Will Russian GP Happen?

[adrianjordan]

I'm sure many are aware of the unfolding situation in The Crimea and I am sure this will not die down overnight.

So, given that by the time the Sochi GP is due to take place, there could be frosty relations between Russia and the major western nations, is it possible that we could see the race called off?

I guess it also raises the question of what happens to any teams with Russian backing - if NATO countries impose sanctions against Russia...

[MOWOG]

Good question. The answer, I think, is that Formula One is "apolitical". Bernie has publicly pooh poohed the unrest and turmoil in Bahrain. Repressive regimes don't faze him in the slightest. As long as the sanctioning fee has been paid, the race will go on, even if there is armed conflict in Crimea.

Whether you think that is a wise thing probably depends on your nationality.

[Sebp]

"armed conflict" - I'm a big fan of euphemisms

What can I as consumer from middle Europe do? Boycott and petition spring to mind. But then again there are quite a few other countries F1 probably shouldn't race in for similar reasons. But those aren't currently making headlines...

[BoBee]

If there is war, f1 will undoubtly become an Asiatic series

[turbof1]

Unless there's actual and "on the surface" civilian unrest IN Russia, F1 will not give the slightest thought to it. The ones governing F1 aren't really in touch with social reality.

[neilbah]

ecclestone and putin are like two peas in a pod mentality wise, its 200KM away from the trouble so bernie will be ignoring it and say 'whats it go to do with us'... . With F1 the show goes on and it tries to distance itself from politics and global conflict.

[Manoah2u]

it's simple. if things between russia and ukraine excelate, it'll turn into war. essentially, that'll be russia commiting blitzkrieg on ukraine. the 'west' / read: the UN cannot accept that under the flag of 'peace treaties' (as empty as they are though), and thus sanctions will be made. that can only result in military intervention - read: WW3. Russia-China is far stronger then the weak Europa and USA at this point, it won't be pretty.
So in conclusion:

WW3 = No Formula 1. but that's not to anybody's concern, really. if there is a WW3, nobody gives a bloody hell about F1.
So essentially, let's just hope things won't excelate between Ukraine and Russia. Ukraine doesn't stand a chance, but neither does the rest of the world.

But as said above, bernie doesn't give a flying f about a country's politics. just look at the 'arab spring' and the protestors.
race still got on, despite the fact people were bazookaing echother across the country just weeks before. some 'tension'
in 'some island' [metaphorical] isn't gonna do anything at all, besides the fact that it's miles away.

if any, bernie will turn the tables, and come with some holier-than-thou wordings to take advantage of the situation to try and bring F1 to Russia under the idea of 'getting people together through the sport of f1' and talk about the grand success of the first Russian F1 GP.

[Pup]

Most likely outcome: Bernie will ask for more money.

[Aesto]

it's simple. if things between russia and ukraine excelate, it'll turn into war. essentially, that'll be russia commiting blitzkrieg on ukraine. the 'west' / read: the UN cannot accept that under the flag of 'peace treaties' (as empty as they are though), and thus sanctions will be made. that can only result in military intervention - read: WW3. Russia-China is far stronger then the weak Europa and USA at this point, it won't be pretty.
So in conclusion:

WW3 = No Formula 1. but that's not to anybody's concern, really. if there is a WW3, nobody gives a bloody hell about F1.
So essentially, let's just hope things won't excelate between Ukraine and Russia. Ukraine doesn't stand a chance, but neither does the rest of the world.

Good one

On topic: Won't matter. Worst case scenario, we'll have a similar situation to the Russian-Georgian 'war' of 2008. Russia moves in, curbstomps any light resistance, the West complains a little, Russia declares that it has reached its goals, the Crimean gains a tad more autonomy, 2 months on, everything returns to the status quo.

In conclusion:
a) The situation isn't as severe as the media makes it out to be (Russia's foreign policy is a lot of things, but never irrational)
b) it doesn't affect F1 anyway.

[Just_a_fan]

it's simple. if things between russia and ukraine excelate, it'll turn into war. essentially, that'll be russia commiting blitzkrieg on ukraine. the 'west' / read: the UN cannot accept that under the flag of 'peace treaties' (as empty as they are though), and thus sanctions will be made. that can only result in military intervention - read: WW3. Russia-China is far stronger then the weak Europa and USA at this point, it won't be pretty.

