More proof, if it were needed, that Bernie is a mental

[CoopsII]

http://www.theage.com.au/sport/motorspo ... z1nmjG5Ul4

Oh, get a grip. Its been an F1 highlight for years in its current format, at either end of the calendar.

So, unless he's being genuine, what's really behind this latest posturing?

[Klon]

Oi, Bernie talking crap about races is his usual MO. It's all part of his game plan in order to get good deals.

[mario]

http://www.theage.com.au/sport/motorsport/night-night-melbourne-20120229-1u3td.html#ixzz1nmjG5Ul4

Oh, get a grip. Its been an F1 highlight for years in its current format, at either end of the calendar.

So, unless he's being genuine, what's really behind this latest posturing?

It's probably his way of pressurising the local authorities into making a decision on the future of the race - we've had a few public outbursts from public officials about the cost of Bernie's contract in recent years, but at the same time others have come forward to defend the event, creating some confusion over whether Melbourne really wants to continue holding the race or not. He does also have a point about the lack of a viable alternative - as I understand it there are no other Grade 1 circuits in Australia right now, so it wouldn't be trivial to switch to another Australian venue.

To my mind, and as Klon suggests, this sounds like he is trying to pressurise the Australian negotiators into accepting his terms by making it clear that he has alternative venues lined up. He's been pushing for a night race for a few years now for the European market - since that is still the bedrock of F1's audience - so this sounds like his latest attempt to ratchet the pressure up on the organisers to shift the race to a time slot that is more favourable for him by making it clear that other rival venues are already planning on doing just that.

[QuickYoda41]

I'd rather have it one hour earlier, than with the current start time, or any time later.

From Europe.

[the Masked Lapwing]

Bernie knows full well that the Aussie GP will become a night race unless Webber or Ricciardo wins a championship by 2015 - because no one in Australia will care by then.
The only other tracks I can think of which are in the best shape for holding the race are Surfers, Bathurst and Adelaide. Anyone spot the pattern there?

[nome66]

[dr-baker]

Bernie knows full well that the Aussie GP will become a night race unless Webber or Ricciardo wins a championship by 2015 - because no one in Australia will care by then.
The only other tracks I can think of which are in the best shape for holding the race are Surfers, Bathurst and Adelaide. Anyone spot the pattern there?

SURFER'S PARADISE !!!

[FMecha]

Bernie knows full well that the Aussie GP will become a night race unless Webber or Ricciardo wins a championship by 2015 - because no one in Australia will care by then.
The only other tracks I can think of which are in the best shape for holding the race are Surfers, Bathurst and Adelaide. Anyone spot the pattern there?

They say Adelaide is not a choice because Melbourne is the only Grade-1 circuit in Australia for time being.

[Wizzie]

Bernie knows full well that the Aussie GP will become a night race unless Webber or Ricciardo wins a championship by 2015 - because no one in Australia will care by then.
The only other tracks I can think of which are in the best shape for holding the race are Surfers, Bathurst and Adelaide. Anyone spot the pattern there?

They say Adelaide is not a choice because Melbourne is the only Grade-1 circuit in Australia for time being.

I think Surfers is also a Grade 1 or Grade 2 at the very least.

[the Masked Lapwing]

Bernie knows full well that the Aussie GP will become a night race unless Webber or Ricciardo wins a championship by 2015 - because no one in Australia will care by then.
The only other tracks I can think of which are in the best shape for holding the race are Surfers, Bathurst and Adelaide. Anyone spot the pattern there?

They say Adelaide is not a choice because Melbourne is the only Grade-1 circuit in Australia for time being.

For the time being. I'm willing to bet the South Australians would do anything to make Adelaide important for more than 3 days a year

[eurobrun]

Bernie knows full well that the Aussie GP will become a night race unless Webber or Ricciardo wins a championship by 2015 - because no one in Australia will care by then.
The only other tracks I can think of which are in the best shape for holding the race are Surfers, Bathurst and Adelaide. Anyone spot the pattern there?

