TBK-Light.com

If Red Bull said they planned this change already months ago, I agree this is a non story. But Vettel sure isn't helping proving otherwise in his interview thus feeding journalist and fans with more ammunition.

Read the article a second time, agree that it's not going to penalise Daniel in any way. Perhaps Seb could get quicker, but that's psychological tbh, unless the chassis was damaged.

Still if Ferrari did it with Alonso, I'm sure everyone would be screaming he sux and he's a cheater .

Of course, having all engineers around him with him talking how can they develop a better car for him, and his teammate on track only making straight-line aero tests is fair for everybody to bash at his teammate later.

Hope they make some changes from the GT race layout they were using, far too narrow in places.

Didn't they say it would be a different track?

Is this the circuit (The part with the bright lights)?



The FIA World Challenge drove on the other side. But I can see F1 going around that stadium. Gives me a Valencia/Abu Dhabi vibe, not good.

That's the biggest flag in the world btw. #randomfact

EDIT: Damn, it's been overtaken by a flag in Tajikistan

The world's largest colour pencil is in Keswick. #randomfact

http://www.pencilmuseum.co.uk/

Track does look pretty naff.

Looking forward to Tajikistan's Grand Prix then.

Well, history and tradition (along with the excitement of the product) certainly makes a difference if your business model centers around fans paying for races. Of which there are plenty more in Europe, and other countries with strong racing traditions (most of the Americas and Australia for instance).

History makes no difference if your business model revolves around sucking money from plutocrats, in return for a "prestige" event where jet setters and corporate bigwigs can hobnob. The 100K+ attendance per day events that you see at strong-tradition sites matter less than events that sell maybe 30K but sell out the luxury boxes and gets a nice fat paycheck from some rich guy. This is Bernie's current business model, as we all know.

The conflict I see, at least in the future, is that history and tradition do makes a difference with the TV audience. My impression is that the worldwide F1 TV audience has been on the decline for quite sometime; if so, I can't imagine loading the schedules with oil-rich but fan-poor racetracks helps arrest that decline. The TV package is pretty lucrative for F1, you know... I guess even the future audience isn't as important as the plutocrats.

I also don't think it helps matters (if you are not a plutocrat) that many of these countries aren't quite as stable and have sketchy human rights records. The plutocrats have to oppress the protesters every year in Bahrain (lest it be cancelled again), and goodness knows what will happen with Russia this year. I get a funny feeling when I Google news on Azerbaijan and the lead story is on its human rights violations...

Why the fuck would Mercedes dump Rosberg? He is barely slower than Hamilton (maybe equal), he is consistent and get a great amount of points, he doesn't cause much trouble when he get's team orders, and he is German (which could mean a lot for Mercedes).

No don't see that happening.

Make it happen so Alonso can have the ultimate meltdown he so richly deserves[/inbeforethehatersgonnahatecomments]

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I'd love it if he signs with them, and then Renault gets on form, and Honda makes a great engine and its a Red Bull-McLaren battle

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Alonso should die in an accident because he's that horrible.

Well, technically speaking, that would make him a legend and everyone would only remember his best moments in a compassionate "he was not that horrible" mood.


Yes, definitely. But look at Bahrain, which started this trend, ît has had its 10th anniversary already and some of its races are already F1 classics. It's becoming part of the history already.

The decline in European races is just an image of the actual decline of the continent in favour of new entrants in the game. And don't forget where Bahrain, Qatar, Russia,.. get their riches from in the first place: from Europeans massively addicted to consuming their oil/gas/ore (granted, increasingly China too).

Turkey, India, Korea and China aren't doing so well. The only reason china hasn't gone the same way as Korea is that they want the race kept there due to the massive market and the Chinese organisers putting local factory workers in the grandstands means it doesn't look as pathetically empty as the Korean event did.

Meanwhile that scheduled/unscheduled Chassis is working out well for Vettel.

Maybe they should've checked if they'd wired it up properly first, they've had since the start of the season/shanghai to plan this

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It's clear now that the senior Red Bull driver always has the bad luck Ricciardo did a fine job again today and I don't think he had any car problems.