139 replies to this topic

[D.M.N.]

Per Bernie on Sky - they're looking for a race to be held on the West Coast in California.

 

Ted said that the paddock rumour is Laguna Seca. di Resta noted that it wouldn't pass FIA's safety standards - I tend to agree. No chance of F1 racing there in the current configuration.

[TheRacingElf]

So now Tilke is going to ruin Laguna Seca too?!

[Atreiu]

No real chance.

[August]

Oh please, no sterilization for Laguna Seca!

And aren't there nimbys who don't like races at Laguna Seca? Or is F1 silent enough for them?

Edit: Is COTA's contract expiring soon? Bernie's usual tactic to increase the sanctioning fee.

Edited by August, 23 October 2015 - 19:58.

[tomisumi]

Why Laguna Seca? Why not brand new circuit?

[stewie]

Tilke would probably turn the Corkscrew into a car park.

[Montie]

Long Beach?

[ANF]

There's another circuit in California that's in need of more events. What's it called again... Fontana, right?

[milestone 11]

I'm organising an F1 race around my favourite short lap on Fuerteventura's beautiful roads. Be there. Send your credit card details and forwarding address by pm to me at your earliest convenience. Race organised for 30th and 31st February.

Edited by milestone 11, 23 October 2015 - 20:05.

[jonpollak]

lol @ mod starting Bernie's local pump you up rumour thread.

 

Jp

[milestone 11]

lol @ mod starting Bernie's local pump you up rumour thread.
 
Jp

Don't trust the buggers I say.

[Volcano70]

Oh good god blindfold Tilke and say No!

[Ruusperi]

There are many fantastic tracks in the US, but if F1 goes to all of them, after that there will be no fantastic tracks left anymore.

So, either go to Laguna Seca without altering the track (and run-off areas) or stay away!

Edited by Ruusperi, 23 October 2015 - 20:11.

[Wingcommander]

Too mickey mousey for F1. Next.

[Fastcake]

Obviously Bernie troll is obvious. But if we're going to play along anyway, it would be the space around the corkscrew that is the problem. The rest of the circuit would probably be fine really. If it assuages the doomsayers, the FIA doesn't insist on as much runoff as some people think - or at least doesn't nowadays with the various barrier improvements.

 

If Bernie is actually planning a race in California, it's either going to be a street circuit in some city he's managed to swindle, or somewhere completely out of the blue.

[Risil]

They can't pretend it's going to be Long Beach every year, can they?

Portland would get my vote. Trendy, not NASCAR country, accessible for West Coasters in America and Canada. I don't even love it enough to care about what F1 would do to it.

[Risil]

Alternatively, maybe they could hold it in Kamchatka and call it the Alaska Grand Prix?

[Amphicar]

Bring back Riverside!

[B Squared]

Long Beach?

Indy Car contract was extended through 2017 for what it's worth:

 

http://www.presstele...-for-grand-prix

[Gilles4Ever]

Sky Sports F1Verified account ‏@SkySportsF1  52m52 minutes ago

F1 gossip: Bernie Ecclestone says F1 are eyeing a second USA race in California, but that it won't be at Long Beach. http://skysports.tv/U0x5Hw

[Spillage]

Laguna Seca would be fabulous if the FIA don't butcher it first.

[JHSingo]

Please don't wreck Laguna.

 

Honestly, as bizarre as this sounds, I'd rather F1 stuck to tracks in places like Azerbaijan and Russia than potentially see a classic track like Laguna Seca ruined. At least then the great tracks of the world would be left alone.

Edited by JHSingo, 23 October 2015 - 20:45.

[thegamer23]

It would look like a kartodrome with the modern F1 cars. 

Too narrow, too slow and absolutely no chance for overtaking.

/thread

[Risil]

Wouldn't matter if the paddock had the requisite bells and whistles for the corporates. Unfortunately it doesn't.

[jee]

Laguna Seca is way too short for F1, it is barely longer than Monaco, lap times would be below 1 minute.

The other suitable track would be Sonoma, but they would also need to upgrade the track a lot.

Other than that there is only Auto Club Speedway which may want another race after they lost Indy Car.

