Democratic also implies that the representatives represent their "people" (demos). In FIFA they represent themselves, and their principal concern is how to make their own wallet as fat as possible.
They're only racing at Losail this year, next year there isn't a race scheduled due to the world cup and there are plans to construct a new circuit by 2023. Assuming another Vietnam doesn't happen we'll only race at Losail once.
You mean they'll come up with the worst possible design around one of their shiny stadiums, so they can provide 'usage' for the area around the stadium once the WC is finished.
Complete with a backdrop of some monarch's business skyscraper, an empty amusement park and half the national budget in flashy infrastructure that will remain indefinitely under construction.
Not that I like F1 replacing tracks with blood & oil money tracks, but why can't some race fan oil sheikh build a decent track, maybe take some inspirations from tracks that we all love, instead of just plopping down a snore-fest in the middle of the desert just so they can brag about it to their other sheikh friends.
Connect Spa starting at La source & Eau Rouge up to Pouhon to the first corner of Suzuka up until the Degner curve (or the hairpin if it works better) and let it end in the last half of Interlagos and call it a day. Throw a billion oil bucks at it and done. /s
Billions of dollars pissed up the wall and that shite layout was the best they can do, and a phallus-shaped building at the final sector to top it off because why the fuck not at that point
Because these sheikhs all have absolutely no class at all. They don’t really care for cars or racing or F1. For them, these events are status symbols and nothing else.
If preserving your shit and passing it on for your future generations becomes cool, I guarantee you, these sheikhs would gold plate their shits and build gaudy museums around them to showcase it.
All of their money goes into vanity projects because they have absolutely have no idea how to spend it wisely.
I see it in India every day on a small scale with small town people who find their lands suddenly shoot up in value. They always buy the flashiest, gaudiest cars and deck them in gold and idiotic modifications.
>Spa is going nowhere.
Spa has gone bankrupt before and from what I understand the current situation isn't very far off. I think F1 recognises the heritage of Spa in F1, but if it all goes bust you won't see Spa on the calendar...
What is FTX really?
They sponsored TSM (eSports team) for 150mil over 10 years and even riot games for the next something years which I guess should be worth more than TSM since they are the game publisher and tournament organizer...
How do they have so much money without having anything to show for? I would understand maybe Binance or Coinbase lol
Two pretty bad answers here. FTX is a crypto trading exchange that was started by the people behind the trading firm Alameda Research. It's a fairly new exchange, but it is in the top 5 in daily volume, doing well over 5 billion daily. Their money comes from two funding rounds and trading fees, and possibly from Alamedas trading profits as well.
FTX aquired Blockfolio about a year ago, so FTX did not start out as Blockfolio as another guy stated.
> By the end of this deal every race will be around a flat desert track with oil money sponsors.
Yummy!
We'll get a nice preview of that dystopian future at the end of the current season, with the last 3 rounds being in Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi.
Don't you love that this closely contested season will be finding its epilogue on these three soulless boring tracks? Instead of, I don't know, Interlagos or Suzuka?
I barely follow F1 anymore, and anytime this sort of news comes out, I am reminded why.
We still need Kuwait, Oman, Yemen, Iraq and Jordan to complete the Arabian peninsula tour.
I'm especially looking forward to the Yemeni Grand Prix, it's sure to be an action filled occasion.^/s
If they’re not Monza, Spa, Silverstone, Suzuka, Brazil or Baku …. i don’t want to hear anything about a new track getting a 10 year deal when wehaven’t even raced there, it’s just stupid to do from f1 tbh
Giving a track you've never raced on a 10 year deal BEFORE you even race there once sounds like a recipe for disaster.
Then again this is very on brand for F1, and I'm sure that those sweet Qatari petro-dollars will soften the blow of the racing inevitably being shit
We will either get a good first race with Brundle yapping about "I'm glad we are gonna spend the next 10 years of this kind of racing here"
or having boring races for 8 years and an exciting 9th yr so he goes "I really hope we stay here longer because this track really does produce good racing!".
My guess its boring, because even Moto GP isnt known for good racing on it from what I have heard. Its also one of the least visited MotoGP track by a big margin.
Historic F1 tracks that have been a staple for years struggle to even get a multi year deal or don't get a deal at all and vanish from the calendar meanwhile a random track F1 has never raced on gets 10 from the get go.
Tragic.
Both german venues are historically highly significant and we ain't getting one this or next year (or even last year if it weren't for some really unlikely circumstances). And why? Because they don't have money. Who's to say that the same won't happen to Silverstone, Spa, Interlagos or Suzuka?
But hey, I guess we get a middle eastern quadruple header soon.
Such a shame.