They say Adelaide is not a choice because Melbourne is the only Grade-1 circuit in Australia for time being.

For the time being. I'm willing to bet the South Australians would do anything to make Adelaide important for more than 3 days a year

F1 Rejects resident South Australian is offended by this.

[Wizzie]

They say Adelaide is not a choice because Melbourne is the only Grade-1 circuit in Australia for time being.

For the time being. I'm willing to bet the South Australians would do anything to make Adelaide important for more than 3 days a year

F1 Rejects resident South Australian is offended by this.

For us Sydneysiders, Adelaide is only ever relevant when the V8s roll into town.

Incidentally enough, the Clipsal 500 is this weekend for everyone who's interested.

[mario]

Bernie knows full well that the Aussie GP will become a night race unless Webber or Ricciardo wins a championship by 2015 - because no one in Australia will care by then.
The only other tracks I can think of which are in the best shape for holding the race are Surfers, Bathurst and Adelaide. Anyone spot the pattern there?

They say Adelaide is not a choice because Melbourne is the only Grade-1 circuit in Australia for time being.

I think Surfers is also a Grade 1 or Grade 2 at the very least.

I'm fairly sure that Surfers is a Grade 2 track at the moment, as are Bathurst and Adelaide - that said, being a temporary venue it probably would be easier to modify the track to obtain a Grade 1 licence than Bathurst (I know that some have pushed for Bathurst to be used, but I doubt that it would be feasible to upgrade it to Grade 1 standard in the short term).

[Wizzie]

I'm fairly sure that Surfers is a Grade 2 track at the moment, as are Bathurst and Adelaide - that said, being a temporary venue it probably would be easier to modify the track to obtain a Grade 1 licence than Bathurst (I know that some have pushed for Bathurst to be used, but I doubt that it would be feasible to upgrade it to Grade 1 standard in the short term).

I think it's not a question on whether it can be done, it's more a question on if it can be done without completely destroying the character of the track.

[eurobrun]

For the time being. I'm willing to bet the South Australians would do anything to make Adelaide important for more than 3 days a year

F1 Rejects resident South Australian is offended by this.

For us Sydneysiders, Adelaide is only ever relevant when the V8s roll into town.

Incidentally enough, the Clipsal 500 is this weekend for everyone who's interested.

Which I'm going to. (I'll be sitting in the grandstand at turn 8)

[Wizzie]

F1 Rejects resident South Australian is offended by this.

For us Sydneysiders, Adelaide is only ever relevant when the V8s roll into town.

Incidentally enough, the Clipsal 500 is this weekend for everyone who's interested.

Which I'm going to. (I'll be sitting in the grandstand at turn 8)

Good work. Make sure you get a picture of Premat's inevitable accident for us

I mean seriously, if GRM really wanted an international driver, they should have tried to get Patrick Long out of his contract.

[the Masked Lapwing]

F1 Rejects resident South Australian is offended by this.

For us Sydneysiders, Adelaide is only ever relevant when the V8s roll into town.

Incidentally enough, the Clipsal 500 is this weekend for everyone who's interested.

Which I'm going to. (I'll be sitting in the grandstand at turn 8)

Nice. You'll have a good view of Premat when he inevitably finds the wall there

[eurobrun]

I will try to take a few pictures.

[Wizzie]

And yes, for two massive GRM fans like TMLW and myself, we have absolutely no faith in Premat

[mario]

I'm fairly sure that Surfers is a Grade 2 track at the moment, as are Bathurst and Adelaide - that said, being a temporary venue it probably would be easier to modify the track to obtain a Grade 1 licence than Bathurst (I know that some have pushed for Bathurst to be used, but I doubt that it would be feasible to upgrade it to Grade 1 standard in the short term).

I think it's not a question on whether it can be done, it's more a question on if it can be done without completely destroying the character of the track.

In that case, I suspect that you might have to modify parts of the circuit in order to meet the FIA's requirements for crash protection zones (particularly given that there are some corners where the driver might have a near head on collision with the barriers), not to mention that you might be close to the limits on the circuit width and the layout around the start-finish line.