[SR388]

Laguna Seca is way too short for F1, it is barely longer than Monaco, lap times would be below 1 minute.
The other suitable track would be Sonoma, but they would also need to upgrade the track a lot.
Other than that there is only Auto Club Speedway which may want another race after they lost Indy Car.

Sears point would be a great choice.

[whitewaterMkII]

There are boutique hotels and there are boutique race tracks, Laguna Seca is a boutique racetrack.

I agree, Fontana would suit F1 just fine, not the race track though, the parking lot. That's what they seem to enjoy.

[EVL29]

Sears point would be a great choice.

 

Aren't Sears Point and Sonoma the same track?

[V8 Fireworks]

Aren't Sears Point and Sonoma the same track?

Yes.

 

Hope they don't screw up Laguna Seca... besides it's in the middle of nowhere... a poor choice for F1...  FOM should take over promotion of the Long Beach GP instead...

[Chubby_Deuce]

Laguna couldn't afford MotoGP, why would they be able to afford F1? Why would they want to? 

 

Sears Point would be interesting as hell but no way it's happening any time soon. Pit lane is nowhere close to FIA spec and building garages would mean big changes to the main grandstand too.

[D28]

Does this story imply the NJ USGP  is officially dead?  I never saw definite confirmation of the obvious fact.

[whitewaterMkII]

 Pit lane is nowhere close to FIA spec and building garages would mean big changes to the main grandstand too.

I don't believe there is any track in Cali that would meet F1 requirements. And no one is stupid enough here to buy into a Bernie scam.

[Gyan]

There's enough space to expand Laguna Seca, add some more track to it, as in this picture. I really just want to see F1 cars go around the Corkscrew.

 

[KingTiger]

FIA need to keep their grubby, circuit destroying paws off of Laguna Seca. A roval around Fontana would be really interesting, or Sears point if they don't butcher them too bad, but just not Laguna Seca.

[loki]

Laguna Seca is owned by the county.  Technically it's a coutny park.  Any remodel or reconstruction is not going to happen.  It can't meet a Grade 1 requirement, there are serious noise restrictions and ingress/egress issues.  Not going to happen.  Ecclestone knows that most that follow F1 aren't going to know what's available and what it takes to promote a race on the west coast..

 

Long Beach doesn't want F1.  They voted to not consider a bid last time.  There are no other accredited permanent circuits in the US beside Indianapolis (and I don't know what the ICS and MotoGp remodels did that might impact the status) and COTA.  That's it.  Unless it's a street race it's not going to happen and a street race isn't going to happen unless either the fees come way down or Eccelstone funds or promotes it himself.

 

It's too expensive for a product with such limited demand in this market.

[dgsg]

Bring back Riverside!

Amen!

[August]

It would look like a kartodrome with the modern F1 cars. 

Too narrow, too slow and absolutely no chance for overtaking.

/thread

 

I wouldn't really call Laguna Seca too slow. The corners are pretty fast, it just lacks long straights.

 

To my shame I have to say this year's MRTI finale has been the only open-wheel racing I've seen at Laguna Seca. Those were processional races, maybe it's the character of the track that it's hard to follow another car with aero-sensitive cars. But otherwise a cool track.

 

Yes.

 

Hope they don't screw up Laguna Seca... besides it's in the middle of nowhere... a poor choice for F1...  FOM should take over promotion of the Long Beach GP instead...

 

I'm not sure I'd really want to see F1 at Long Beach. It's a great event for IndyCar plus it has some nice good old days' feeling, something IndyCar has more than F1. I'd be fine if Long Beach hosted both but it'd probably be just either.

[superdelphinus]

I can't imagine Laguna seca would be any good as an f1 track

[Victor_RO]

Everyone conveniently forgetting to mention that Laguna Seca is in the middle of a management conflict, and whoever ends up running it will not, in a million years, have enough money to pay Bernie's sanctioning fees. So even if people want to see it, there are far too realistic reasons why it will NEVER HAPPEN.

[Donkey]

Please no. This track is perfect without F1 coming and ruining it.