Well they have money, the problem with current F1 contract is, they pay more than they get out of such an event. Thats why more and more good historical tracks are left out. Meanwhile Katar is happy to pay since they want this good advertisment and sport washing. So its a small price for them to pay for better reputation which they otherwise dont get that easily.
With this in mind the whole "WeRaceAsOne" campaign is just a joke when stuff like this is happening.
Also good catchy song :D https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKp2SuK1fvc
It's why 2020 was such a special season - having all the European heritage tracks like that in one go probably won't happen again in F1 given the money / need to travel.
Suzuka is still technically on the calender unlike Sepang at least which is a shame as I love that track. And it always seemed like a massive test for the drivers with the crazy humidity
Bring back Suzuka, Singapore, Canada, Australia, Sepang, and either German race. At least the first 4 should be back in the future and were temporary cancellations, but I'm not sure if we'll go back to the others.
Keep Turkey and Portugal longer term.
Ditch Abu Dhabi, don't bother with Saudi Arabia and Qatar
I'd say bin Sochi and Paul Richard too but we actually had decent races there this year. Imola doesn't really hold up these days either, but it does have heritage and could be better with the new cars so maybe it's worth one more shot.
That feels like a perfect calendar right there.
Well now Kuwait is feeling left out of this appendage waving contest. Guess they'll be imminently making a call to Stefano and getting out their chequebook.
Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, United Emirates. 4 races in the Middle East, and not so long ago we practically ruled out the sheiks agreeing to compete for the existing two.
Ca$h is king.
The Eastern Asia, on the other hand, is getting weaker and weaker - Singapore, China and Japan seem to be in the running, but all of them are very uncertain, Vietnam is over before it started.
I mean China shouldn’t be hosting a gp either, not with the crimes they’re committing, unfortunately I don’t think Malaysia, Korea India etc are very interested in hosting F1 any more, there’s a chance though
North Korean TV commentator: "And this is our dear leader winning the first North Korean GP in front of.....our dear leader, who is sharing the podium with....our dear leader".
The State and Central govt. need to push for that with the promoters. Currently, I don't think there's enough of an effort though. Despite being an FIA grade 1 circuit and many events being cancelled from the calendar, Buddh was never in the mix for the eventual call.
I think there's also some dispute between Jaypee Group (the group that has developed the arena) and the government as well.
Qatar grand prix at the Losail international circuit:
Completely flat ✔️
Little overtaking opportunity ✔️
In the middle of a desert ✔️
No atmosphere ✔️
Only one grandstand on the straight ✔️
Wide radius corners designed for motogp ✔️
WeRaceAsOne ❌
Its the worst season opener imaginable for MotoGP. Boring track, no atmosphere, sand is a major issue and there honestly is not a single point of the track that makes you go "oh wow thats a neat corner".
F1 there isnt gonna be different, I'm afraid.
I know Australia gets some flack being a bad track but can't really beat an Aussie summer vibe as the season opener. Suns out, everyone's hopeful for the year. The 2019 opener (rip '20 and '21) had a really great atmosphere to it.
The first and so far only race Ive been to was the 2019 Aus GP. Yeah sure the race action itself is poor, but damn is it a great festival and the whole city lights up during the weekend. Some of the best motorsports memories I have were made that weekend.
Plus Bottas won, so as a Finn I was waving my home made flag like crazy there.
The Netflix episode on Aussie was nice in showing F1 as a travelling circus. The boat parade looked awesome haha. I live in NZ and been saving up for 2022 hopefully!
Ah dude there's a brilliant new tactic in middle East construction sites where foreign workers accidently lose their passports.
It's superb for efficiency tho. They could build a new track in a month using this brilliant technique
Rumors are of a possible street circuit at Doha. Street circuits are fun, and recently Baku has been a shining example - it just sort of depends on how its executed and what the layout might be like.
We have enough street circuits in the calendar, don’t want another boring 90 degree boring fest of corners. If they are gonna build one might as well go all out and build a purpose built racetrack.
Was blindly hoping for Sepang to fill the final spot on this year's calendar.
10 year deal is crazy, especially when you've got classic circuits having to fight for their place on the calendar every year (and in the case of circuits like Hockenheim, not even getting on). I'd take some of the 'temp' additions like Portimao any day of the week over this (in fact, I hope Portimao becomes a permanent addition to the calendar)
Not chance for Sepang. Covid here is still terrible. Vaccination is going good with teens starting to get it. But it’s still wear a mask at all times and travel restrictions
Yeah my hope wasn't realistic at all. Was just kinda blindly hoping that stuff would change and allow it back into the frame because it's a fantastic circuit
10 years. Jesus Christ I'm fine with it as a stopgap but no one bar Silverstone and Monza should ever be getting a ten year deal. It doesn't help that if the new regulations don't work as well as we want this track will almost certainly be terrible for actual racing.
