Comments on: Another Provisional Calendar Has Been Released

By: Gusto

Gusto — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 21:52:19 +0000

The thing that catches my eye is that after the German GP on the 12th of July, we might have to wait 49 days till the next good one.

By: francois

francois — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 19:50:26 +0000

Odd how you say Interlagos was brought forward in 2003 having been usually held late in the season .I always remember Interlagos being held as the second/third race in the season until 2004- it was the opening round in 94 and 95 and before that usually right after Kyalami.

By: Oliver White

Oliver White — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 10:59:06 +0000

Back in the good ol’days – the season opener was Brazil (Rio) and finale took place in Australia (Adelaide).

I remember those days as well, just.

And now Shanghai has been moved to April, which according to the weather statistics is a few degress cooler than October but a much higher chance of rain.

Providing the race is well-organised, this is a good thing in my mind. We had a lot of wet races in 2008, and it really shook the championship up.

In Sao Paulo even he [Ecclestone] got caught on the starting grid without an umberella and had to run for cover!

Comedy gold!

@Greg: I hope you’re right. Like most other North American’s, I’m hoping the discussions between Canada and Bernie haven’t completely broken down and there is a chance of reinstatement. It is also unusual that the calendar hasn’t been confirmed yet. Normally it doesn’t see any changes once the off-season is here, so maybe the FIA and FOM are waiting out to see what happens with Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

By: Greg Wesson

Greg Wesson — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 09:51:09 +0000

I can’t help but notice that there is a 3 week gap between the British GP and the German GP. It seems like the calendar is made to have some compression in it. Hopefully that means that Canada is still a possibility, and this schedule has been made with the thoughts that a few of the European races in July and August can be shifted a couple weeks to fit Canada in.

By: casa de lana

casa de lana — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 08:29:32 +0000

At the risk of showing my age… Back in the good ol’days – the season opener was Brazil (Rio) and finale took place in Australia (Adelaide). This used to work well for most people in the paddock as the trek to South America didn’t seem so bad when fresh from the winter break and of course the chance to take an post-season antipodean holiday in the sun before returning to the European winter was for many, the highlite of the year!!

Bernie soon put a stop to all this joy and hence things were reversed, Australia became a brief excursion on the way to Malaysia and we all end up in the one place no one really wants to stay longer than absolutely necessary!

There has always been some tinkering of the calendar, giving Silverstone an Easter date just to ensure a dry race is a good example. Nurburgring in late September so we could enjoy the white stuff falling out of the sky during FP3 is another!

And now Shanghai has been moved to April, which according to the weather statistics is a few degress cooler than October but a much higher chance of rain.

Given all the excitement that the rainfall in Sao Paulo created we may be seeing the start of a new strategy by Bernie to shake up races. In Sao Paulo even he got caught on the starting grid without an umberella and had to run for cover!