Barcelona slashes funds for GP

[Rob]

Thursday 31 December at 08:35 : Dec.31 (GMM)

Barcelona's city council has slashed funding for the Spanish grand prix.

Local reports including by the El Confidencial and Diario Sport newspapers say the council's contribution towards the annual race at the Circuit de Catalunya has been halved from EUR 4 million per year to just two.

It comes after new mayor Ada Colau warned in the middle of the year that "In the context of what is happening (in Barcelona), formula one is not the priority".

Her deputy, Gerardo Pisarello, has now confirmed the 50 per cent funding slash, arguing that the amount was not reduced to zero because "an abrupt withdrawal would have damaging consequences".

Barcelona will therefore continue to contribute in 2016, so "they (race promoters) can do a viability plan" and "this private initiative will be self-sufficient, little by little".

http://www.onestopstrategy.com/artic...panish+GP.html

:xmasconfused::xmaseek:

[Kyss4k]

F1 is not what most fans do think it is anymore. People all around me for example, those who were or those who were not hardcore fans, have lost interest in the "sport" in the last 2 years and I am sure it's not different anywhere in the world. F1 is not attractive anymore as it used to be, so of course governments will not fund it by the amounts of money they did in the past.

[Rob]

F1 is not what most fans do think it is anymore. People all around me for example, those who were or those who were not hardcore fans, have lost interest in the "sport" in the last 2 years and I am sure it's not different anywhere in the world. F1 is not attractive anymore as it used to be, so of course governments will not fund it by the amounts of money they did in the past.

Spot on. I also think that its been longer than 2 years. Think peoples interest started to fade was 2009 with the new looking cars with the aero rules. Plus now we have the Hybrid engines, and the Merc total dominance.

[stefa]

F1 is not what most fans do think it is anymore. People all around me for example, those who were or those who were not hardcore fans, have lost interest in the "sport" in the last 2 years and I am sure it's not different anywhere in the world. F1 is not attractive anymore as it used to be, so of course governments will not fund it by the amounts of money they did in the past.

Totally agree!!!

[wisepie]

This is a worrying time for F1 and the root of the problem is always money, for the teams and promoters to raise the funds to operate on a realistic budget is almost impossible, given the demands of Bernie and his cronies. The fans desert the racing (such as it is) because of one team's dominance (RB then Mercedes), they can't justify the expense of attending the races due to the high prices, TV coverage is becoming pay-to-view, the original F1 circuits are being lost to countries with unlimited government funds, boring circuits and no F1 heritage, so it's hardly a surprise that audiences are dwindling. And that's without the hybrid stuff without a proper noise, which is a shame but is hopefully being addressed. The real fans will stay as long as they are hooked (like me) but I fear for the series when there is more exciting racing elsewhere. That's my view anyway and I worry that F1 teams are adding to the problem by fighting amongst themselves for a bigger slice of the cake too, but they have to spend so much to be competitive. A vicious circle indeed.

[aroutis]

The teams always fight and that won't change. The investments are huge and this causes a lot of interests at stake.
The issue is not fighting, it's the merchandise, the brand name, the devaluation that has been going on for some years now and the wrong decisions that have been put in place.
The fact that people feel that RBR had been blutantly been favored for the past years then it was Mercedes' turn, the fact that the rules have been too hard to understand, the fact that the teams have no power to fight mid year (not really) once the season starts, they can only "improve" and the end result is pretty much known if there's a gap of 1sec or more between the first and the second completely makes this series a joke.

So this makes in turn investors turn their back to this sport. Especially if they feel there is no clarity to the rules.

If this keeps going this way, soon F1 will be irrelevant.

[wisepie]

Totally agree with your summary too, aroutis, the rules and regulations are something else I forgot to mention in the above rant!

[Stormy]

Well, Bernie said Europe is a thing of the past on Russia Today. Those kind of statements worries me.

[Rob]

Well, Bernie said Europe is a thing of the past on Russia Today. Those kind of statements worries me.

if he said that, it is worrying times. The problem is, no track, or European goverment will sum up the over priced hosting fees he asks.

[Stormy]

if he said that, it is worrying times. The problem is, no track, or European goverment will sum up the over priced hosting fees he asks.

I think the European governments got more important priorities then F1. The arab countries are all about bringing sporting events to do PR for their countries while there are big injustices going on there.

[TigerKing]

if he said that, it is worrying times. The problem is, no track, or European goverment will sum up the over priced hosting fees he asks.

But what about "European" countries like Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Bulgaria?

[Stormy]

But what about "European" countries like Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Bulgaria?

Bosnia and Bulgaria?! Nah, this countries cant solve a lot of domestic problems, no way an F1 race can be held there.
Azerbaijan got individuals who are very rich with gas and oil money.

[TigerKing]

Bosnia and Bulgaria?! Nah, this countries cant solve a lot of domestic problems, no way an F1 race can be held there.
Azerbaijan got individuals who are very rich with gas and oil money.

That was the joke

[Stormy]

That was the joke

I should improve my sarcasm meter.

[Brembo]

I should improve my sarcasm meter.

I can help you with that! If Ferrari wins the first race this year be it Seb or Kimi, F1 will immediately be revived . Lets face it, Ferrari is F1. Even the non Ferrari fans will come back to F1 just to wish and hope they lose a race. Also, Seb seems to be well recieved as Ferrari's new "Great driver" .

[aroutis]

I can help you with that! If Ferrari wins the first race this year be it Seb or Kimi, F1 will immediately be revived . Lets face it, Ferrari is F1. Even the non Ferrari fans will come back to F1 just to wish and hope they lose a race. Also, Seb seems to be well recieved as Ferrari's new "Great driver" .

F in F1 stands for Ferrari whether people like it or not, Ferrari is the brand name that drives this sport and people that don't seem (want) to understand it are pretty much blind or stupid.

But thing is , as I mentioned earlier, that if F1 is to become irrelevant, devalued then Ferrari is not going to bother with it, if people think otherwise are going to be in for a big shock.