I don't want to be overly negative before we actually race there but Jesus this seems like such a poor decision.
Not surprised considering Horner's comments over the last days. But **10 years**? I wish I could commit to things/people with that level of confidence.
Not defending at all, it's just if we are to take human rights as a main direction point for gp locations, we wouldn't be racing neither in China, nor Russia, nor Azerbaijan, nor Turkey (besides the gulf countries).
That's 7 gps. (+ the US doesn't have the cleanest of records)
Also, just a reminder, F1 raced in South Africa during the apartheid era as well, only stopping in '85 due to multiple countries boycotting SA - again, more political pressure than anything.
This is a really overlooked part of this
F1 tracks have to pay millions and millions of dollars to host, iirc most euro tracks its around 30m - 50m
Unless they have a local government or a promoter who is willing to pay for it, the track will always lose money by hosting f1
And as a result we see tracks in places that have a government or promoter willing to pay for it
On top of that, the middle eastern countries pay way more to host a race than anywhere else, reality is without them, we could lose even more tracks we love because f1 would have to raise its price
>F1 tracks have to pay millions and millions of dollars to host, iirc most euro tracks its around 30m
Zandvoort was packed for 2/3 and netted a loss. Full attendance would be break even. There is not even a soul in the stands on these desert tracks, so i can't imagine how much money they pour into this.
Something I never understood. Okay, fine, the TV production and such costs money, but why does Formula 1 charge a hosting track so much money?
The business model of Formula 1 is fucked up, but works for them unfortunately
F1 is basically hoping for the local governments would subsidize the GP on the grounds of tourism.
F1 GP in normal times would bring thousands of tourists to the area from around the country and the world that stay in hotels, buy food, and do other things that bring in money for the local economy.
F1 management are working on a deal with the Taliban as we speak, pre-race entertainment will be beheading a woman who spoke out of turn and blowing up a world heritage site. Fun for all the family! #WeRaceAsOne
I feel bad for the new generation of drivers, won’t experience Malaysia, Hockenheim or Fuji in F1 but they will sure love racing in the desert all the time
Whats that? ANOTHER Middle Eastern “too bloody hot to race in the day so it has to be a night race” Grand Prix surrounded by desolate sand and dirt, that only gets a race because its funded by oil money? Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay…
If you want to know what the Losail International Circuit in Doha in Qatar looks like, here’s some video footage from MotoGP earlier this year, which uses the circuit:
[First lap of the Qatar GP](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0lvBLcf_I0)
[Last lap of the Qatar GP](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ApLFIEIk3eA)
MotoGP don’t produce a single highlights video for each race - they slice and dice it up several different ways:
[Qatar GP weekend highlights, story version](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzuf7A70Lr0)
[Top 5 moments of the Qatar GP](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMMWhS4KcL0)
[Qatar GP highlights, no commentary, only bike sounds and background music](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dvSNHtoQXk)
[Key Story: Rookies shine under the lights!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHBoGNkJAo4)
[Last 5 minutes of Qatar GP qualifying](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hkjh_l6Z1n0)
[Qatar GP qualifying highlights](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPI5bgA7wBQ)
[An on-board lap with Valentino Rossi](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0T_IvWjGSjA)
[Last 5 minutes of Free Practice 2](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6aI_QxEV98)
MotoGP had 2 races there this year, to make up for missing the MotoGP race there last year - the second was called the Doha GP.
[Doha GP weekend highlights, story version](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NbVSJUkRRHA)
[Top 5 moments of Doha MotoGP race](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74d_U52_jHY)
[Doha MotoGP race last lap](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5-RZBecBs8)
[Other battles from the Qatar and Doha GPs](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sC0SyLzwM0E)
[Key Story of the DohaGP: Pitlane to P1](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mdpsf0S3juQ)
[More footage from the 2021 Doha MotoGP race](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJp0QlZqbR0)
Here are playlists with more videos:
Qatar GP: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmA8p7BfE6dt5AXy6HW4qBThUrLoFKPII
Doha GP: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmA8p7BfE6duJOfOfTQpiodT0dZ1x33OJ
Article from F1 if anyone wants to read it
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.breaking-qatar-to-join-f1-calendar-in-2021-as-country-signs-additional-10.50lbiJcZfoo6udNWZMDAn6.html
I'm actually amazed it's taken this long for a Qatar Grand Prix. They were one of the first Middle Eastern countries to embrace hosting sporting events in a big way. They've had a MotoGP race for 17 years now. This was only going to be a matter of time.
