racing series, one that has been a whore for Tabacco companies, oil conmpanies, banks, and all other types of useless unnessary products, not to mention Bernie's whore for a long time. Having a French GP wont change any of that.

Was is the operative word in your post WAS, it no longer is, get with the program. And again stop imposing your european beliefs, A good host has no need to turn any "customs", I know that was the way imposed during the colonial days, but those days are over, Europe is going bankrupt and the world is speeding past it... get over it.

No need for a French GP, they can take a nice scenic ride on the train down to Monaco, thankfully it will be on the calander for at least the next 10 years.

[Giblet]

At least a French GP would fill the grandstands as it did in the past, unlike Bahrain, Turkey, or Shanghai. These just line Bernie's pockets.

If nobody goes to the races, what's the point? The atmosphere is a big part of the spectacle of the race. Ticket sales and merchandise sold are also huge revenue streams, but are nonexistent at these races.

Where is guarantee that India will fill the track with spectators in 5 years time. I would put more stock in European venues of tradition.

[Super racing]

Germany was short 15K spectators last race, SPA never sells out, and yes there were some open seats at Monaco, on the flip USGP had 250K plus at some early races and never less than 100K... number of spectators means nothing.

Magne Cours was hated by the teams and very poorly attended

[Giblet]

It does, cuz I am talking about nearly empty grandstands at the races I mentioned. Not every race will sell out, but having entire empty grandstands is no good, and means far more than nothing.

[Mr Alcatraz]

Super racing, F1 is a pretty, smart, well educated girl from good family which you'd like to kidnap and turn into global whore. No can do. F1 has wide family and lots of friends - worldwide.

If you have problems with F1 origins, heritage and location of majority of fans, than invent another series please.

F1 was always European sport, occasionally visiting other continents and welcomed as such. Good host turns to visitor's customs, bad host imposes his own.

+1
As I stated earlier in this thread I think it is obscene to send a race to a country that has no tradition (or decent currently running domestic open-wheel racing series). And your use of the term global whore is most appropriate.

[Scuderia_Russ]

Both Hungaroring and Magny Cours are a waste of space IMO.

Someone from France could say the same for Silverstone.

They wouldn't if they had any sense... and there is no need to roll your eyes! Silverstone is an exciting track that produces some very good racing. Magny Cours does not. I'm sure there are plenty of people in France that will tell you exactly the same!

I'm not insisting on Magny Cours as circuit, it's just that France as the cradle of motorsport and GP racing, a country highly involved in motorsport globally and F1 should have a F1 GP. Mangy Cours, Paul Ricard some older rejuvenated circuit like Clermon Feran or Dijon - irrelevant.

I completely agree... but Magny Cours does not produce exciting races.
We had a sports car race at Dijon in late '07 and it looks exactly the same as it did on the video of Villeneuve and Arnoux that you always see on You Tube from '79. Needs alot of money spending on it. Paul Ricard would not look very good on television because of the high friction strips that run alongside the circuit. So what are the other options?

There should be a GP in France.

Agree 100%. Where have all the French drivers gone? There was a time when F1 was dominated by French and Italian drivers.

[Dukeage]

the majority of fans are outside of Europe not in it.

Probably not, and those fans are concentrated in countries like Japan, Australia and Brazil. Not China. Not Bahrain. Not the UAE. Not Turkey. Not India.

[Agenda_Is_Incorrect]

Was is the operative word in your post WAS, it no longer is, get with the program. And again stop imposing your european beliefs, A good host has no need to turn any "customs", I know that was the way imposed during the colonial days, but those days are over, Europe is going bankrupt and the world is speeding past it... get over it.

As suspected, you have a problem with Europe and not Monaco GP or French GP. So this is already going off-topic and into a distorted discussion, isn't it?

It's quite rude of you considering any GP "near" France, even if it is in Germany, French enough. Just because it is a small continent that doesn't mean it's all the same, that's quite colonial of yourself. Monaco is independent, even with limitations, and they have their own language. Just like Italy has one official language but each part speaks its own. If you did a visit there only to see what you wanted to see you won't realise that. And I'm not imposing anything, respect is a requirement always. If you don't like any nationality or tradition that's up to you, being disrespectful about it is not nice, nor is generalizing that no one other than Europeans care about F1's tradition and also about nationalities.

Stop imposing your disliking into the topic and the subject of the Monaco GP or French GP ignoring the fact that they are two different countries that both deserve to have races by F1's tradition, fan base and current contribution to the sport (like French teams and French engines). Don't do it regarding the fan base as well. I can assure you that even though Brazil is much larger than France there are many more fans of F1 in France. After Senna's death the fan base of F1 in Brazil is now about as large as the Indy fan base. If population size was the only thing to count for Japan, Australia, Malaysia and many other great non-European races wouldn't exist and wouldn't have local fans and have individual races. Thankfully it's not like that.

PS: It's Venezuela, not Venezuala.

[rahulsampath]

At least a French GP would fill the grandstands as it did in the past, unlike Bahrain, Turkey, or Shanghai. These just line Bernie's pockets.

If nobody goes to the races, what's the point? The atmosphere is a big part of the spectacle of the race. Ticket sales and merchandise sold are also huge revenue streams, but are nonexistent at these races.

Where is guarantee that India will fill the track with spectators in 5 years time. I would put more stock in European venues of tradition.

I think everyone is expecting the Indian Grand Prix to be a failure.Being an Indian,In my view the only thing that could go wrong is the track not completing in time.F1 Fan base here is huge [not comparing to European countries ]you have to see it to believe it.Last year when Renault came here for roadshow,the total attendence was around 1,00,000.During Hamilton's visit to Mumbai,even he was surprised by the crowd in front of him for his autograph.Same response for the Redbull F1 promotion event also.

[Just_a_fan]

The key issue with the Indian GP will be ticket prices. Whilst there are a lot of rich people in India, are enough of them F1 fans? If not, will the ticket prices be such that the other, poorer, fans are unable to attend?

This is not a dig at India; the sad reality is that F1 ticket prices around the world are too high and that does affect spectator numbers at the circuit.

I think F1 needs to be in India (and China) more than it needs to be in the US - India is likely to be one of the dominant economies in this century with a huge population eager to soak up 'the western lifestyle'. The potential is huge - much more than the US which has a mature home-grown motorsports scene unrelated to F1.