Australian F1 Grand Prix: Dead & Buried?
Motoring Channel Staff - 5/February/2008
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Australian F1 Grand Prix: Moving on in 2011
The 2008 Singaporean F1 Grand Prix will
be the first in history to be staged at night
F1's head honcho says that Melbourne can
retain its F1 Grand Prix contract if it adopts a
similar format to Singapore with a night race
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Melbourne, Australia —
Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone has almost completely
dashed any hopes of Melbourne, and quite probably Australia, retaining
a Grand Prix in three years time when the current contract ends. Unless Melbourne held the race at night, the current contract that ends in 2010 will not be renewed says F1's top dog, Mr Ecclestone. Country's such as Russia and India have been suggested as replacements for the Australian F1 Grand Prix venue. "Our costs are very high in Australia and we get a lot less money," Mr Ecclestone told the Herald Sun newspaper. Ecclestone
says that F1 Teams and sponsors no longer want to race in Melbourne.
He is chasing more money from TV rights, ticket sales and
other aspects of the F1 event in new countries. "It's bloody bad
for us. We've got quite a few places on the list which would like to
have Formula One and as it seems your guy (Victorian Premier John
Brumby) down there doesn't want Formula One, we can make him happy,"
said a combativeEcclestone. Speaking to radio station 3AW, the
Victorian State Premier John Brumby said that Sydney probably wouldn't
get the Grand Prix when Melbourne loses it. "[Mr Ecclestone] ... wants to sell his event
to the place where he can get the most money. You've got a lot of
countries around the world now, particularly the Middle East,
particularly places like Russia, particularly China, where they are
loaded with money. "They're loaded with money and they can plug in better to television audiences in Europe and the US," Mr Brumby said. The Australian F1 Grand Prix has never made money. In 2005 the Australian F1 GP cost Australian taxpayers $66.2 million, and generated $52.6 million. Last
year the 2007 Australian F1 GP cost $70 million and made just $43.4
million, one of the lowest revenue totals yet and resulting in a net
loss of more than $30 million. "Unfortunately, we would have to
consider the financial aspect for a start," added Bernie Ecclestone,
all but quashing the chances of Australia retaining an F1 Grand Prix
race beyond 2010. Mr Ecclestone said that Melbourne could retain
the race if it was staged at night and has indicated that he won't
budge from this position. "In Melbourne, if we were to continue to be there, we would have to have a night race - the only option." In his response a day later, the Victorian State Premier, Mr Brumby, said: "I make it clear that whatever happens in the future we're not going to be doing a night event." So
while the Melbourne F1 Grand Prix is unofficially dead and buried
beyond 2010, the Singaporean government is already doing it. While
some F1 drivers have suggested that flood lights during a night race
could be dangerous and distracting, particularly if rains is thrown
into the equation, the timetable for the Singaporean GP is now official. The
V8-powered F1 cars will simultaneously roar at full throttle as
the Sunday 'night' race commences at 8:00pm (Singaporean time) on the
28th of September. The night race will be a world first for the
Formula One Championship. The full schedule for the three day F1 Grand Prix is as follows: Friday September 26th
 1st Practice: 4:00pm - 5:30pm
2nd Practice: 8:00pm - 9:30pm Saturday September 27th
Final Practice: 5:00pm - 6:00pm
Qualifying: 8:00pm Sunday September 26th
Race: 8:00pm The
F1 cars themselves will not be fitted with any auxiliary lights.
Illumination will be provided solely by huge trackside flood lights.
This has already rankled with environmentalists who argue that the
electrical cost (and resulting CO2 emissions from its generation) of
illuminating the track for three nights running will be staggering, not
to mention the pollution of the cars themselves. In other Formula
One news, Australian driver Mark Webber is off to good start in the
2008 season, after posting the fastest testing times at the Barcelona
circuit in Spain. Beating the McLaren cars driven by Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen, Mark Webber's Red Bull race car was in top form, posting a time of 1:22.385. BMW driver Robert Kubica, who posted the fourth best time and was quicker than Renault driver Fernando Alonso, last week opined that Webber will be one of the big improvers in 2008. Giancarlo Fisichella also said that Mark Webber will be a driver to watch in 2008, suggesting the 31-year-old Australian still has the best years
of his career ahead of him. "He's a nice guy, he's a good driver, he's very focussed," Fisichella said. "He's in a good team, he's growing up this team, and I think Mark has got the potential to do very well in the future." Ferrari
did not join other teams such as McLaren, Honda, Red Bull, Renault and
BMW-Sauber in Spain for testing, which may take some of the shine off
Mark Webber's unbeaten lap times. The Red Bull crew was clearly upbeat
about the new season, which kicks off in Australia on the 16th of March. "It's been a very positive week," Red Bull Racing chief test engineer Ian Morgan said. "The car's been reliable and we've got through everything we came here to do. It was encouraging to see Mark at the top of the time sheet." Related
Articles:
- Singaporean Night Time F1 Grand Prix (2008)
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