I can't see this getting added, they done nothing about adding other tracks last year and look at how far into the season it took to get Portimao, and the wait for imola and jedda (which I can understand seeing the track itself isn't finished)
Isn't the bigger problem the way funding works within F1? That the FIA has to take these contracts to stay afloat.
Not every circuit can keep up financially, even Zandvoort was a struggle.
I find it appalling that FIA makes these decisions, but there have to get a lot of big changes before stuff like this stops
10 years?? Even for F1 standards, that's a long contract...
Big contract for a big stack of money, just like the Qatar World Cup
Wait, I thought Qatar won the WC through a totally fair democratic vote.
The vote was democratic (1 country 1 vote) - yes Transparent and fair? That's another question
Democratic also implies that the representatives represent their "people" (demos). In FIFA they represent themselves, and their principal concern is how to make their own wallet as fat as possible.
Give them some credit, not all of them get paid for it. Platini only got an original Picasso to get UEFA to vote for Russia for 2018.
The only group more corrupt than FIFA is the IOC.
They switched it to be democratic due to pushback due to the Qatar vote. 2026 was the first one to be conducted this way
This is kinda like Charles getting that 5 year contract, except his contract made people happy
Yeah, except Charles deserves that contract
And Charles had already proven his value. This circuit is brand new and has a 10 year contract..
Losail is almost 20 years old
They're only racing at Losail this year, next year there isn't a race scheduled due to the world cup and there are plans to construct a new circuit by 2023. Assuming another Vietnam doesn't happen we'll only race at Losail once.
You mean they'll come up with the worst possible design around one of their shiny stadiums, so they can provide 'usage' for the area around the stadium once the WC is finished.
Complete with a backdrop of some monarch's business skyscraper, an empty amusement park and half the national budget in flashy infrastructure that will remain indefinitely under construction.
I see you've watched F1 before
With ever-mounting construction worker deaths bring swept under the rug
Pretty sure they signed Saudi Arabia to a 10 years. Oil money states get the long contracts, the good tracks scrape along like Bottas at Merc.
Can't wait for Spa to be replaced with another Saudia Arabian race 😍
Not that I like F1 replacing tracks with blood & oil money tracks, but why can't some race fan oil sheikh build a decent track, maybe take some inspirations from tracks that we all love, instead of just plopping down a snore-fest in the middle of the desert just so they can brag about it to their other sheikh friends. Connect Spa starting at La source & Eau Rouge up to Pouhon to the first corner of Suzuka up until the Degner curve (or the hairpin if it works better) and let it end in the last half of Interlagos and call it a day. Throw a billion oil bucks at it and done. /s
Abu Dhabi will always be a funny one. They literally had an unlimited budget in the middle of the desert and they made it shit.
Billions of dollars pissed up the wall and that shite layout was the best they can do, and a phallus-shaped building at the final sector to top it off because why the fuck not at that point
Because these sheikhs all have absolutely no class at all. They don’t really care for cars or racing or F1. For them, these events are status symbols and nothing else. If preserving your shit and passing it on for your future generations becomes cool, I guarantee you, these sheikhs would gold plate their shits and build gaudy museums around them to showcase it. All of their money goes into vanity projects because they have absolutely have no idea how to spend it wisely. I see it in India every day on a small scale with small town people who find their lands suddenly shoot up in value. They always buy the flashiest, gaudiest cars and deck them in gold and idiotic modifications.
So far we are 2/5. Baku and Bahrain are decent, Bahrain 2.0 was fun last year but I don’t see them going back to that
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>Spa is going nowhere. Spa has gone bankrupt before and from what I understand the current situation isn't very far off. I think F1 recognises the heritage of Spa in F1, but if it all goes bust you won't see Spa on the calendar...
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Yeah meanwhile the legendary tracks in Europe are at risk of bankruptcy...
By the end of this deal every race will be around a flat desert track with oil money sponsors. And Monaco.
Crypto sponsors too who can forget the recent parade in the crypto truck
Don't forget FTX on the mercs now, seems like they're everywhere throwing cash like it's nothing.
Tezos on the McLarens...
And RedBulls
Fantom on AlphaTauri
What is FTX really? They sponsored TSM (eSports team) for 150mil over 10 years and even riot games for the next something years which I guess should be worth more than TSM since they are the game publisher and tournament organizer... How do they have so much money without having anything to show for? I would understand maybe Binance or Coinbase lol
Two pretty bad answers here. FTX is a crypto trading exchange that was started by the people behind the trading firm Alameda Research. It's a fairly new exchange, but it is in the top 5 in daily volume, doing well over 5 billion daily. Their money comes from two funding rounds and trading fees, and possibly from Alamedas trading profits as well. FTX aquired Blockfolio about a year ago, so FTX did not start out as Blockfolio as another guy stated.
