German GP is back for 2018; Good news but the venues are just uninspiring, wish they would redevelop Hockenheim to a high speed venue closer to the nature of the old circuit.
Malaysian GP dropped for 2018
And there is talk of a Vietnamese GP as they are interested in giving away 350 million euros, maybe a good sub for Malaysia
The Malaysian Grand Prix will be dropped from the Formula 1 calendar next year, after a joint decision was made with grand prix chiefs to end its deal early.
The long-term future of the Sepang event had been in doubt for several months, after government ministers announced last November that they would not fund an extension of the original deal that ran to the end of 2018.
The decision to not continue with F1 was based on the high costs of holding the event, allied to low ticket sales.
However, following discussions with new F1 owners Liberty Media, a deal has been reached for the contract to be terminated after this year's race – with the event being replaced by the returning German Grand Prix in 2018.
F1's managing director of commercial operations Sean Bratches said in a statement: "It's always sad to say goodbye to a member of the Formula 1 family.
"Over nearly two decades, the Malaysian Formula 1 fans have proven themselves to be some of the sport's most passionate supporters.
"As we said in Melbourne, we have big plans for bringing our global fan base closer to the sport than ever before, providing an enhanced digital experience and creating new events. We're looking forward to talking more about these plans as the season progresses.
"We will have 21 exciting events to look forward to in the 2018 calendar, with the additions of the French and German races. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank the Sepang International Circuit for their hospitality and professionalism over the years, and their ongoing commitment to motorsport."
Although Malaysia has not been able to make a success of its F1 race, the track remains fully committed to MotoGP – which has attracted bumper crowds and generates a profit for the circuit.
Former Formula 1 boss Bernie Ecclestone revealed that he turned down an estimated €350-million to add the Vietnam Grand Prix to the Formula 1 calendar.
Speaking in the wake of criticism from Liberty Media regarding his ruthless methods of signing up highest bidders to host races irrespective of their motorsport pedigree, Ecclestone told the Indepedent, “Last year I was approached about having a race in Vietnam. I was offered the opportunity to meet the president about doing a deal for a Grand Prix.”
“I could have done the deal and signed it in August. Everything was arranged for this to happen but I didn’t do the deal because we already have quite a few races in that part of the world and I thought it might be a little bit over the top to have another one.”
“It hasn’t got any racing history at all. So I didn’t want to put another race in the same sort of area where we already have very good promoters. And I was criticised for putting the races in Baku and in Russia because they hadn’t got that much racing history,” added Ecclestone.
The Vietnam option to host a grand prix was also bandied about by Heineken senior global brand director Gianluca Di Tondo who said
After the Italian Grand Prix at Monza last year, Gianluca Di Tondo, senior global brand director of F1 sponsor Heineken said, “Heineken is super-strong in Europe, We were born in Europe and are a European brand – but the playground for the future is Asia Pacific.”
“Asia Pacific is a strategic area for us and having seven races around this area is fantastic and the passion for Formula 1 in Asia is tangible.”
“We are very present in Vietnam through a local partner and they were our guests in Monza and they were over the moon. So why not have a race in Ho Chi Minh City?” he added.
In 2016 Heineken signed a mulit-year sponsorship deal with Formula 1 said to be worth over $200-million.
. But in all honesty, I can't see it happening - the laps would be really short (ref: DTM did 0:47.
, and massive changes would be necessary to make it safe.