[Boomstick]

Well I think one of the core problems is that Melbourne has always been a rather poor event....good race poor event....compared to say Adelaide, its a mile away from everything, poorly set out which means its a complete non starter with the Girls! That’s the beauty of the Clipsal...you can take the girls (well non motor sports peeps) and if they get bored they can simply get a pass out and they are *IN* town...

...this is also why Bathurst will never work as a F1 venue...

It doesn't stop me from going to Melbourne every year, and yes I do have a bias against it being from Adelaide....I threw a tantrum as a 12 (!) year old when they said the GP was going to Melbourne hell and I wouldn't mind if Melbourne lost it, if purely out of spite!

.....ah the childhood memories watching the xmas pageant, and getting the sound of the marchers drowned out by the prequalifying cars!

[Boomstick]

....oh and they are talking about making the Clipsal a night race from 2013 :-/ As much as I love F1, I honestly dont think it will ever come back to Adelaide...

[the Masked Lapwing]

Well I think one of the core problems is that Melbourne has always been a rather poor event....good race poor event....compared to say Adelaide, its a mile away from everything, poorly set out which means its a complete non starter with the Girls! That’s the beauty of the Clipsal...you can take the girls (well non motor sports peeps) and if they get bored they can simply get a pass out and they are *IN* town...

Albert Park's like 5km away from the Melbourne CBD. How is that away from everything?

[DanielPT]

Well I think one of the core problems is that Melbourne has always been a rather poor event....good race poor event....compared to say Adelaide, its a mile away from everything, poorly set out which means its a complete non starter with the Girls! That’s the beauty of the Clipsal...you can take the girls (well non motor sports peeps) and if they get bored they can simply get a pass out and they are *IN* town...

Albert Park's like 5km away from the Melbourne CBD. How is that away from everything?

Given the low amount of time making sport lately I would die of tiredness before finishing walking those 5 miles. Take a car? Too drunk. I've got to be responsible.

[Ferrim]

What I question myself is... will Bernie be around by 2015?

Yeah, I know he has a pact with the devil, and that he is the most powerful person in the planet -apart from HWNSNBM-. I also know that people who work in something they love use to live longer and better, and Bernie absolutely loves doing business, but come on, even him can't last forever. It's not like he's dealing from his home in England -I'd like to see how many times he travels during the year and compare with a few years ago, because I don't think he has reduced much his activity, if at all.

I'm not sure if having an octogenarian running the show, even one like Bernie, is the best thing for F1 right now.

[DanielPT]

What I question myself is... will Bernie be around by 2015?

Yeah, I know he has a pact with the devil, and that he is the most powerful person in the planet -apart from HWNSNBM-. I also know that people who work in something they love use to live longer and better, and Bernie absolutely loves doing business, but come on, even him can't last forever. It's not like he's dealing from his home in England -I'd like to see how many times he travels during the year and compare with a few years ago, because I don't think he has reduced much his activity, if at all.

I'm not sure if having an octogenarian running the show, even one like Bernie, is the best thing for F1 right now.

I think he developed technology for artificial organs and is replacing them one by one. That should boost his life expectancy in 40 or 50 years.

[Collieafc]

What I question myself is... will Bernie be around by 2015?

Yeah, I know he has a pact with the devil, and that he is the most powerful person in the planet -apart from HWNSNBM-. I also know that people who work in something they love use to live longer and better, and Bernie absolutely loves doing business, but come on, even him can't last forever. It's not like he's dealing from his home in England -I'd like to see how many times he travels during the year and compare with a few years ago, because I don't think he has reduced much his activity, if at all.

I'm not sure if having an octogenarian running the show, even one like Bernie, is the best thing for F1 right now.

The irony is its probably WHY he is able to continue - by keeping active, he is living longer

[East Londoner]

Another article from that website. Apparently, it is claimed that 70,000 FREE tickets had to be given out

http://www.theage.com.au/sport/motorsport/little-love-left-for-melbourne-in-asphalt-jungle-20120301-1u5vw.html

[Ubik]

I said to him [Webber], 'Sebastien is quick. You've got to be quicker. Keep your head down and don't make mistakes you could manage to get the job done'."