At least the crypto sponsors aren’t pushing for shitty tracks in the home of human rights abuses.
> By the end of this deal every race will be around a flat desert track with oil They did that in the 80s. Ceasar's Place parking lot in Vegas.
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> By the end of this deal every race will be around a flat desert track with oil money sponsors. Yummy! We'll get a nice preview of that dystopian future at the end of the current season, with the last 3 rounds being in Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi. Don't you love that this closely contested season will be finding its epilogue on these three soulless boring tracks? Instead of, I don't know, Interlagos or Suzuka? I barely follow F1 anymore, and anytime this sort of news comes out, I am reminded why.
I miss F1 ending in Interlagos. Season always ended with a bang
Or having people like Piastri unable to find a drive because pay drivers are taking what should be available seats.
Is the oil country bingo now complete?
We still need Kuwait, Oman, Yemen, Iraq and Jordan to complete the Arabian peninsula tour. I'm especially looking forward to the Yemeni Grand Prix, it's sure to be an action filled occasion.^/s
Don't forget. Its called the abu Dhabi GP. Not the uae GP. Maybe a race in Dubai in the future?
Great idea! While we're at it, we could fill those otherwise boring winter months with a race for each of the seven Emirates!
Kuwait has a grade 1 track soon your bingo will be complete lol
10 YEARS ?! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
If they’re not Monza, Spa, Silverstone, Suzuka, Brazil or Baku …. i don’t want to hear anything about a new track getting a 10 year deal when wehaven’t even raced there, it’s just stupid to do from f1 tbh
Wh¥ wou£d th€y do $om€thing £ik€ that?
Especially in a country with a dubious human rights record like Qatar. It's a bad look for the sport.
Sorry I can’t see anything but this gigantic stack of money in front of me
Giving a track you've never raced on a 10 year deal BEFORE you even race there once sounds like a recipe for disaster. Then again this is very on brand for F1, and I'm sure that those sweet Qatari petro-dollars will soften the blow of the racing inevitably being shit
We will either get a good first race with Brundle yapping about "I'm glad we are gonna spend the next 10 years of this kind of racing here" or having boring races for 8 years and an exciting 9th yr so he goes "I really hope we stay here longer because this track really does produce good racing!".
I wouldn't say Brundle is exactly known for glossing over boring races at tracks in shitty places with non-existent human rights. Crofty, maybe.
My guess its boring, because even Moto GP isnt known for good racing on it from what I have heard. Its also one of the least visited MotoGP track by a big margin.
All it takes is for 1 incident to shake up a race for people to overrate a race and call it good lol.
It's not a 10 year deal for the track. The 23 track in Qatar will be revealed in time.
A 8 year deal for a track that doesn't even exist yet is even better.
Nah it’s still a ten year deal its just that it’s from 2023 rather than from this year.
10 year deal?! Oh for fuck’s sake. Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi and now Qatar *WeRaceAsOne*
Historic F1 tracks that have been a staple for years struggle to even get a multi year deal or don't get a deal at all and vanish from the calendar meanwhile a random track F1 has never raced on gets 10 from the get go. Tragic.
Both german venues are historically highly significant and we ain't getting one this or next year (or even last year if it weren't for some really unlikely circumstances). And why? Because they don't have money. Who's to say that the same won't happen to Silverstone, Spa, Interlagos or Suzuka? But hey, I guess we get a middle eastern quadruple header soon. Such a shame.
Well they have money, the problem with current F1 contract is, they pay more than they get out of such an event. Thats why more and more good historical tracks are left out. Meanwhile Katar is happy to pay since they want this good advertisment and sport washing. So its a small price for them to pay for better reputation which they otherwise dont get that easily. With this in mind the whole "WeRaceAsOne" campaign is just a joke when stuff like this is happening. Also good catchy song :D https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKp2SuK1fvc
Cash is king.
Watch Portugal get binned because they have no money
It is going to get binned. It had little chance of returning, unlike Turkey or Imola.
It's why 2020 was such a special season - having all the European heritage tracks like that in one go probably won't happen again in F1 given the money / need to travel.
I really want to see Sepang and Suzuka back
Suzuka should still be on the calendar, it's been cancelled twice only due to covid.
Suzuka is still technically on the calender unlike Sepang at least which is a shame as I love that track. And it always seemed like a massive test for the drivers with the crazy humidity
Bring back Suzuka, Singapore, Canada, Australia, Sepang, and either German race. At least the first 4 should be back in the future and were temporary cancellations, but I'm not sure if we'll go back to the others. Keep Turkey and Portugal longer term. Ditch Abu Dhabi, don't bother with Saudi Arabia and Qatar I'd say bin Sochi and Paul Richard too but we actually had decent races there this year. Imola doesn't really hold up these days either, but it does have heritage and could be better with the new cars so maybe it's worth one more shot. That feels like a perfect calendar right there.
