Bernie Vs. Melbourne

[Tom Castellani]

In response to this report: http://www.f1technical.net/news/8401

WHAT?! Come on Bernie, for die hard fans part of the fun is staying up for races like Melbourne, and people who aren't die hard fans will watch the highlights or whatever. Why be biased towards the European audience as well? On top of all that, F1 obtains one night race and all of a sudden all he can think about is night races.

There's been no problem with a regular Australian Grand Prix for years so I don't know why it's such a problem all of a sudden. As I said, I enjoy the late races. It's exciting going to bed then waking up very soon after to a darkened hive of activity between my brother and I, as opposed to a regular day with a race in the middle. I'm sure many of us can agree. You can't just take a country's race away because they won't comply with this new found wonder: Floodlights. (Bernie can but that's not the point).

Honestly I don't think Bernie feels sorry for the fans that 'Have to stay up late'... Boo hoo, what he's concerned about is viewer ratings. I can't really criticize his running of the business that is Formula One because he's damn good at it, sometimes though it becomes a bit much.

[zac510]

Viewer ratings? nah. Floodlights? nah. European audiences? nah.

Australia is not one of those countries that will fork out more cash merely for the privilege of his race.. Whereas Russia or India will. The rest are just an excuse not to renew the contract.

[P_O_L]

Im a bit undediced on that one. In defence of Melbourne id say if F1 wants to become greener, how does thousands of floodlights burning up precious energy in a night race fit into that category? In defence of scrapping melbourne; that track has rarely provided interesting races. It has no fast corners or overtaking opportunities. In fact id rather go back to adelaide.

[modbaraban]

Viewer ratings? nah. Floodlights? nah. European audiences? nah.

Australia is not one of those countries that will fork out more cash merely for the privilege of his race.. Whereas Russia or India will. The rest are just an excuse not to renew the contract.

+ it's a street circuit with people (not necessary motorsports fans) trying to sleep at night...

[Tom]

P_O_L said:

In defence of scrapping melbourne; that track has rarely provided interesting races. It has no fast corners or overtaking opportunities. In fact id rather go back to adelaide.

I second Adelaide, fantastic track, a real challenge for drivers and a great watch for spectators, esspecially without TC. However Adelaide has ALOT of concrete and the reacent and tragic death of Ashley Cooper (although the first in Adelaide's history of racing) won't help its cause. Don't forget Hakkinen's dramatic tyre failure either which could have easily cost him his life either.

Melbourne has had some entertaining races but it will have to perform this year to keep its spot.

[zac510]

yeah even though Cooper's accident was on a different corner the accidents were quite similar.
Adelaide can't really afford the F1 anymore (trust me, I'm from there).

[checkered]

It sure isn't

very logical to spread F1 races all over the Globe and then try and tailor the schedules to suit just one market. It's like Bernie's saying: "Look, the locals aren't a priority. Their taxpayer money is, but we cater to a European audience first and foremost, you've just gotta deal with it. Any takers?" Such a message doesn't say much about the trust Ecclestone places in the real remaining Global potential of the sport. Basically, it seems like the main part of the business will still be driven by a geographical and demographical minority (as TV viewers or tourists), other areas serving merely as subcontractors or suitable outsourcing locations. As much as I like Formula One, were I bestowed with the public trust as an elected leader (or even dictatorial power over), say, of an ascending Asian nation, the economics, the cultural aspect and even the symbolism of this arrangement would seem all wrong to me - i.e. "no sale".

[mini696]

As an Australian, I will be very sad to see the AGP leave... I enjoy the fact that we get the full weekend coverage for this (and only this) race.

I get up for every race early in the mornings to watch them, yet only get two on at a decent time (Aus and Japan).

Bernie will lose a lot of Australian fans... But he wont care... There are more in india etc to fill that gap.

[flynfrog]

I have to get up at odd hours of the night to watch races im sure Europe can do the same once in a while

[Rob W]

The reality is an 8pm race for Melbourne wouldn't be a major move for them and is practical in many ways. It's still daylight until after 8pm in March anyway so it could be a twilight race.

Likewise, the GP has lost a lot of money the past two years - exacerbated by the loss of the V8 support race and last year the World Swimming Champs were also on the same week.

Bernie does have a point - the potential audience pool Europe-wide is over 500 million people. I assume if he could move the GP to a better time-slot for Europe (9-12am-ish in Europe if it was done at 8pm local time) then he could probably offer them cheaper hosting rights because of higher TV revenue elsewhere.

I stay at a house about 100m from Albert Park usually during the GP weekend and moving the race to 8pm would mean there would be less noise for at least half the day for a change.

As for the 'green' concerns. Honestly, the environmental impact of running the lights would be about 1/1000th that of the cars. It's not even an issue.

R

[Expo]

It does baffle me why people think energy is precious. I'm all for being "greener" but i don't think people really have enough information on a given energy burning issue to know what would be greener.

for example, the AGP is currently on during the night in Europe.. For the millions of fans in Europe watching the race they are using energy during hours they would usually be asleep. i would argue that the amount of power used to light up a race track for a few hours pales into insignificance compared to all the lights, kettles, televisions, etc that the European fans will use this coming weekend at about 4am.

But i'm just guessing. It sounds fair to me. Anyway F1 has always been a mix of sport and business. If a race is losing money and could make more money in other ways then thats where the sport goes.

Anyway i'd love to see a night race in Australia! What a great spectacle! Plus more fans in Europe would be able to watch it. How can that be a bad thing?

I love the AGP but i have to say opening a season in the middle of the night (for the biggest percentage of F1 fans worldwide) is a bit of an anti climax. I prefer it when Bahrain started the season, even if it is "like driving round Heathrow airport" as Mark Webber so eloquently put it.

[Jersey Tom]

Bernie.. what an ass. Its a global sport. You have races, and fans, in the Americas, in Europe, in Asia. Obviously races will be on at odd hours for some people. Just let it be. Hasn't been an issue yet. Dumb to cater just to one audience.

[Belatti]

What can I say? I´m from SA... the end of the world

[checkered]

A little perspective

to back the conversation up, courtesy of grandprix.com (read the whole article there): The constant pursuit of numbers

Bernie Ecclestone is a man who likes numbers. They are the way in which he can measure progress. His chief aim is to expand the Formula 1 circus year after year, pushing up the number of viewers, and reaching the widest possible audience around the world. It is a process that has been going on since the 1970s when Formula 1 was a much less organised activity than it is today.

...

[SZ]

some of you just don't get it, do you.

this isn't about having a race held in australia or anywhere else at an hour appeasing to european audiences.

the writing's on the wall: BERNIE DOES NOT WANT F1 IN AUSTRALIA ANYMORE. hasn't for at least a good 18 months now.

if building up a PR storm is what it'll take to do that and sink a new host at a fat entry fee, so be be it.

it's like watching an episode of Absolute Power with B. Ecclestone starring as Charles Prentiss... and the rest of you lemmings carrying on about possible options to keep a race down under faithfully recreating those duped along the way...