Bernie further went on to remind Mark how wheels are a critical component of the car, how an F1 car needs sufficient petrol to finish the race, and that if he does not win the race but places higher than third then he'll probably be second.

[mario]

Interestingly, Bernie is taking a different tack on another issue today - he has been weighing in on the subject of a budget cap, suggesting that the teams need to impose stronger cost control measures to reign in heavy spending by the biggest teams.

"Let's put it this way: there are still too many people in Formula 1 running around with rose-tinted glasses," he said. "They obviously like to see the world as they want it to be - wonderful, the sun is shining, isn't life delightful - and not how it is. The downside of these glasses is that they blind you to reality."
[...]
We have had this kind of problem for quite a while now as of course [wealthy teams] spend what they have," said Ecclestone. "You could install a mandatory budget for all teams - on the basis of the smaller teams - but [the larger teams] don't like it and fiercely fight against it."

When asked if he could foresee such a rule being imposed in the near future, Ecclestone said: "I would welcome it. Yes, I think it could happen."

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/97969

Now, this does have something of an element of divide and quarter written on it by splitting the midfield teams from the larger outfits (since the larger teams, naturally, have the most to lose from measures like this) - not to mention that it'd give FOM a good reason to maintain or cut the proportion of the TV revenue that the sport generates. That said, it isn't the first time that budget caps have been promoted as part of the future of the sport, with the governing body offering to trade greater technical freedom for reduced spending (and neither have the criticisms of such a concept gone away either).

[CoopsII]

I said to him [Webber], 'Sebastien is quick. You've got to be quicker. Keep your head down and don't make mistakes you could manage to get the job done'."

Bernie further went on to remind Mark how wheels are a critical component of the car, how an F1 car needs sufficient petrol to finish the race, and that if he does not win the race but places higher than third then he'll probably be second.

Ive just been reading the F1 Gossip page and it quotes Bernie suggesting Ferrari needing someone like Adrian Newey to design a better car

Why didnt they think of that??!!

[Wizzie]

I said to him [Webber], 'Sebastien is quick. You've got to be quicker. Keep your head down and don't make mistakes you could manage to get the job done'."

Bernie further went on to remind Mark how wheels are a critical component of the car, how an F1 car needs sufficient petrol to finish the race, and that if he does not win the race but places higher than third then he'll probably be second.

Ive just been reading the F1 Gossip page and it quotes Bernie suggesting Ferrari needing someone like Adrian Newey to design a better car

Why didnt they think of that??!!

Because Luca's spent so much time over the last few years firing people that it hasn't occurred to him yet

[big_sly_doc]

Albert Park is the only Grade I circuit in Australia currently.

The Surfer's Paradise street circuit is on a Grade II circuit and it cannot be upgraded. It is just too narrow. I would love F1 to go there, but it is just not a possibility.

The Adelaide street circuit is also a Grade II, but could possibly be upgraded to Grade I. It would require quite a bit of work though I would imagine in comparison to what is required for the V8's. I don't know if there is much desire for this in SA at this stage.

Mount Panorama is actually a FIA Grade III circuit probably due to the narrowness and lack of runoffs on the mountain. There is a proposal to build a second circuit on the Mt Panorama site to a higher FIA standard, but Bathurst in simply too small and too remote from Sydney to be a realistic home for an Australian Grand Prix. The Turkish Grand Prix, the South Korean race and most importantly the French Grand Prix when it was at Magny-Cours should be lessons in that.

Eastern Creek is also Grade II, but has plenty of space to upgrade. It is also well linked to the rest of Sydney via the M4 and M7. That is probably the only circuit which could be realistically upgraded to a F1 in a site which would be acceptable.

