Singapore is "THE" big Asian grand prix for high powered business networking.
In a perfect world I think some of those scenic European tracks with thousands of camping fans including the Dutch would be the way to go.
Have been to a couple of Melbourne GP's in very expensive seats and in reality you see little.
That said it's a fun experience
I see Stan has Indy Car...
Pity it's not on Kayo... may have followed Dan R across if he goes that way
Not worth a Stan sub though
Whirlpool Illuminati writes...
I think he's more likely to go NASCAR isn't he?
Thanks... Not really sure
NASCAR is on Fox.. could get myself the appropriate hat and some Bourbon to feel at home
China GP cancelled for 2023 leaving a slot open immediately after the Melbourne GP.
Wonder who will get it
A bit of money in this business.
Liberty purchased F1 from Ecclestone for 8 billion in 2016 and are now suggesting it is worth 20 billion for the purpose of the Saudis taking an equity stake if not a full take over
https://www.theguardian.
Has anyone been to the Imola race? I'm in the process of mapping out a last minute trip and was looking at staying in Bologna and getting a 20 min train to Imola. Looks like another 20 minute walk from there.
Forli is also a lovely city and about the same distance as Bologna but a fair bit smaller.
Sounds like a wonderful trip
I saw this website has tickets available still, as well as the official F1 site: https://f1destinations.com/im
Milan is a good entry city for Italy's northern regions. Plenty of flights via the major hubs...Singapore Dubai etc
The plan is to do a couple of day trips from there (Lake Como and maybe a train ride through the mountains)
sounds wonderful.Lake Como is a big day trip but many do it. Milan accommodation prices can be high so book early. It has great public transport.
Looking forward to your stories from the GP
for anyone interested in the Singapore GP here's an article from today's Straits Times
SINGAPORE – The price of the most exclusive tickets for the 2023 Formula One Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix has crossed into the five-figure range for the first time since 2008.
Three-day Paddock Club tickets are going at $11,016 this year, an increase of over 10 per cent from $9,898 in 2022, and $9,500 in 2019. There were no races in 2020 and 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Despite the high prices, organisers Singapore GP said these three-day tickets have all been snapped up, with only limited single-day tickets remaining for Friday and Saturday.
A variety of ticket categories – including single-day or three-day passes for premium hospitality suites, grandstand seats around the circuit, as well as walkabout tickets – are still on sale across a wide range of prices.
Anyone wanting to start a Baku thread? I am not up to it unfortunately.
Lovely castle in the Baku grand prix
Not that simple tho. Teams are more rich if they win and get more sponsorship.
Agree
Sponsorship agreements invariably have "bonus" money for achieving certain goals. Winning a GP will get $X extra, winning the WDC will get $Y etc etc.
It's highly confidential but having seen an international golfers contract years ago the difference between base and achieving various milestones was enormous
I can foresee another US race or perhaps one in a tourist city in Mexico (Cancun?)
The reported growth in the value of the F1 franchise since Liberty took over is mind boggling.
Used to think that there was no better hustler than Bernie but these guys are good.
The Australian race will always suffer from timezone issues. Perhaps we will eventually move to a noon start for the US markets.
Stranger things are possible
Monaco is the enigma... History.. yes but each year it becomes more of an anachronism
If liberty bought f1 in the early 00s I don’t think it would’ve worked. F1 is nuts now because of Netflix and liberty being open to social media where Bernie was essentially blocking all f1 on the internet.
Good point.
It was fantastic free publicity and moved the fan base dramatically
Red Bull and Alpine not interested anymore in hiring Franco Colapinto for next season, according to our information.
As the saying goes...
"Rooster to feather duster"
in the matter of a couple of months
Disappointing as in the post Perez era South America/Mexico needs representation
I miss local sponsored races such as Fuji-TV banners all over Suzuka or Players at Montreal, Qantas at Melbourne etc.
Vegas had different sponsors... The USA has delivered different models
Going forward... who knows
F1 TV, please.
Do you get alternative commentaries on F1 TV. I like Sky but I'd also like some variation
Oscar's rewards are well deserved but certainly nice dollar wise. Mark Webber is obviously a good negotiator.
