Time to talk Turkey.
How do you like it? Hot from the oven that is Istanbul in the summer? Or cold shoulder, as appears to be the attitude of the folk who live in, and around, this city that straddles the frontier between East and West?
The problem is that Turkey is a football country where other sports are virtually ignored, merely a matter of curiosity. They went to have a look at Formula 1 in the first year but ever since they have largely stayed away. At least there is a drivers’ football match at the Ali Sami Yen stadium, home of Galatasaray, so that may be some compensation for those who cannot face the madness of the traffic jams between the city and the Istanbul Park Raceway.
All this is a great shame because the circuit has some spectacular and challenging sections, which are a real test of both car and driver. For me, this is the best of Hermann Tilke’s new breed of Grand Prix tracks, far and away more exciting than Malaysia, China or Bahrain. But, like the aforementioned three, the Istanbul ‘raceway’ looks worryingly empty on race day.
And this is not good news for the global television coverage. Major sporting events need spectators. Mr Ecclestone makes precious few mistakes but this race may just be one of them. Even Petrol Ofisi, Turkey’s leading distributor of fuels, withdrew its support – replaced by ING.
It would help, of course, if there was a Turkish driver waiting in the wings. Judging by the chaotic, not to say scary, antics on the roads this is unlikely to be the case for a very long time. An apparent lack of imagination, combined with a lack of skill, does not a great driver make.
MotoGP gave up on Istanbul. When you saw the crowds at Mugello last weekend you can understand why. This is a sport that sets a lot of store by its atmosphere, the involvement of a huge crowd, and of course the racing is almost unbearably exciting. So, if the Turks weren’t turned on, there were other places for MotoGP to go. This season the battle for the championship deserves capacity crowds – who will it be, Rossi, Stoner or Lorenzo? It’s far too close to call. Roll on Catalunya.
You will, therefore, probably be in the vast majority if you’re staying at home and watching this weekend’s Grand Prix on television. The form books say the winner will be somebody in a Brawn GP car. But the team must be due some kind of problem. When Mr Brawn was in charge at Ferrari, however, Mr Schumacher forgot what it was like to have the car let him down. The 2009 season becomes more extraordinary the more you think about it.
Next week we’re off to Le Mans. There will be plenty of people there, especially the Brits. Unless they’ve all been scared off by the rate of exchange between the euro and the pound, preferring instead to take a holiday in Turkey, which remains outside the euro zone. The race tracks may be empty but the beaches are crammed. Funny old world.
Like most Tilke tracks, it’s dull. Turn 8 is amazing, but the rest of the circuit is the usual Tilke cookie cutter.
Really my interest in F1 peaks around Monaco, now we enter the European slump where we visit the dregs (sorry, I may be a Brit but Silverstone is boring), with the only highlight in Europe being Spa.
At least we get Suzuka back near the end of the year!
I am no fan of Herr Tilke’s motor racing circuits. They bear no comparison with places such as Spa, Suzuka, Monza and of course the wonderful old Osterreichring.
I simply think that the horribly-named “Turn 8″ is just a great place to watch, not only for the “turn” itself but also for the approach and the exit. Gripping.
And, at least the Istanbul circuit goes up and down which is more than can be said for most other modern tracks.
I love Silverstone. It has history, it has atmosphere and it is wonderfully fast. Maybe it’s because I’m British………..
I think, for what it’s worth, that Mr E. may buy Silverstone and we shall continue the tradition of a British Grand Prix for the foreseeable future.
We often forget, I think, that the circuit itself plays a huge part in the shape and quality of the race. Whatever you race, Grand Prix cars or shopping trolleys, around a wide, flat and featureless place will never be exciting.
Yup, we look forward to Suzuka!
RW
I want to see F1 cars going around that lovely Potrero de los Funes circuit near San Luis in Argentina.
The Turks drive on the road now? That’s progress…when I lived there (’58-’66) they drove mostly on the sidewalks.
Tell me about Potrero de los Funes. I like the siound of it already. Especially as I plan to go to Argentina later this year. Sounds interesting – it was great when there was a Grand Prix in Buenos Aires. Too many of these places have been abandoned.
By way of nothing at all, except that I was mulling over the GP season this morning, isn’t it amazing to remember that in 1976 Ross Brawn was a milling machine operator at March Engineering in Bicester. Now he’s just down the road in Brackley (these are places in Oxfordshire,England) where he owns a Grand Prix team that looks as if it may be about to make history. Remarkable.
RW
Potrero de los Funes – Last year the FIA GTs went there and it is a fantastic circuit made from public roads around a lake with big changes in elevation and a fantastic view just about everywhere. I believe the circuit isn’t holding another FIA GT race until 2010, but there are many local series that use it. The pictures I saw of it are simply breathtaking!
Sounds great. Like one of those wonderful North American tracks – Road America or Elkhart Lake, that kind of place.You can’t beat a proper race circuit that swoops around the place and allows a real racing car to be driven on the limit. Kart tracks are for karts.