The only other option, I think would be a street circuit or park circuit in a major city other than Melbourne. Some candidates off the top of my head would be a circuit around the perimeter of Centennial Park in Sydney. However, access would be a difficulty as it can be a difficult place to get to by public transport. Sydney Olympic Park is well served with transport, but the V8 circuit isn't really suitable for F1 and I can't obviously see an alternative circuit for F1. A street circuit in Brisbane isn't really a go-er either and I can't see any obvious parkland circuit. Perth would be a possibility, but I can't see it somehow.

A new road course circuit is definitely a possibility, but I can't see there being any momentum behind that here.

So Albert Park probably is the best home for the Australian Grand Prix at the moment. The former NSW premier Morris Iemma did talk about trying to steal the race from Melbourne the last time there were issues around the race in 2009, but apart from that I can't remember any other talk about moving the race. If only those bleeding Melburnians would be a little more enthusiastic about the pinnacle of their international sporting year. I was there for the 2009 race and being in the city of Melbourne only a few kms from the race circuit, bar a few flags advertising the race and a couple of temporary underground shops selling team shirts and caps, you wouldn't have had any idea there was a race on!

[mario]

I said to him [Webber], 'Sebastien is quick. You've got to be quicker. Keep your head down and don't make mistakes you could manage to get the job done'."

Bernie further went on to remind Mark how wheels are a critical component of the car, how an F1 car needs sufficient petrol to finish the race, and that if he does not win the race but places higher than third then he'll probably be second.

Ive just been reading the F1 Gossip page and it quotes Bernie suggesting Ferrari needing someone like Adrian Newey to design a better car

Why didnt they think of that??!!

Newey has made it fairly clear that he is not interested in moving from Red Bull since that team have given him what he wanted - not just in terms of resources, but also in terms of greater influence over the management of the technical staff (something which was a sticking point at Williams and McLaren). Ferrari's current technical structure would not give Newey the sort of freedom to organise the team as he saw fit, and he has made it clear that he doesn't want to move from a team that he is quite happy working for.
That isn't to say that Ferrari haven't tried to pinch staff from Red Bull - when they were making changes to their team last year, there were a few rumours that one of the men they were targeting was Prodromou, the Chief Aerodynamicist at Red Bull. Given that Prodromou had considerable influence over the development of the RB7 - particularly the development of its blown diffuser - you can see why Ferrari might have wanted him, although it seems that he is just as content as Newey to stay at Red Bull.

[the Masked Lapwing]

Eastern Creek is also Grade II, but has plenty of space to upgrade. It is also well linked to the rest of Sydney via the M4 and M7. That is probably the only circuit which could be realistically upgraded to a F1 in a site which would be acceptable.

YES! It's only about 15 minutes away from where I live, the track is currently undergoing an upgrade (including support pits and a new longer layout), and the government's supporting it. The only problem is the actual residents of Sydney. No one from the east wants to go to the western suburbs for anything, let alone F1, and everyone in the western suburbs is beyond caring because they won't be V8 engines by then

[dinizintheoven]

The only problem is the actual residents of Sydney. No one from the east wants to go to the western suburbs for anything, let alone F1, and everyone in the western suburbs is beyond caring because they won't be V8 engines by then

For us non-Aussies, are the western suburbs what might be described as "bogan central"?

[the Masked Lapwing]

The only problem is the actual residents of Sydney. No one from the east wants to go to the western suburbs for anything, let alone F1, and everyone in the western suburbs is beyond caring because they won't be V8 engines by then

For us non-Aussies, are the western suburbs what might be described as "bogan central"?

Yes. Yes it is

[Waris]

It will never become a Grade 1 circuit, but:
Calder Park. It would be so funny!

[Wizzie]

It will never become a Grade 1 circuit, but:
Calder Park. It would be so funny!

Calder Park is quite possibly the most boring track in Australia IMO

[Wallio]

It will never become a Grade 1 circuit, but:
Calder Park. It would be so funny!

According to the director of Miller Motorsports Park, which is a grade 2, the only difference between grades 1, and 2 is a $25 million fee. Thats it. Safety wise 1 and 2 are identical, which is why testing is allowed at grade 2. No idea if this is true or not, but if it is, Surfers could be a possibility, since Indycar refuses to go back.....