http://www.motorsport.com/news/article.asp?ID=386343&FS=F1

Monza moaning, well what do Italians do best eh!

not this again

we don't want another race in the EU, there is Korea, India & Russia coming onto the race calendar there is no room for another race in the EU, Valencia is crap just leave the race at Barcelona, leave the Italy race at Monza unless the race in Rome is going to be run on the cobbled streets & have fountains in the center of the track so the cars can go either way around them like in Forza/PGR the FIA are acting like a bunch of wankers.

i have a idea for a race, why not have one where there is a upside down part of the track, all the people in F1 say "the cars can drive upside down" well a track can easily be built to allow this, that would be much more of a special than running around Rome unless there going to be gladiators throwing spears at the cars as they drive past, better still why not get Tyke to build a track on the moon ?

not going to happen, neither will russia or india btw

That said i rather have a race in rome than, Bahrain, Abu Dhabi, China, India, Koera, etc.

I don't think it will happen....

Russia i hope that happens. There is a track built there just outside of moscow.

There is only one person to blame for the circuits being where they are, the endourous amount it costs to host a race and why the circuits are crap

Mr Eccelsworth

If the circuit is on nice undulating natural roads and track which is not built by Tilka, who gives a flying fck where it is.

This is absolutely fantastic news, the show and glamour will be immense. Just imagine, F1 cars roaring around the streets of Rome – the spectacle will be outstanding. I’m certain every F1 fan will be absolutely thrilled by this news, this is a classic race. Rome is a key market for the sport that has not been exploited.

The promotional opportunities will be second to none too, plenty of chances for the Mercedes-Benz safety car to be seen on TV by global audiences.

Said it before and will reiterate it, not worth considering unless it takes in the Forum and Coliseum, otherwise it's just a city street race, could be anywhere.

Mr Ecclesworth dosen't give a toss where the races are as long as they pay.

I say they use bahrain every week with green screen around the track so it could be anywhere. One week Rome will be in Bahrain and the next week London could be.

Bernie only cares about the highest bidder is because he can afford to. If there wasn't much demand to host GP's from different countries then he wouldn't be able to charge the extraordinary prices he charges governments/organisers to host races. They are prepared to pay these prices, and considering he runs a business that's a pretty good strategy.

Its like any high-end premium product; a Rolex watch, a luxury cruise, a Ferrari or other prestigious car. The manufacturers of these brands charge customers high prices because they are willing to pay those prices - so why should they lower their prices? Like it or not, Motorsport is as much of a business as it is a sport.

swing and a miss

the problem with that is all the traditional (and there it is) are dying off. No French GP, potential no british gp (this year/last year) it's sucure now untill bernie changies his mind.

I'm not sure about that. Britain is secure until 2020, Germany is secure until 2018, Hungary, Canada, Brazil, Spain and Australia are secure until 2015. Spa is fairly certain as the local government pays the race fees.

France is unknown, I did read that the French GP may return in 2020 at Magny-Cours but that depends on new roads being built in the local area - but not specifically for the race. If we have 25 races in the upcoming years, then traditional countries will not be in danger of being lost.

Bernie Ecclestone likes to play hard ball; as any chief from a billion dollar business should. But even if he wanted to get rid of certain traditional, ultra-important European markets he wouldn’t be able to.

With Britain and Germany, he has had to accept deals that include lower race fees. It’s his job to negotiate the highest race fees, but Bernie knows that Britain and Germany are two critical markets for a number of F1’s sponsors and partners. Both countries are large consumer markets which is therefore attractive for businesses to sponsor, and that is what matters from his point of view. He doesn’t care about ticket sales or spectators – we know this. But his perceived hatred of certain European races is academic because of the size of some Euro markets – he has no real option but to include these countries on the calendar.

Examples: Allianz, a German insurance company is a global partner to F1 – not sure how they would feel if the German GP was dropped. Vodafone are global too but are based in the UK, they pay for a lot of trackside advertising and they like to advertise heavily before the British GP with Lewis and Jenson to build interest in their brand. No opportunities like that would exist without a British GP. And what would the sport be like with no Monaco? It may be processional at times, but the international attention, glamour and corporate interest is priceless.

This is precisely why I think Bernie is trying to increase the number of the races on the schedule, as opposed to adding new countries but then getting rid of other traditional countries. He knows that ditching key Euro countries may scare sponsors. Hungary may not have the extensive history that other countries have, but, a non-F1 Grand prix used to take place in the 1920’s and the Hungarian GP has been around since 1987 – a long time. Belgium is safe because the local government are committed to the race – this is not some get of jail game suddenly.

France? I’ll be honest: France is a weak market at the moment and a hugely bureaucratic country. The sport doesn’t need France on the calendar at all, all people do in that country do is generally moan and groan whenever something new might get built and go on strike. I doubt any sponsors have left the sport because France isn’t on the calendar!