A European race will only replace another euro race so it will be spa which is a real shame. All for Red Bull to flex some more muscle in the sport.
To lose Spa would be unforgivable after having had some of the best races there in recent years. 2008 was a classic, even with all the controversy.
Really? Then it is a real shame in every sense of the word. Spa should be protected from the vain ambitions of billionaires.
Spa has a contract to 2016. It will be Korea which will be replaced, that or just a Valencia replacement and nothing gets dropped.
Why does Spain have two? Who is bankrolling them when the country is supposed to be pretty much bankrupt?
No reason for them to have 2 races because of one driver who hasn't won a WDC since 2006! Italy only has one race now and Ferrari are a bigger draw than Alonso. They should drop Valencia and give its slot to one of the newer races so that the traditional events can stay on the calendar. No need for 1 (financially screwed) country to have two races with the calendar being so full now.
Spain doesn't have two races any more, that's why Valencia and Barcelona were set to alternate starting from this year.
'No reason for them to have 2 races because of one driver who hasn't won a WDC since 2006!' Six years without a championship and unlikely this year too. Seems remarkable that, with his talent. I'm sure he would have expected many more by now but balked by Adrian Newey and a little team incompetence.
Well, Alonso refused to drive for RBR (with Adrian Newey) and choose to go back to Renault instead and later he refused for a 2nd time, to join Ferrari, so he took this path on his own.
If he had concentrated on his driving in 2007 he would have won the WDC that year and probably in 2008 with McLaren as well. Not sure if he thought he was untouchable back then, but his arrogant streak did him no favours when it came to deciding what was best for him.
You could argue that if DRS had been implemented one season earlier then Alonso would have won in 2010. I don't think his arrogant streak did him any favours in 2007 but you could also argue Mclaren knew what they were getting into and mishandled it badly.
2010 highlighted where his head was at. He could not accept being stuck behind someone he was racing for position and couldn't get past, as if he felt he had a right to be let past because he is Alonso. He likes being the underdog now, but if I were the team I wouldn't be happy with the constant flow of negative noises he's been making these past few years. Unless something major happens at Ferrari, I think Alonso's career will be looked back upon as a real missed opportunity to stake his claim as one of the best. We may say the same about Hamilton as well when you think how his career has gone.