Interesting to compare the base rates. Russell is getting three time what Oscar makes base wise.
Fascinating... would love to know more about what expenses if any the drivers bear and do they receive helmet sponsorship money etc.
Taking a step back the salaries are good but given so few make it to an F1 grid they're not in the same league as NFL or Baseball players.
On the veracity of the list Forbes is very well respected in areas such as this.
Thai media reporting that Thailand is lobbying for a Bangkok street F1 in 2027.
The route would be around the Chatuchak market. A reasonably well located venue with parkland and public transport. About 5kms from downtown Bangkok.
Will it happen... who knows
Vietnam had well advanced plans for a street F1 but nothing came of it in the end
Bangkok would make a great venue with relatively affordable accommodation by comparison to Singapore
There is of course the small issue of the heir to 51% of the Red Bull fortune... Vorayuth Yoovidhya
The bottom line is tracks.
In simple terms you want 2-3 overtaking spots. Sure two can be harder than the third.
A track with no reasonable overtaking spot needs to go.
I used to love Monaco but scenically these days Baku is better
The "non announcement" by RBR is a strange PR strategy.
Makes you wonder if there are some contractual issues they need to address
There could also be a situation where as this has leaked out, they have decided to re-evaluate their decision before any announcement.
There would be lots of contract negotiations going on involving a few teams of lawyers/managers etc.
As a for instance if you were Tsunoda would you be insisting upon a minimum number of races in the Red Bull car. What salary and "return" options are open to Lawson.
A mid season swap is messy to say the least. Tsunoda for once in his career is in the "driving seat" to some extent.
Then there's the "simpler" matter of the drivers' own sponsors who will have multiple incentive clauses in their own agreements. A better/lesser car equals different exposure which means different sponsorship costs
Thai media reporting that the Thai Govt has signed an MoU to progress the "possibility" of a street F1 GP in Bangkok in 2028.
Could be good for people in Australia looking for some more F1 racing if it comes to fruition
Chris Horner saying Yuki's seat is confirmed for the entire 2025 season.
Tsunoda would not have got into the car without a guarantee of that nature.
On the other hand does RBR have an alternative.
This is a mid season change
Tsunoda will never have a better chance to drive for his own terms
If Oscar can keep this up and take out the WDC, Melbourne will explode next year!
Finally seeing some mainstream media articles talking up Oscar's chances.
The Age/SMH has just released an opinion piece discussing why Oscar can win the WDC.
But Oscar Piastri’s fight for position against four-time reigning world champion Max Verstappen in the opening seconds of the Saudi Arabia Grand Prix early Monday morning (AEST) showed that the baby-faced assassin from bayside Melbourne could yet emerge with the biggest title in world motor sport.
https://www.theage.com.au/sp
Now it needs to get good billing in the FTA news reports
Another MSM on F1 and Piastri.
The ball is really rolling....
Five races into the Formula 1 season, and Oscar Piastri leads Lando Norris by 10 points, with Max Verstappen a further two behind. It looks like a three-way fight between the two McLaren men and the defending champion in the Red Bull.
With that in mind, we sift through the data from the initial batch of races to decipher the best-performing driver of the three contenders, and also try to discover who has the best chance of winning the drivers’ title.
I see Miami has a sprint race.
Could be a big weekend in shaping the WDC due to the number of points available.
Has been a strong track for RBR in the past but I'm thinking it will be a McLaren weekend.
Mercedes could be strong. Would be nice if they could finish in front of Max
People watch Formula One because it's the big stage, the big money, the best of the best, the politics, the intrigue, the engineers pushing the limits, the drivers pushing the limits both on track and with the stewards — it doesn't guarantee exciting action, those thrilling moments of drama like 2021 or 2008 or 2007 or 1988/1989/1990, that's quite rare.
Spot on....
FWIW to Masterone get a horse in the race and your enjoyment goes up by a ten plus fold factor.
For most of us that's Oscar
Watch for enough years and you will get your drama fix but it's a slow burn.
Webber and Vettel in Malaysia.
Schumacher running Damon Hill off the track.
Verstappen overtaking Hamilton in a dodgy restart.
They're all there
Guardian article on the incoming Cadillac F1 team.
