I'd imagine it's the only reason a lot of people are switching on. If you can't be a good racing series, at least be a good soap opera
And there’s more . From Autosport . FIA president Ben Sulayem at centre of further allegations over Las Vegas homologation Further allegations have been made against FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem, this time claiming he pushed for officials not to certify the Las Vegas Formula 1 circuit, the BBC reports. Matt KewGP RacingMar 5, 2024 at 2:08 PM Upd: Mar 5, 2024 at 2:41 PM According to the BBC story, a whistleblower claims that they were told “on behest of the FIA president” to not homologate the street track ahead of last November’s inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix - a flagship event for F1 as it moved to promote the race itself for the first time. This claim is included in a report, which the BBC claims to have seen, by the FIA’s compliance officer to its ethics committee. There was a delay before the circuit was ready for inspection due to “ongoing local organiser construction works”. Thereafter, the whistleblower says they were contracted by their manager with the instruction from Ben Sulayem to find issues with the venue so it could not be declared safe. But no concerns were found. This accusation appears to sit at odds with Ben Sulayem’s claims that he supported the homologation of the new track and that the relationship between governing body and FOM is much stronger than when he first replaced predecessor Jean Todt. In an exclusive interview with Autosport's sister title GP Racing magazine, Ben Sulayem was asked whether the FIA and FOM must always agree. His reply was: “No. FOM has its points. But today, since I took over the presidency, we’re in a much better position together. And if you told me that I could go back and change some of the things that happened, for example, when I got hit by the media – I wouldn’t change anything. “Let me give you an example from Las Vegas... The president of the FIA is the one who signs the homologation for the new track, or for all the tracks. I supported it. I could have said no, [because it wasn’t ready in time for inspection]. But as soon as my team said it was safe... because I’m a driver, I care about the wellbeing of the drivers and the people around them, our staff and the marshals. I did it. “It was a big thing. If I had said no, it would have been disastrous [for F1]. But it would have been legal. But I’m careful because I love the sport. “At the end of the day, we’re in the same boat. We may have different missions. But we’re in the same boat. We cannot let the sport sink.” Ben Sulayem has also been accused by the same whistleblower of attempting to get the race stewards to overturn a penalty that initially cost Fernando Alonso third place in the 2023 Saudi Arabian GP.
The rush to capitalise on the popularity of the sport, particularly in the US markets, has resulted in a lack of housekeeping and oversight. Regardless of the FIA trying to overturn or influence results, there is an unseemly dash for the cash these last few seasons and it doesn't bode well for the essence of the sport which is awash with sponsor's cash, which brings immense pressures for the teams. The fact that Horner has weaponised Drive to Survive hasn't helped, both in terms of the sport and, indeed, himself. Too many races on contrived street circuits, while fine for some audiences, will kill the sport in Europe.
very well said . there IS a place for an F1 race IMHO , there are enough motorsports fans there to like it . BUT there never has been nor ever will be the desire for 3 races a season . I thought I read somewhere that the DTS viewing figures had dropped a fair bit in the US . Don’t even get me started on new street circuits . Or the amount of races in a season
I had wondered about this in my speculation as to what might be going on. It would seem natural that Horner may want to take control of the team, and that there would be pushback if that occurred. It feels like there is a lot going on in the background.
Unfortunately, F1 has been in the hands of people wanting to suck as much money out of it as possible for many, many years. Bernie Ecclestone is worth billions, and all of that was siphoned out of this sport. Nobody running it has cared about the fans or the quality of the competition, or the history, they have only cared about accumulating vast sums of money. This sport is a monumental cash cow.
To be fair Bernie Ecclestone turned what was a motor sport for very rich petrol heads into a Global Sport spectacle that interested many more people, true he made billions out of it but who wouldn't The new "owners" have turned it into a Global **** show and have seemingly sold its soul to Arab Oil Money and in trying to make it an even bigger spectacle have only turned it into what non fans always called it, a formation lap from start to finish
The selling to the highest bidder was going on well before liberty. Profit and wealth has come before the sport for decade, and some people have become incredibly rich while teams and circuits have struggled to keep their head above water and the average fan is being priced out of the sport.
as the fia decide to make it a monopoly and then sabotage the e series and we get nothing going to the real tracks there's zero alternative in Europe. f1 as a brand is not even very relevant as the tech is nothing special. in fact it'd a dead end of low power hybrid engines that a lot of unlimited series could blow the pants off. innovation is now actually blocked so we have ground effect cars with no real ultra high tech application of suspension, no innovation in tyres etc. we will watch cars blast through a tunnel of death at 200mph on Saturday and yawn. unless someone has a suspension failure in which case we will see another death thats been about 2 years in coming at this death trap. and to top it off for religious reasons our tradition race day is moved. if Ramadan is a problem then move the races. no issue with any religion but I couldn't give a damn what the issue is the race has been moved and thats not on. same for Vegas. go do one.
The big money TV audiences, the sponsor's target audiences, are in the US and middle east. I can see more and more traditional European venues being priced out of Liberty's plans and dropping off the calendar as they don't fit into the US/UAE live prime broadcast schedules. Monaco is a prime example, a driver's favourite but no longer fit for purpose given the dimensions of a modern F1 car, Europe will soon be left with half a dozen 'legacy races' and for the rest of the calendar we will have to stay up until 3am to watch races live.
I hate Monaco it hasn't rained in years which were the only ever interesting part of it anyway. we should have tracks suited to racing anyway and the cars are too big.
Bernie has made an absolute fortune out of F1 I agree . it is because of him that F1 got so big ( too big ? ) With hindsight , he was definitely a case of “ Better the Devil you know “ and I’m sure all on here remember that he was a team owner for many years . He got Sid Watkins in as an official recognised Doctor .. He united Teams in the 80’s . Admittedly he took no prisoners , but I now wish it was his people in charge .
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/68501426 RBR suspend the girl who made a complaint. Not a good look tbh.
Well there are copies of the messages out there, they could be fake but I'd say there's a case to answer.