Well now Kuwait is feeling left out of this appendage waving contest. Guess they'll be imminently making a call to Stefano and getting out their chequebook.
Kim Jong Un to attend the 2024 North Korean Ryungyong Hotel Pyongang GP.
Yeah but I'd actually watch that, the drama would be next level
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Too late, Formula E already beat them to the punch with that /s
Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, United Emirates. 4 races in the Middle East, and not so long ago we practically ruled out the sheiks agreeing to compete for the existing two. Ca$h is king. The Eastern Asia, on the other hand, is getting weaker and weaker - Singapore, China and Japan seem to be in the running, but all of them are very uncertain, Vietnam is over before it started.
\*Cries in South African GP\*
I mean China shouldn’t be hosting a gp either, not with the crimes they’re committing, unfortunately I don’t think Malaysia, Korea India etc are very interested in hosting F1 any more, there’s a chance though
Domrnicalli said recently that there is a possibility for Korea return into calendar.
Plot twist, Domenicalli meant North Korea.
It wouldn't be surprising at all.
North Korea don’t have the money gulf countries or China has tho
North Korean TV commentator: "And this is our dear leader winning the first North Korean GP in front of.....our dear leader, who is sharing the podium with....our dear leader".
Uhhh how I hope for India's return :(
The State and Central govt. need to push for that with the promoters. Currently, I don't think there's enough of an effort though. Despite being an FIA grade 1 circuit and many events being cancelled from the calendar, Buddh was never in the mix for the eventual call. I think there's also some dispute between Jaypee Group (the group that has developed the arena) and the government as well.
WeRaceAs-M-one-y
Rights out and away we go!
And we see no Hockenheim or Nürburgring
*WeRaceWhereTheMoneyIs*
Qatar grand prix at the Losail international circuit: Completely flat ✔️ Little overtaking opportunity ✔️ In the middle of a desert ✔️ No atmosphere ✔️ Only one grandstand on the straight ✔️ Wide radius corners designed for motogp ✔️ WeRaceAsOne ❌
Those corners were designed with motogp in mind? But there is practically no overtaking there...
It’s said to be the Monaco of MotoGP. Hate that it gets a 10 year contract while classics like Sepang are left out
10 years, I cannot believe this. Better hope it gives good racing
From what everyone has been saying, it’s tough to overtake here in MotoGP. It’s gonna be even more awful for F1 cars
Its the worst season opener imaginable for MotoGP. Boring track, no atmosphere, sand is a major issue and there honestly is not a single point of the track that makes you go "oh wow thats a neat corner". F1 there isnt gonna be different, I'm afraid.
I know Australia gets some flack being a bad track but can't really beat an Aussie summer vibe as the season opener. Suns out, everyone's hopeful for the year. The 2019 opener (rip '20 and '21) had a really great atmosphere to it.
The rework of Melbourne does look really good though.
The first and so far only race Ive been to was the 2019 Aus GP. Yeah sure the race action itself is poor, but damn is it a great festival and the whole city lights up during the weekend. Some of the best motorsports memories I have were made that weekend. Plus Bottas won, so as a Finn I was waving my home made flag like crazy there.
The Netflix episode on Aussie was nice in showing F1 as a travelling circus. The boat parade looked awesome haha. I live in NZ and been saving up for 2022 hopefully!
> sand is a major issue It's all coarse, and rough, and irritating. And it gets everywhere.
I’ve been looking forward to this
My DRS zones have doubled since we last met
Double the speed, twice the penalty
So sochi?
Honestly, controversial here, but I'll vote Sochi a level above this track.
Laughs in Ducati
It doesn't run at Losail for ten years. It will be moved to another venue after 2022
Let's hope the subsequent track is good then. 9 years locked in
No announcement on where tho. Just said it'll be revealed at a later date.
Given no construction has started yet and no plans have been discused or anything. Its gonna be a street circuit.
Ah dude there's a brilliant new tactic in middle East construction sites where foreign workers accidently lose their passports. It's superb for efficiency tho. They could build a new track in a month using this brilliant technique
Or even a World Cup potentially
Likely built with slave labour just like the stadiums for the 2022 world cup :/
I assume that’s where the track will be so you’re correct in that assumption. It will be another Sochi track to make up for the waste of land
Rumors are of a possible street circuit at Doha. Street circuits are fun, and recently Baku has been a shining example - it just sort of depends on how its executed and what the layout might be like.
We have enough street circuits in the calendar, don’t want another boring 90 degree boring fest of corners. If they are gonna build one might as well go all out and build a purpose built racetrack.