Perez being named as a very possible driver. Will he be interested. Hard to see Cadillac being competitive in the first 2-3 years. So many small things needed to put together a top F1 team even if Ferrari is providing the engine.
https://www.theguardi
For some teams 2025 might be a throwaway.
Heard them touching on this in one of the Sky pre race sessions.
Would the teams be bothered putting resources into the car as the year went on and their chances of financial reward for effort were reducing. The commentator said it would hit the lower teams first but would then move up the grid.
WCC places may encourage the teams to keep trying but the last 5-10 races could be "interesting".
FIA president considers scrapping F1 cost cap
Not a fan of cost caps but in this day and age they are essential if you wish to avoid an EPL type situation where only teams owned by foreign States prosper.
Of course what the cost cap should be and how you apply it in an intensive R&D environment such as F1 are not easily decided.
When does the value in dollar terms of an F1 franchise outweigh the advantage of owning a second team.
I suspect we are reaching that point with Red Bull seriously thinking of taking a profit.
GM is rumoured to have paid $650M to join F1. Does that set the base price for a sale excluding IP and fixed assets?
Of course $400M of that was split between the teams as an anti dilution fee so hard to know what the current price might be. One might say that it should be more otherwise GM would have bought Sauber or similar
In other news, Melbourne getting a big upgrade.
‘World class’ $350m upgrade for Melbourne’s home of Formula 1
A revamped paddock club with capacity going from 2k to over 5k.
BUT....
The state also agreed to forgo all corporate revenue generated within Paddock Club. Under an agreement previously struck between founding grand prix chairman Ron Walker and former F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone, the Australian Grand Prix kept the revenue it raised through the club.
Albert park gave up rights to quite a few things to keep the GP in Melbourne when Sydney tried taking it a few years back
It certainly did.
The different deals done by the various cities is worthy of a few books.
Can't see Imola keeping its race much longer. I wonder which city will take its place. Thailand and Vietnam are in the running for a race which would be good for us in Australia from a timezone viewpoint.
Will India ever get a race?
For another street race in the U.S. ?
Could be but my guess is Asia (Thailand or Vietnam).
US races get very high "subsidies" from F1 in the form of special deals so you'd think they would be anxious to replace it with a high fee paying venue.
In the future I could see a race in Cancun Mexico. Lots of US money and hotels plus very good flight connections.
Of course there is Sochi which will return some day (perhaps).
They would absolutely need to be night races – no way the drivers would make it through a full race in that heat/humidity during the day.
Not much different to Sepang in Malaysia which were day races.
Hanoi in October (either side of Singapore race) would be perfect weather with an average maximum of 27 degrees.
Excellent youtube video on Oscar's rise from karting to F1 for those like me who have really only followed him since F1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Vqa4bL7l-o&t=1165s
Looking at those annual scoreboards listing all the drivers in F2 and F3 underscores how hard it is to make it to the big time. The name "Logan Sargeant" featured highly.
Do F2 drivers go to the E series or does it have its own academy system?
Formula E is mostly drivers that didn’t make it to F1 so lots of F2 drivers that were good but not quite good enough.
Thanks
Wonder if anyone will ever come out of Formula E into F1.
Watched some Formula E several years back. A pity it's not on Kayo as it had some great looking street track locations.
Enjoyed the early double and triple headers this year. Gave the season a real momentum.
It seems they've changed the mix for 2026
Three weeks between Miami and Montreal seems odd
Has there been any word on who will own the broadcasting rights in Australia next year?
Nine and presumably Stan have expressed interest.
If Stan were also to get the NRL rights Kayo would be reeling.
Foxtel reportedly pay $45M per year. Not sure what they pay Sky.
Could we get the F1 channel... probably not but who knows
Ads during races is my worry
Wish they would put the in car cams on an App like sky. Instead of having to disrupt the main feed for no signal!
That would be great
Be careful though it does not seem that the App can be watched on a television. It's for phones and tablets it would seem
At the Canadian GP there is a promotion on one of the corners showing Mickey Mouse Ears (Disney) + F1 = 2026. Any idea what this is all about?
Disney have bought ESPN and I assume they then have the F1 rights in USA and Canada for 2026.
