Should countries 'deserve' the right to host F1

[Cam]

There has been a lot talk this year with Bahrain under the spotlight with civil unrest, Korea taking massive financial losses on each event and now Brazil is in the midst of a huge crime spree with more than 1000 murders in Sao Paulo this year alone. The sport does have sway and it does have a conscious, both as an organisation and as a result of the collective teams and associated staff and fans.

Currently, F1 is saying "its okay to be bad, we'll still reward you with a show, because we don't mix sport with politics".

With many countries looking to host an F1 event should this be reconsidered? Remove the argument that politics and sport should not mix - would you prefer to see countries deserve the right to host an F1 event?

[Blue fellow]

I thought France deserved a Formula 1 Grand Prix, particularly more deserving then Spain's two Grand Prix

[bhall]

I don't think anyone deserves anything for any reason ever. In my experience, at least, that's not how life works. It's all just a series of choices and consequences.

Formula One made a choice to accept the money associated with the Bahrain Grand Prix, despite its political situation and the fact that there's little, if any, fan support for F1 within Bahrain. Consequently, Formula One got a bit of a black eye this year because of its tacit endorsement of Bahraini government policy, and, yet again, one spot on the calendar was occupied by a venue with little potential to grow the sport. Similarly, FOM and Korean Grand Prix organizers made a choice to consummate an apparently unsustainable contract, and, consequently, it's unlikely the sport will be given a real chance to make inroads in the world's 15th-largest economy.

The choice to chase treasure has resulted in the loss of a race in France, the birthplace of grand prix racing. The same choice has presented great difficulties even for established F1 markets and venues like Silverstone, Nurburgring/Hockenheim, Spa, Barcelona/Valencia, Melbourne, the United States, and others.

I guess my point is that Formula One doesn't really have a leg to stand on when it comes to taking a position one way or the other over matters of "conscience." It's about money. It's always about money. If you can pay, F1 will travel.

[Cam]

I guess we already knew that about F1, but "should" F1 move towards this?

What would be the pros and cons of only every ensuring the right countries can have the privilege of hosting an F1 event?

Sometimes a sport becomes bigger than politics. Bernie won't be around forever so the leadership will change - is this the time to determine how F1 can be a real leader on the world stage and force change for the better?

[Cam]

I thought France deserved a Formula 1 Grand Prix, particularly more deserving then Spain's two Grand Prix

Good example. France has motoring heritage, a manufacturer and several drivers in F1. Koreas has no drivers and no manufacturers, no fans and no visitors to the event. I guess this is a good example of why this is and should it be allowed to occur?

I'm not saying get rid of Korea, but why should France be overlooked simply because Korea coughed up enough cash? With F1 riding on the heritage of its name, surely that must go both ways?

[FW17]

France has a big Motorsport scene as England, so i do not understand how they could not make F1 work at a site as Silverstone has done.
Quiet sure all EU GPs would have had a similar deal to Silverstone, however they seem to be the only one generating profits. Quiet strange that Germany, France, Belgium etc are not able to pull it off.

I would also like to see a scandinavia GP, considering one hasn't taken place in over 30 years

[bhall]

Which countries are the "right" countries? Are they those whose people speak a certain language or look a certain way? Or are they those whose governments are organized by a specific set of constitutional provisions? Must they meet some historical criteria?

I have a huge problem with the way the business of F1 is conducted, because I think it forsakes sustainability in favor of quick windfalls. However, I also think it's 100% correct for the sport to do business with governments/entities as disparate as Monaco, Bahrain, the United States, and China. What's "right" and what's "wrong" are not issues for sports to decide. In fact, I think sports succeed most when it transcends politics altogether.

[Cam]

It's hard to pick "right" countries, I agree. However discounting "wrong" countries is straight forward. Minimum human rights could be a starting point. Cricket teams wanted to boycott Zimbabwe due th their human rights abuses. I think the UK actually refused to play in Zimbabwe?

Point is, look to set a minimum standard that countries could aspire to reach with F1 a reward.

[WhiteBlue]

France certainly has a strong point to always be included in the championship as have Italy, Britain and Germany. Those countries have been in GP racing for more than 100 years. The French case is slightly weakened by the existence of the Monaco GP. I see this similar to the historical San Marino GP which was basically a second Italian race. So I would not too much worry if there isn't a French GP as long as Monaco remains on the calendar.
There are some other countries who deserve the right to be there. Japan, Australia, the USA, Brazil (or any other South American race) and South Africa (or any other African race) are also essential in my view.
Then you have the special case of the Belgian GP. This is simply essential because it is the greatest motor racing circuit on earth. The fans and the drivers know it and F1 has to recognize it.
So this brings us to ten countries that are essential on the calendar for historic reasons and because they represent whole continents in the history of the sport.
There are some GPs that are very desirable because they address important markets or have unique characteristics. China, India, Russia, Turkey, Abu Dhabi, and Singapore would fall into that category for me. Of those six Turkey and Singapore are more of the unique style with the night race in Singapore and the track in Turkey being something special.
I would award the other four or six races according to commercial priorities. And generally I feel that there should be more races in the southern hemisphere or at least in climates that allow for racing in February, March, October and November. I would like a season that runs from February to November with a two month winter break only and no more than a three week break in summer. Actually there could be two three week breaks with two months between them to give the travelling circus some breaks in that schedule. We could still have 22 to 24 races with such a schedule.
The question of "undeserving" a race is a thorny one. If a country is simply unsafe to go its right to a GP must come under scrutiny. Such races should be skipped until the situation satisfies criteria that should be spelled out by the FiA.

[FoxHound]

A Namibian desert race would be a fine proposition. All you need is cash, lots of it.<problem>

South Africa too, would be a great addition to the calender. However, Kyalami has never been my favourite track even in South Africa. Kilarney and Swartkops are not up to standard so I would probably go with a street race around the Cape town waterfront....going from day to night. That would be something special.

[astracrazy]

i don't think any country deserves one, they build the track and pay the fee like everyone else. For me it has to fit, the rumours of greece wanting one for example its stupid.

Do countries deserve more than one? The likes of Spain, no. The US? Yes..
There are some tracks that deserve a place no matter what. Spa, Monza, Silverstone etc. The bread a butter.

I think we should have more races in different places too, to make it a complete world championship. I think we need another one in south america - mexica or argentina. We need one in say south africa....

[siskue2005]

i think it should be great tracks which deserve a race, rather than a particular country