Ecclestone Considers 'Grand Slam' idea for F1

[Rob]

Wednesday 26 September at 08:35 : Sep.26 (GMM)

Bernie Ecclestone has revealed he is considering emulating tennis' 'grand slam' concept for formula one.

The sport's chief executive revealed he was impressed by the "hype" generated by London's Olympic Games recently.

"I will never again watch the pole vault and the long jump and all that but because it was the Olympics I watched it. It's hype," he told the Financial Times Deutschland.

"Formula one doesn't have the hype."

So the 81-year-old Briton revealed that his idea is to designate "five one-off races", a bit like "the grand slam in tennis".

"Maybe if we only had a race every four years it would be the same sort of hype (as the Olympics)," said Ecclestone.

http://www.onestopstrategy.com/daily...ea+for+F1.html

[Ste]

​Bernie's lost his mind, again.

[Hornet]

At this age, Bernie needs to just retire to a mansion by the beach reading story books to his great grand children.

He's hurting his mind with all this thinking.

[Ken]

I get his logic from a promotions idea.

But would those races as he envisages them :-

a/ Yield just extra points for the winner ? or a seperate points system.
b/ No championship points would be awarded for 2nd and lower places ?
c/ The Tracks used would have to be unique in some way so as not favour certain teams ?
d/ and probably a load more questions need to be asked to ensure it would be a fair competition.

I like the idea of a competition within a competition, it has a lot of merit but many pit falls.

Maybe it is fanciful notion that only us antiquarians can see virtue in

[Tobes]

I get his logic from a promotions idea.

But would those races as he envisages them :-

a/ Yield just extra points for the winner ? or a seperate points system.
b/ No championship points would be awarded for 2nd and lower places ?
c/ The Tracks used would have to be unique in some way so as not favour certain teams ?
d/ and probably a load more questions need to be asked to ensure it would be a fair competition.

I like the idea of a competition within a competition, it has a lot of merit but many pit falls.

Maybe it is fanciful notion that only us antiquarians can see virtue in

My assumption is that he would intend to run this alongside the F1 Championship, maybe pick the best 5 'Classic' circuits (Spa, Monza, Silverstone, Nurburgring and Monaco) and those 5 would represent a competition within the competition, those 5 circuits would award normal Championship points plus, say 5pts on the Grand Slam Championship...
Worked out properly I agree with Ken, it has it's merits...

[Rob]

If worked out right think it could work. Bonus points for "Grand Slam" races and maybe like prizes. Like in a NASCAR race, can not remember which 1 the winner can win a million dollars. And extra $$ for the winner towards WCC, maybe

[Hornet]

I get his logic from a promotions idea.

But would those races as he envisages them :-

a/ Yield just extra points for the winner ? or a seperate points system.
b/ No championship points would be awarded for 2nd and lower places ?
c/ The Tracks used would have to be unique in some way so as not favour certain teams ?
d/ and probably a load more questions need to be asked to ensure it would be a fair competition.

I like the idea of a competition within a competition, it has a lot of merit but many pit falls.

Maybe it is fanciful notion that only us antiquarians can see virtue in

That is going to severely complicate the sport and turns off even more fans.

And I doubt teams would be happy to participate in even more races with the schedule already tight as it is. Additional races cost money and increases the workload for everyone as Formula 1 takes significantly more work to run each race weekend.

IMO, there's really no need to fix something that isn't broken. Bernie have too much time in his hands.

[Kingdom Hearts]

He need to be worried about jail.

[eddie]

The Olympics aint featuring F1 as a category sport...

Go easy Bernie, you have already achieved much for F1, dont over cook it

[Sha1]

I might be losing it but didn't he already suggest something almost identical to this?

[impactX]

He kicked some historical circuits out of the calendar and now wants a grand slam type of prestigious race? Where are we going to host it?

[SoumyaBanerjee]

He kicked some historical circuits out of the calendar and now wants a grand slam type of prestigious race? Where are we going to host it?

All of these one-off races are going to be held at Abu Dhabi,i think. Its one of his favourite racing venues after all,along with Singapore....

[Sha1]

All of these one-off races are going to be held at Abu Dhabi,i think. Its one of his favourite racing venues after all,along with Singapore....

Singapore rocks!

[Nova]

Only if he would let the constructors build all out V10, TC, unlimited HP race cars running qualifying engines..
sort of how Grand Prix "used" to be...

[Ken]

All of these one-off races are going to be held at Abu Dhabi,i think. Its one of his favourite racing venues after all,along with Singapore....

Good grief ! he couldn't choose a worse circuit for a drivers competition, he needs circuits like Brazil and Silverstone where drivers can go head to head and RACE each other with real chances of overtaking.

Only if he would let the constructors build all out V10, TC, unlimited HP race cars running qualifying engines..
sort of how Grand Prix "used" to be...

Also love Nova's idea . Yea we can dream a little cant we ?

[F2002]

No hype ?

He hasn't been on this forum...........

[eddie]

He kicked some historical circuits out of the calendar and now wants a grand slam type of prestigious race? Where are we going to host it?

Thailand coming soon...

[SashAlex]

Let it be the Korean GP once in four years so we could not suffer that race every year.

[SashAlex]

No hype ?

He hasn't been on this forum...........

Yep !

[killer]

My assumption is that he would intend to run this alongside the F1 Championship, maybe pick the best 5 'Classic' circuits (Spa, Monza, Silverstone, Nurburgring and Monaco) and those 5 would represent a competition within the competition, those 5 circuits would award normal Championship points plus, say 5pts on the Grand Slam Championship...
Worked out properly I agree with Ken, it has it's merits...

Didn't F1 have one-off races back then?

[Hornet]

Let it be the Korean GP once in four years so we could not suffer that race every year.

Its much more fun to watch than Monaco.

After seeing what happened this year where you can't even overtake a back marker or a car with "de-hamilted" tires, it couldn't get any worse than that.

[bladeswing]

...at least Bernie's not talking again about artificial rain

[eddie]

Monaco will never go. It's the most prestigious race on the calendar.

Some of these race tracks are here not only for sporting purposes but for sponsors to cut deals. What better place than Monaco and Singapore. F1 just like many top sports are very commercial these days...

It's a constant battle to get more viewers and tv airtime. More followers = more $$$$