DCP

So BBC is reporting that the team owners want Canada and two U.S. races, one on each coast:

BBC Article

As I see it, F1 needs a special type of track. One with long straights into slow but wide corners to have at least some chance at passing. So what tracks do you think would work?

Edit: Padon my geography. That would be three North America races, not two. I should have said two U.S. races.

Veloce Raptor

Canada: Montreal, duh.

US: primarily depends on paid spectator capacity, access control, local promoter wealth, and cachet.

So...maybe Watkins Glen and Infineon/Portland?





Professional Racing and Driving Coach

M758

I don't know that any track exists that is the prefect mix of track layout, fan appeal on-site, fan appeal on TV all in a City area that can support the unique circus that is F1.

Indy had the faciliity to host an event of that magnitiue and the city was ready for large number of race fans, but it lacked a few things. 1) indy as a city does not have cosmopolitan flair F1 is looking for. 2) the track was ok at best although fan access was not bad. The best feature of track was it being INDY which wears off over time.


Now a place the glen has a great interesting layout, but would need a fully safey rework for F1 and since it is so far from anywhere is not best for the fans when not at the track. Road America is much the same. Road Atlanta would need to move alot of barriers and enhance pit areas.

The two tracks probably best suited from a facility standpoint to host F1 are probalby Barber and Miller. The problem with Barber is that is too tight and would that limit passing? Plus how far from a major metro area is it.

Miller is long, safe, but due to the landscape can appear bland and featureless on TV. This is a major issue not easily solved with planting alot of trees and other things. The ground are very nice and the have nice garages F1 style that might meet F1 standards as is. However it biggest weak point is that it is in Salt Lake City and I don't know how that culture will take to the wild F1 style parties that seem to be part of the circus. Then again F1 does go Bahrain...


The best areas to hold races would be to capture the New York Market on the east coast or the California/Las Vegas market onthe west coast. The problem is there are no tracks that can support F1 so they would need to be built. That takes time and money. Street races are easier to set-up, but a street race to indy car standard vs F1 standard are different things. F1 street races are still very expensive and can result in crappy tracks limited by 90 city street grids.

gums

It's not only the tracks, it's the infrastructure of the surrounding area that is important. Hotels, airports, restaurants....
A few years ago when a NYC street race was proposed around the WTC (when it was standing) the thing that nixed it was lack of room for the hospitality trucks and tents.
We need a GP, and I'm sure we're gonna get one, it will be interesting of course to see where. I'd even vote for 2. The rules say that they have to be 3000 miles apart if they're in the same country, which is why Long Beach and The Glen used to be OK. Italy gets around it by having San Marino as a distinct principality.

Chads996

I call Vegas street circuit (West) and The Glen.

C.

Giacomo

Vegas and F1 seem like a pretty good match, I'd love to have an invite to one of those parties...

stuttgart46

Too many bad memories in Vegas for F1. It would have to be done very well to get them back there. Could they go to Laguna Seca for the west coast? I would love to see Sebring brought to F1 standards and have the race there but that isn't going to happen in my lifetime.

Circuit Motorsports

Laguna Seca is too short. Lap times would be just barely over a minute. Monaco is the shortest one out there at 1:15.

multi21

At the historics a couple years ago, Toyota brought their F1 car and smashed the track record. I can't recall what it was, but it was 1:05 or 1:07 or similar.

Monterey, Pebble Beach, Pacific Grove, Carmel, Laguna Seca are some of the most beautiful places on earth, but because the track is short by F1 standards and there not enough hotel rooms in the area, it would be a tough sell.

I don't think there will be 2 US races, maybe not even one. The manufacturers may want this, but Bernie controls the venues and it's all about the money when it comes to Bernie. CVC has a ton of loans to pay back and Bernie only looks for third world countries or developing countries that want an F1 race for the prestige it brings to their particular country and to do that, they must pay off Bernie. No one in the US is going to do that. Vegas seems like a good fit, but they don't need the F1 circus to fill their rooms.

Long Beach or somewhere in LA might be a better fit.

Circuit Motorsports

It was a 1:06 by Zonta I think and it was by more than a second over the record. Until Bourdais came in a couple years later and got it into the the 1:05 range.

multi21

Pretty impressive considering they were not in optimal situations for grip and on the older style grooved tires as opposed to the slicks they use today. Like you said, a time in the 1:02 or 1:03 with today's car on slicks with the track rubbered in is not out of the question.

dp35

None of our existing west coast tracks are big enough for F1. IMO Indy is our only F1 capable track, sadly.

Any F1 GP on the west coast would have to be somewhere special that doesn't currently exist. That narrows it down to a temporary or street circuit. Las Vegas did this for CART recently. Although CART's a long way from F1, at least that was a start. A night race on the streets of Vegas would work, but who has the money to do that right now?

Money is the bottom line problem. Everyone involved is desperately in need of it now more than ever, and that will prevent anything fantastic enough for F1, at least on the west coast.

A.Wayne

FL and CA are the 2 most likely states to get a GP .... Asians would fly into CA and
Central and SO. Americans would fly into Fl . This would be necessary to make the races financially viable...

Me thinks both would be street races if it happens ........

m73m95

They do now ..... Vegas is dead my friend.

I would LOVE to see any kind of race in Vegas. There is a HUGE car culture here, and all we get is NASCAR. Not that that's a bad thing, but I think Vegas could, and would support a "real" race. ALMS, Indycar, F1 .... anything.

Flying Finn

+1 In US it most likely will be a street circuit and it will be in a cool metropolitan city (Bernie ain't going into middle of nowhere for good reasons), without really going into the location, I've suggested NYC, Miami, Vegas, L.A. etc but most likely, at the moment, the US GP will be in NY (not necessary in NYC though), Vegas is the other likely candidate. Unfortunately not in next season and maybe not even the following though.

Two races in US? Not very soon...

Montreal will be back next year.

The article is spot on IMO, WTF do we have races in such places as Turkey is so *** backwards.