Should Carlos Reutemann become the President of Argentina, we might even see a Grand Prix back there.
The French are having problems finding a replacement for Magny Cours (not before time) so maybe they should re-build Rheims or Rouen?
Now that would be something.
RW
Some of the greatest images in my mind of GP racing are of the grid at Rheims with the vast farmlands surrounding the start-finish area. It looks bloody fast with nothing going on! And Rouen – I could never get those esses right on the GP Legends simulator…..
I remember seeing the coverage of Fox Sports Latin America on the Monaco GP (they hold the rights to transmitting F1 over here) and they had an interview with Bernie in which he stated that he was going to send some people over to see things in Argentina, refusing to deny, or to commit, to a date in that country.
…I’d like to see them run around in the Hermanos Rodriguez again…if anything to see how they dealt with the altitude, with the Peraltada, and having them on a track that’s just a 2 hour flight from home :D
And turn 8 needs a proper name.
Rouen!
…part of that circuit still exists as public roads…right?
2/3rds of Rouen is still there as public road and the same for Reims. As for San Luis ( Potrero ) in Argentina, bring it on, a fantastic track that is totally out of keeping with the considerations of modern/ boring race track construction and reminds me of a mixture of Enna-Pergusa and Laguna Seca ( with the Corkscrew in reverse ). Plenty of stuff on You Tube to show why
Fernando Alonso has upset some people. Apparently when talking to the Spanish media about how few fans were there he said there’s so few he expects to know them all by name over the weekend.
F1 needs more interesting tracks. Most true racing fans would much rather see classics like Spa than the dross we have now.
I mean really, about half the circuits on the calendar could be wiped from the face of the Earth and wouldn’t be missed in the slightest.
I’ve often condemned Tilke for his unimaginative track design, but in recent years I’ve been thinking that perhaps I’ve been a little unfair and his circuits are bland because he has such stringent guidelines to adhere too.
But then I think of it the other way and condemn the man again, as he could quite simply say “No, I will not design a track within such ridiculous guidelines.”
None of Tilke’s tracks have ANY soul.
John Hugenholz, the designer of the original Zandvoort and Suzuka to name the best, used natural terrain to create the circuit. Tilke rarely gets a hill to deal with, Turkey being the exception.
Potrero de los Funes is absolutely must see for any visitor to Argentina, set around an old volcanic lake as i understand it. The FIA GT cars around there were something else!
Morning all. Well, it’s morning here. Great to see you all chucking this ball around – where the hell did I get that phrase from…….?
Anyway, very dull Grand Prix, except that Button won which is just fine with me. He and Brawn really seem to have this car running like a train on rails.
But what will happen with Barrichello? Must feel like Ferrari all over again. I do not believe for one single moment that there is any ‘conspiracy’ here. Rubens never was a great starter and these new-fangled clutches, with all their clever electronics, can be tricky off the line.
I hope he doesn’t walk away. But if he does, imagine the queue.
Surely Button’s first retirement has not been saved up for Silverstone? Best not think about it.
I still think Brawn needs to keep a very close eye on Vettel. The ‘Red Bull’ doesn’t look that far away from the ultimate pace to me.
Sorry, but Alonso’s comments (if he made them) made me smile.
Le Mans and Moto GP next weekend. I’m in France but I will be trying to find a TV that is showing me some pictures from Catalunya!
RW
Ive been watching F1 since 1977 and have recently been through my video collection of official FIA F1 season reviews from 94-2001. It brings home the amount of cucuits that we have lost. Off the top of my head, the A1 Ring, Estoril, Kylami, San marino, Canada (such a great curcuit if not just to test the efficiency of brake cooling!). Now Silverstone where Rubens drove the race of his life and the race of the season in 2003.
I think the best words for Tilke tracks would, for me, be ‘sterile and characterless’. I’m sure Abu Dhabi will be the same.
If Jensen has wrapped up the title by then, I won’t be in a hurry to watch it live, but I have confidence in the FIA to find some sort of ‘strange irregularity’ with the Brawn car to result in docking of points so that we have another ‘end of season thriller’. If Jensen keeps this winning streak going, its will remind Bernie and co of the financial TV and Sponsorship disaster of 2004 when Michael won the title with many races to spare.
How many points was Lewis deducted unfairly to bring us to a fantastic climax in Brazil?
At some point, I am expecting some funny business from the FIA to fiddle around to keep this title race going to the wire. They usually do….check your history!
Ah yes, but you have to remember that the circuits that get GPs these days are those prepared to cough up the readies to fill Bernie’s and CVC’s pockets. Shouldn’t it be the other way round?…i.e. the FIA pay the circuits for the loan of their tracks. It’s a bit like the crazy idea that racing fans pay sponsors for their hats, T-shirts etc. Quite daft!