How ESPN is brought within the Disney empire is not clear at present. A bit like Dazn with Kayo in that different countries will get different outcomes due to rights etc
I had not realised that India had hosted three GP races (2011, 2012 and 2013).
Apparently it was a privately funded affair which was halted in 2014 amidst arguments over taxes.
Any chance of India getting a race again?
Seems a better long term bet than Thailand who are angling for a race
The circuit, despite the placards saying "New Delhi" is not located in the union territory of Delhi, but in the neighbouring state of Uttar Pradesh. The government of Uttar Pradesh, led by the then Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav said that F1 is not a sport, but entertainment and levied taxes on the event.
I've always wondered why no Formula E race somewhere in Australia, but not Melbourne.
There was some speculation about a race in South Australia. Whether it eventuates who knows.
The various race forms being split between different streaming companies doesn't help to grow the sport
Kym Ilman has a new breezy youtube upload on the incoming Cadillac team. Nothing of news breaking substance but as always it's a well produced easy watch.
One thing struck me. Makes sense in the short term for the team to be based in the UK but longer term I hope it moves to the USA. Would be great for the sports development and is likely to result in more diversification in team approaches to the sport.
Looking down the "track" it would also be great to see teams based in China, India and perhaps Saudi Arabia. I would hate to see an EPL situation where talent demands a solely European outcome that is heavily weighted to one corner of the UK
In the F1 movie there is a scene of the car in the wind tunnel.
It was great to see it.
I noticed that the car was running on a rubber belt. My question is what speed can that belt get up to?
Surely at 100mph plus the heat and friction would be massive.
So is the speed minimal and it's all about the wind
Thanks
My understanding is that it’s really important that it gets to actual speed and that not having a proper rolling road like this is the reason Mercedes spent a few years testing parts in the wind tunnel that didn’t perform anywhere near the same on the car. Realising this was their big d’oh moment.
Many thanks
Must be a very impressive set of rollers to go at such high speed
The death of Mateschitz has changed the situation for RBR completely.
Had not realised he had died. His ability to take a low level Thai energy drink and turn it into a world dominating brand is amazing.
You do wonder if the continued F1 investment still provides sufficient exposure return compared to mainstream advertising.
Sale of one of the two teams would give them a few dollars to say the least.
Apple are said to be interested in the US rights for F1
I wonder what commentary team they would use.
Apple is in talks to acquire the U.S. broadcast rights to screen Formula 1 when the contract becomes available next year,
The article also mentions that Netflix could also be interested. A nice payday for Liberty and its partners if they can get a US bidding war going
Being widely reported as a "sacking" on the media
https://www.ladbible.co
My guess is that the answer lies in the 2026 car in the sense that they suspect it will be a non competitive lemon.
As TP, Horner would have ultimate responsibility and now RB are going to play the fresh direction card.
If the 2026 car is a lemon Max is already gone and the value of the two RB franchises will suffer.
Would not be surprised if the RB owners sell down part of their shares if not one of the teams.
Amazing how things can go pear shaped so quickly after another WDC in 2024.
It's titled "Cracks have appeared in Piastri’s composure. How he responds could decide the world title".
The article is well written and in summary says let's wait and see. If anything it praises Oscar and says he had bad luck in a situation where expressing his frustration was normal
In a championship fight of such small margins – and for the fact Norris engineered a 14-point swing through nothing more than being the beneficiary of Piastri’s momentary misjudgment and poor fortune – Piastri’s mood was, in the moment, explainable.
Amazing that details of the 2026 cars has remained so secret given the number of people involved in the development.
When does the first race track testing start that will be visible
A doubling of the Aston Martin F1 valuation in 18 months.
Not bad. The overall value of F1 is staggering
Ecclestone must be fuming that he sold out for what now seems peanuts
he was the one that held it back
agree but he still sold out at a low relative price.
Down the track I can see Liberty trying to wind back (not eliminate) some of the grandfathered deals favouring the likes of Ferrari.
If they crack the US market in a serious way they will become a monolith in World Sports values.
Down the track I can see them demanding a slice of hotel revenues as is done by FIFA for the world cup and by the IOC. The add on industry is where the money is (just look at the mega cruise companies)