No US GP for 2008

Peter Collins

Anyone gonna miss the indy race? I think the track is horrible meself - an accident waiting to happen.

Would love to see a race on the streets in Phoenix again! Or what about an oval race?!!!

Edwardius

Laguna seca would be pretty cool but I think that's booked up regarding major sporting events and a bit dangerous to boot. There are a lot of street circuits as evidenced by the Champ Car races. An oval would only be interesting to see how it'd affect the "twon engines per race" rule but surely there's enough oval racing stateside!

steviec

The biggest rumour at the moment is a street race around Las Vegas but I just can't see it happening - I dread to think how much it would cost to tie up that city for a weekend and F1 just isn't popular enough in the US to justify it.

Laguna Seca is too small and dangerous for F1, and the same goes for ovals although I think that would be facinating to see. I have a feeling the US may just be off the calendar though for now, until a new opportunity comes up.

Ghost Train

Pity to loose it from the calander, not one of the best circuits but there were some decent races there and seemed to be a decent track for overtaking and good mix of high and low speed. Dont really see any other US track being as suitable for f1... although would love to see f1 cars at laguna seca, but agree about it maybe not being safe enough

Running Bing

steviec wrote:

The biggest rumour at the moment is a street race around Las Vegas but I just can't see it happening - I dread to think how much it would cost to tie up that city for a weekend and F1 just isn't popular enough in the US to justify it.

Laguna Seca is too small and dangerous for F1, and the same goes for ovals although I think that would be facinating to see. I have a feeling the US may just be off the calendar though for now, until a new opportunity comes up.

Im afraid you speak the truth steviec:( Vegas, Laguna Seca or an oval would be phenomenal but I just cant see it happening. What about a mexican.......forget it just checked and there's one planned for 2009:D


What about closing down New York for a weekend:D Imagine seeing an F1 car doing 180 down Wall Street...that would be the most amazing spectacle ever:eek:

Jonny Arson

I'm glad to see the Indianapolis road course go because it was an awful circuit which failed to do any justice for the legacy of Speedway.

F1 needs to be in the US and if it does not return it will be a tragedy

Laguna Seca is a perfectly safe race course, i know a CART driver lost his life at the Corkscrew in 1999 but since then the track has been made safe and there has been no major incidence since. The only problem about Laguna it lacks the modern facilities demanded by F1 which is shame because it is a great racetrack.

I would leave to see a US GP at Road America but again facilities and location are not ideal. The Las Vegas street track Champ Car have used this season is meant to be pretty good by street circuit standards and well the location... nuff said really! :cool: I'd love to see F1 hit an oval, it would a great test of all round skill for the drivers and would separate the men from the boys but those cars are not designed for oval racing and would need numerous modifications and alot of testing before an F1 car could race on one.

Cool_CM

Jonny Arson wrote:

Laguna Seca is a perfectly safe race course, i know a CART driver lost his life at the Corkscrew in 1999 but since then the track has been made safe and there has been no major incidence since. The only problem about Laguna it lacks the modern facilities demanded by F1 which is shame because it is a great racetrack.

Seeing 22 F1 cars making around the corkscrew on the first lap would be unreal(or carnage if they didn't)

I know they managed to have a Vegas Gp in 81 and 82(probably a lot easier seeing as there had been a grand prix in the US every season for years before that so it was in some way more established over there at the time) but i'm not sure if the americans would think it would merit closing down the streets of a city that doesn't exactly need a sporting event to bring in people/money. Many american motorsport fans I've tried to talk to about F1 claimed they hadn't even heard of it of only did because of the f*ck up in 2005. Cross-overs like Mansell, Montoya, Fittipaldi etc and poster boys like Hamilton may highlight F1's existence for about 5 minutes, but thats about it.

Andrewf20

I agree the track is crap, like alot of modern circuits. Id love to see an oval F1 race. Would also be class if they would race at Michegan oval, Elkhart Lake or that Atlanta circuit instead. Why cant someone bloody well design a decent circuit these days - a mini Nurburgring with buckets of run off areas. It cant be that hard.

EvilMonkey

Indy is a crap circuit but it would be better than some crappy street circuit with no overtaking possibilities and it seems to be good enough for motoGP. It's sad to see no GP in USA. Oval would be good but will never happen in F1.

Manic Moran

I have to say, I enjoyed Indy. Unlike a lot of other tracks, my cheapish seats down by turn 3 still afforded me a view of some 60% of the racing circuit, plus ample additional coverage via the big screens. The city is used to running big events at the Speedway, and the services for getting there were excellent and cheap. (Free parking, and the busses from there were frequent, with dedicated lanes, and cost about $10 for the weekend).

I'll be very happy with Laguna Seca, although mainly because it's just an hour's drive from me! (Though I'm less sure about the supporting infrastructure: Where would I park?!) A city track isn't impossible. They closed off San Jose, the capitol of Silicon Valley last weekend for a CART race, I'm sure Vegas is quite doable as well.

NTM

popebenny16

If they had created a decent in-field then indy could have been a lot better. Whilst the long straight and the banking look good on telly they didn't do anything for the drivers who simply put the foot down and relaxed (relatively) until the first corner. This was the same attitude for the old long straights at Hockenheim the drivers found them fairly boring.

As for racing on the full oval, there appears to be a theory that they cant race unless they get some ground effects aero package put in. Could someone explain that to me? They seem to cope with at least one Indy bend at full tilt and F1 cars stick to the ground through their aerodynamics as much as IRL cars do.

I think they need a USA Grand Prix. It's a pity that it wont happen now, and we have Mr E to blame for it.

Oblomov

Watkins Glen

gs39t

Oblomov wrote:

Watkins Glen

Yes, this would be about the only other permanant road course in the US thats up to standard. Well used to holding big events too.

ChampCar held their season opener on the streets of Vegas, and they are hardly a big money series when you compare to F1. It was an awesome track, too. Lot of elevation changes, tunnels, and so on.