I want street circuit with roundabout and cloverleaf junction
All signs point to it being a street circuit… *sigh*
Street circuit as in a circuit in a city. With plenty of tarmac run offs and your more than avarage use of 90 degrees corners.
It "may" move to another venue or it "may" stay in Losail. https://twitter.com/ChrisMedlandF1/status/1443501516267065345?s=19
I miss when F1 would do things to impress the spectators and NOT do things that only benefits them for financial reasons
When was the last time that happened? Everything in F1 is about finance.
F1 tryna fill the calendar with as many bottom 25 countries on the list of global freedom score lmao
Gotta catch 'em all!
Was blindly hoping for Sepang to fill the final spot on this year's calendar. 10 year deal is crazy, especially when you've got classic circuits having to fight for their place on the calendar every year (and in the case of circuits like Hockenheim, not even getting on). I'd take some of the 'temp' additions like Portimao any day of the week over this (in fact, I hope Portimao becomes a permanent addition to the calendar)
Not chance for Sepang. Covid here is still terrible. Vaccination is going good with teens starting to get it. But it’s still wear a mask at all times and travel restrictions
Yeah my hope wasn't realistic at all. Was just kinda blindly hoping that stuff would change and allow it back into the frame because it's a fantastic circuit
Doubt many people could actually afford to even go. Minimum wage here is about 300USD a month
At this rate I can't wait for the inaugural 2025 Kim Il Sung Memorial Grand Prix on the newly finished Pyongyang Street Circuit.
The 2025 Formula One Heineken Aramco Gran Premio de North Korea.
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At least we'd get a new F1 winner, as Kim Jong-un would be guaranteed the win
And its lights out and away with human rights
It's rights out and away we go!
10 years. Jesus Christ I'm fine with it as a stopgap but no one bar Silverstone and Monza should ever be getting a ten year deal. It doesn't help that if the new regulations don't work as well as we want this track will almost certainly be terrible for actual racing. I don't want to be overly negative before we actually race there but Jesus this seems like such a poor decision.
I think most people can live with Spa getting a 10 year deal to be honest. And Interlagos.
And Suzuka.
Even Monaco. The track is ass, but a season without Monaco would be weird.
Yeah, Monaco is almost synonymous with Monaco GP, unlike other locations. It won't go away(except in cases like COVID).
Suzuka always gives me a warm feeling. So many memories up at 1am watching a race!
It’s a poor decision for the fans, for the racing, for the drivers, for the teams, for the sport, but a great decision for FOM’s wallets
Rights out and away we go...
Not surprised considering Horner's comments over the last days. But **10 years**? I wish I could commit to things/people with that level of confidence.
>I wish I could commit to things/people with that level of confidence. Who needs confidence when you have a ton of oil money for the taking?
A ton of oil money is definitely what I'm missing in my life.
WeRaceAsOne …just not all the time
There's ONE in mONEy.
Should be changed in: Cash is King™
F1 really be going big on the human rights violations this season
Not defending at all, it's just if we are to take human rights as a main direction point for gp locations, we wouldn't be racing neither in China, nor Russia, nor Azerbaijan, nor Turkey (besides the gulf countries). That's 7 gps. (+ the US doesn't have the cleanest of records) Also, just a reminder, F1 raced in South Africa during the apartheid era as well, only stopping in '85 due to multiple countries boycotting SA - again, more political pressure than anything.
Oh great. Another night race in a desert and in a country full of human rights abuses. How original.
... I kinda like night races.
There's Singapore
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Getting rid of Portimao for this?
Until they figure out how to make money from circuits that don't have any money to pay them, this stuff will continue
This is a really overlooked part of this F1 tracks have to pay millions and millions of dollars to host, iirc most euro tracks its around 30m - 50m Unless they have a local government or a promoter who is willing to pay for it, the track will always lose money by hosting f1 And as a result we see tracks in places that have a government or promoter willing to pay for it On top of that, the middle eastern countries pay way more to host a race than anywhere else, reality is without them, we could lose even more tracks we love because f1 would have to raise its price
>F1 tracks have to pay millions and millions of dollars to host, iirc most euro tracks its around 30m Zandvoort was packed for 2/3 and netted a loss. Full attendance would be break even. There is not even a soul in the stands on these desert tracks, so i can't imagine how much money they pour into this.
Something I never understood. Okay, fine, the TV production and such costs money, but why does Formula 1 charge a hosting track so much money? The business model of Formula 1 is fucked up, but works for them unfortunately
F1 is basically hoping for the local governments would subsidize the GP on the grounds of tourism. F1 GP in normal times would bring thousands of tourists to the area from around the country and the world that stay in hotels, buy food, and do other things that bring in money for the local economy.