1. China aren't involved and won't get involved. They would rather sit back and let others waste effort and money on it while they carry on doing their own thing. They might use it as a smoke screen to settle a few minor land claim issues they have with Japan though. The odd little island here and there in the South China Sea.

2. Russia has a lot of men but much of the equipment is out of date and in poor repair. This especially applies to its navy. The "West" could do a lot of damage from "stand off" range which the Russians could only reply to with escalation i.e. WMDs.

However, no one is going to be taking military action against the Russians except maybe the Ukrainians. They will lose that battle even if the "West" helps out with some cheap kit (they might supply firearms, ammunition and some man-launched anti-air and anti-tank missiles but it wouldn't be any more than that).

The media are playing this up as a potential flash point to WW3. It's not going to happen. Lots of sabre rattling, lots of fine words spoken, face saved on all sides and the Russians will keep the Crimea as part of a deal to allow the Ukraine to become more European in its outlook. The whole thing is Putin and his Cold War buddies having one last fling, one last "look at us, we're big and scary". In a week the media circus will have moved on and Ukraine will be struggling to put its life back together.

[henra]

and thus sanctions will be made. that can only result in military intervention - read: WW3. Russia-China is far stronger then the weak Europa and USA at this point, it won't be pretty.
So in conclusion:

WW3 = No Formula 1.

That last one is indeed a sound logic.

(I hope you didn't mean this stuff seriously, otherwise you urgently need to read less cheap tabloids or smoke less funny stuff )

Apart from that funny side (which is not funny at all for poor Ukraine), it is likely Bernie will try to ignore this political stuff. Where I'm not so sure is wether the Teams (Mercedes, Renault) and Sponsors are equally happy to follow this line of thought. They might be a tad more concerned about public opinion.

[tathan]

Most likely outcome: Bernie will ask for more money.

Oddly enough, the correct answer to approximately 50% of the threads on here too

[Gridlock]

The biggest issue might be that the troops they were going to use to keep the suicide bombers out will be busy shooting at Ukrainians.

[grano123]

1. China aren't involved and won't get involved. They would rather sit back and let others waste effort and money on it while they carry on doing their own thing. They might use it as a smoke screen to settle a few minor land claim issues they have with Japan though. The odd little island here and there in the South China Sea.

Correct assessment.

2. Russia has a lot of men but much of the equipment is out of date and in poor repair. This especially applies to its navy.

Incorrect assessment. Under Putin, all branches of the Russian Armed Forces, have become much smaller, but much more modern and certainly not obsolete by US standards.

The "West" could do a lot of damage from "stand off" range which the Russians could only reply to with escalation i.e. WMDs.

However, no one is going to be taking military action against the Russians except maybe the Ukrainians. They will lose that battle even if the "West" helps out with some cheap kit (they might supply firearms, ammunition and some man-launched anti-air and anti-tank missiles but it wouldn't be any more than that).

Correct assessment.

The media are playing this up as a potential flash point to WW3. It's not going to happen. Lots of sabre rattling, lots of fine words spoken, face saved on all sides and the Russians will keep the Crimea as part of a deal to allow the Ukraine to become more European in its outlook. The whole thing is Putin and his Cold War buddies having one last fling, one last "look at us, we're big and scary". In a week the media circus will have moved on and Ukraine will be struggling to put its life back together.[/quote]

Corect assessment.

[Manoah2u]

lol, bernie just don't care. he doesn't even care about his own trial, he could care less about ukraine, russia, and whatever.
he just cares if the money is flowing in. that doesn't happen in new yersey, so he's giving the them the finger. sochi is a guaranteed moneymaker, so it'll happen. he doesn't care about the teams either if they have an opinion - they have a contract and 'must' race. it's win-win for bernie.

ugh, this ukraine stuff is rediculous. who for a single moment is going to take some interim-president seriously that is stating they'll never give up 'the crimea' whilst essentially, some russians have already occupied it?. putin just has to sneeze and ukrain is gone. they can carpetbomb it, blow it to pieces, annhialate it, and still get a nobel piece price. nothing of that will happen tho, ukrain is just in turmoil becuase the government has fallen, nothing more. this storm is over before you know it. G8-meeting coming up in sochi, some nuke top in the hague afterwards, and some little island nonsense would destroy all that? never.

politics suck and it's all BS but whatever, same old same old. people should worry more about getting crazy taxes imposed and willingly bending over to take them - instead of having armchair expert opinions about what happens somewhere else in the world.