Kiskaloo
Well-Known Member
F1 has a history of following the cash rather than the fans, and I fear that's why F1 is going to so many new countries like Russia, and India, etc. You only need to see a headline like "Russia to spend ?200m on Grand Prix" to realise that.
That's definitely been the case since Bernie took effective control. No track, no matter how packed, can generate the eight-figures he demands for an annual sanctioning fee - only governments. So we've seen all these new "national" tracks pop up in India, Russia, Singapore, Turkey and the Middle East while "traditional and historical" tracks like Indy, Spa, and Silverstone either pushed aside or placed at risk of being pushed aside until they opened the vaults.
The only reason Austin has a grand prix is because the State of Texas is fronting the sanctioning fee. I'm guessing New Jersey is picking up the tab for this one, which is why it's happening.
Germany needs only double their funding and they can have both tracks host an event every year again. And 20 million Euro should get the streets of Paris shaking to the sounds of turbo engines.
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