 

And why the obsession with a 2nd race in the US? They need to make sure COTAS is a financially viable and established event for F1 before diluting the fanbase with another race in the States. Especially now that they also have Mexico.

[superdelphinus]

I think this video shows why Laguna seca would be a pants track for an f1 race. Might be fun in terms of a lap but it'd be just as processional as Monaco

[GTRacer]

I think this video shows why Laguna seca would be a pants track for an f1 race. Might be fun in terms of a lap but it'd be just as processional as Monaco

Which is actually what the Champcar races there tended to be like.

 

Like past F1 tracks such as Magny-Course & Imola, Laguna is a great circuit to drive on (Which I have during a track day some years ago) but when it comes to racing... Its not that good.

[anbeck]

I personally fail to see how Laguna Seca can be seriously considered/rumoured by the paddock. Tilke would just drown the whole place in asphalt and then draw some white lines that would be vaguely reminiscent of the original circuit.

As others have said, cars might be nice to watch driving there, but the racing wouldn't be good. There's no infrastructure that could host F1 either. Everybody would lose.

 

I think we cannot exclude the possibility that Bernie is just throwing some rumours around to put pressure on somebody else. Maybe he's extorting a lot of money from Austin, and now as his New Jersey threat becomes unbelievable, he pulls some other pipe dream out of his rumour box. The way Bernie handled the TV interview with Ted seemed to me that he planted that rumour on purpose - if he'd be really close to something, we probably wouldn't know yet.

 

And even if F1 is going to California (IIRC correctly, Bernie explicitly said California, not just West Coast), wouldn't it be more likely to be some provisional street track drawn on some parking lot in Disneyland or L.A.?

[JHSingo]

I think this video shows why Laguna seca would be a pants track for an f1 race. Might be fun in terms of a lap but it'd be just as processional as Monaco

 

I was talking to a friend about this last night. He argued that most of CART's races there were pretty boring. As a track it is probably better suited to bike and sportscar racing.

 

[Risil]

CART at Laguna had its moments -- and not just the last lap of the 1996 race. But those all came before the cars became very aerodynamically detailed around the turn of the millennium. But I think the main draw was always the sheer spectacle of fast racing cars among the hills. From what I've heard the atmosphere was pretty special too. But then, it's California.

 

It's nice to talk about though. If F1 is looking to tear up its technical rulebook and start again, "cars that can race each other around Laguna Seca" wouldn't be a bad aim.

[johnmhinds]

Does this story imply the NJ USGP  is officially dead?  I never saw definite confirmation of the obvious fact.

 

Can it be dead if it was never alive?

 

The "pit building" they said they were building at New Jersey had nothing at all to do with the New Jersey Grand Prix project.

 

It was an unrelated multi story car park/bus terminal being built next to the ferry terminal by the local government.

 

The whole NJGP thing was a giant scam.

Edited by johnmhinds, 24 October 2015 - 12:39.

[Afterburner]

F1 shouldn't go anywhere near Laguna because they'd rip out its soul.

If they're taking suggestions though, I say go all out and run the oval at Fontana now that Indycar's not using it. Let's see what kind of speed these beasts can get up to.

[maximilian]

F1 shouldn't go anywhere near Laguna because they'd rip out its soul.

If they're taking suggestions though, I say go all out and run the oval at Fontana now that Indycar's not using it. Let's see what kind of speed these beasts can get up to.

 

That, for once, would be an EXCITING addition to the calendar!

 

Chances are however, it'll be another street race somewhere.  Yawn.

[RedBaron]

F1 needs more Tilke made circuits or street circuits. 

 

If it was my choice I'd recreate the Monaco circuit in the Middle East but without the barriers and adding in some big tarmac run-offs. Still call it Monaco of course, it would still be the Monaco GP. Maybe make it a night race though.

 

[maximilian]

F1 needs more Tilke made circuits or street circuits. 

 

If it was my choice I'd recreate the Monaco circuit in the Middle East but without the barriers and adding in some big tarmac run-offs. Still call it Monaco of course, it would still be the Monaco GP. Maybe make it a night race though.

 

 

Bernie?  Is that you?   Don't forget to award it double points, too.

Edited by maximilian, 24 October 2015 - 13:31.