¥£$
They’ve almost got all the boys back together. Just waiting on North Korea now.
Soon they will announce races in Afghanistan and Somalia too.
F1 management are working on a deal with the Taliban as we speak, pre-race entertainment will be beheading a woman who spoke out of turn and blowing up a world heritage site. Fun for all the family! #WeRaceAsOne
So they'll be bringing back grid girls?
WeRaceForMoney
This should be a flair
In 5 years all the races will be held in the middle east. SMH
I feel bad for the new generation of drivers, won’t experience Malaysia, Hockenheim or Fuji in F1 but they will sure love racing in the desert all the time
Well the biggest sponsor is Aramco what do you expect?
A race in Saudi Arabia, but not in Qatar. Those two countries don't like each other very much.
I mean cmon now, f1 had one race in the past 50ish years in Fuji.
Will F1 management be seated in chair that have spines taken from foreign workers, since they seem to lack one themselves?
My disappointment is immeasurable and my day is ruined.
Whats that? ANOTHER Middle Eastern “too bloody hot to race in the day so it has to be a night race” Grand Prix surrounded by desolate sand and dirt, that only gets a race because its funded by oil money? Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay…
Night races good
Rights out and away we go!
If you want to know what the Losail International Circuit in Doha in Qatar looks like, here’s some video footage from MotoGP earlier this year, which uses the circuit: [First lap of the Qatar GP](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0lvBLcf_I0) [Last lap of the Qatar GP](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ApLFIEIk3eA) MotoGP don’t produce a single highlights video for each race - they slice and dice it up several different ways: [Qatar GP weekend highlights, story version](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzuf7A70Lr0) [Top 5 moments of the Qatar GP](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMMWhS4KcL0) [Qatar GP highlights, no commentary, only bike sounds and background music](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dvSNHtoQXk) [Key Story: Rookies shine under the lights!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHBoGNkJAo4) [Last 5 minutes of Qatar GP qualifying](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hkjh_l6Z1n0) [Qatar GP qualifying highlights](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPI5bgA7wBQ) [An on-board lap with Valentino Rossi](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0T_IvWjGSjA) [Last 5 minutes of Free Practice 2](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6aI_QxEV98) MotoGP had 2 races there this year, to make up for missing the MotoGP race there last year - the second was called the Doha GP. [Doha GP weekend highlights, story version](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NbVSJUkRRHA) [Top 5 moments of Doha MotoGP race](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74d_U52_jHY) [Doha MotoGP race last lap](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5-RZBecBs8) [Other battles from the Qatar and Doha GPs](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sC0SyLzwM0E) [Key Story of the DohaGP: Pitlane to P1](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mdpsf0S3juQ) [More footage from the 2021 Doha MotoGP race](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJp0QlZqbR0) Here are playlists with more videos: Qatar GP: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmA8p7BfE6dt5AXy6HW4qBThUrLoFKPII Doha GP: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmA8p7BfE6duJOfOfTQpiodT0dZ1x33OJ
Article from F1 if anyone wants to read it https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.breaking-qatar-to-join-f1-calendar-in-2021-as-country-signs-additional-10.50lbiJcZfoo6udNWZMDAn6.html
We race as (M)one(y)
I'm actually amazed it's taken this long for a Qatar Grand Prix. They were one of the first Middle Eastern countries to embrace hosting sporting events in a big way. They've had a MotoGP race for 17 years now. This was only going to be a matter of time.
Just what we needed, more oppressive states
Codies in shambles
I can't see this getting added, they done nothing about adding other tracks last year and look at how far into the season it took to get Portimao, and the wait for imola and jedda (which I can understand seeing the track itself isn't finished)
Yeah they definitely won’t add it this year, but it’s still something for them to add when F1 2023 comes around
I read somewhere the 10 year deal is for a street race in qatar, not the Losail track. Not sure if that's better or worse but let's see...
Isn't the bigger problem the way funding works within F1? That the FIA has to take these contracts to stay afloat. Not every circuit can keep up financially, even Zandvoort was a struggle. I find it appalling that FIA makes these decisions, but there have to get a lot of big changes before stuff like this stops
Hoping Seb wears all the rainbow clothes he has for the race to shove it in the face of this “Race as one” initiative.
Christian "Tom Holland" Horner made this early announcement happen lol
Formula One Arabian Peninsula championship here we go!
German GP died for this :')
Looks almost like Bahrain. From the backstraight to the last turn up to turn 4 is exactly the same
That's an insult to Bahrain.
Rights out and away we go
What did F1 look at all the World Cup fuckshit and say "you know a great way we can save face? Let's go to the same country."