In the round-up: The Belgian Grand Prix promoter has stopped selling tickets for the race which was due to take place on August 30th after the government announced an extension to restrictions on public events taking place.
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Notable posts from Twitter, Instagram and more:
The souvenir of #ChineseGP: A set of fridge magnets for the whole 2020 @F1 race calendar. Hope we can attend the race soon! #onedaysoon pic.twitter.com/00axKBsvhv
— Zhao Yi (@JaniceZhao) April 16, 2020
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Links
More motor racing links of interest:
Spa Grand Prix informs you (Belgian Grand Prix)
"From today, all the ticket sales for the 2020 edition of our national grand prix will be suspended."
F1 can save season with double-headers, says Rosberg (Reuters)
"I would love to see eight double headers at the very least so we get 16 races because statistically of course the fewer races you have the more likely that it is an outsider is going to be world champion."
Sir Stirling Moss to be cremated at family ceremony in London (Daily Mail)
"Lady Moss said: ‘He will be burned up and put in a little pot, as was his wish. When the time comes my pot can go next to his and then we can be thrown away together. We will have eight or 10 family members at the cremation. That is all we are allowed in the circumstances."
Statement on FE calendar update (FIA)
"We can now confirm that red flags have been applied to the months of May and June, meaning the Berlin E-Prix can no longer take place as originally planned on June 21."
Guest Mailbag with the Haas Formula 1 team (Racer)
"I always look at someone like Josef; he’s very talented, but he has made a good career in IndyCar. We are still at the beginning of our journey in Formula 1, this is only our fifth season, and at the start it was difficult. Why should we risk running an American talent and them getting lost by driving for us when we are not ready? That was always one of the concerns."
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Comment of the day
@Fer-no65 has Spanish Grand Prix tickets but hasn’t been told much about what’s happening with the race:
I have tickets for the Spanish Grand Prix, and while I live 30 minutes from the track and don’t have to worry (at the moment at least) if they reschedule it for later this year, some people maybe have gotten their tickets knowing they’d be in Barcelona in those dates, and maybe they cannot come in another date. But no one emailed us saying anything about those tickets.
Heck, they didn’t emailed us saying the race was postponed…
@Fer-no65
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On this day in F1
- 10 years ago today Sebastian Vettel put his Red Bull on pole position for the Chinese Grand Prix.
Niefer (@niefer)
17th April 2020, 2:02
Call me purist, but I believe it’s called the Grand Prix for a reason. Double headers are a lame idea if you ask me. I don’t mind seeing a crowned champion after 8 rounds, but what do I know? Cars doesn’t even pursue the basic of motorsport racing anymore: getting lighter. Oh well…
ColdFly (@)
17th April 2020, 8:25
I’m sure there is a reason, probably something that the race is so important that it counts towards the major championship. But AFAIK there is no reference to either time or geography, @niefer.
I agree though and don’t want to see to almost identical races on subsequent days/weekends.
Unless they can change the weather, it should be either a different layout or different tyre compounds.
Alianora La Canta (@alianora-la-canta)
17th April 2020, 10:44
@coldfly @niefer It’s called Grand Prix because there’s a big prize on offer. That’s all it originally meant. As long as there is still a significant purse on offer, there can be 100 races at the same venue and it’s still correct to call them Grands Prix.
Niefer (@niefer)
17th April 2020, 18:32
@alianora-la-canta – what I meant was that a Grand Prix is The Big race. When you have 100 races all the same packaged together, then it’s not big anymore. Just ordinary.
Alianora La Canta (@alianora-la-canta)
20th April 2020, 13:31
@niefer I can sympathise with that – one of the complaints about the expanded calendar of recent years is that it was already feeling like that. However, this year, some changes, including compression, might be necessary to give F1 2021 financial scope to be what it’s supposed to be. Annoying as that is.
Niefer (@niefer)
20th April 2020, 18:03
@alianora-la-canta – Fair enough.
GeeMac (@geemac)
17th April 2020, 9:17
I agree, an 8 round season is fine in my book too @niefer. I want the racing to start when the world is back to some semblance of normality and it is safe to do so, not before. I also don’t want F1 to go all NASCAR on us by trying to cram 19 races into 24 weeks – Grand Prix are special and after missing out on them for so long they will be even more so. There is no need to try hold a 75/80% of a season in half a year from a fans perspective.
What is driving the desire to cram more races into the season is the desire to limit the financial hit the teams are going to take as a result of the reduced revenue which FOM will generate as a result of a short season. Anyone who says otherwise is lying.
Krommenaas (@krommenaas)
17th April 2020, 9:40
I.e., the desire to limit the number of people that lose their livelihoods, and to limit the amount of teams that go bankrupt. Also, the desire to save the sport of F1.
frood19 (@frood19)
17th April 2020, 15:55
I’d be happy (maybe even happier) to see a few races but no title awarded this year. Call it the Stirling Moss cup or something, but not a full championship. My worry is that we’ll get to a situation where fewer than 8 races is possible and the teams will just give on the idea of having any.
Niefer (@niefer)
17th April 2020, 18:38
You are spot on, @geemac!
@krommenaas – that can be achieved without counting double headers for the championship, though. A Stirling Moss Cup as @frood19 suggested would be a nice hommage and good opportunity to raise up money.
Darryn Smith (@darryn)
17th April 2020, 3:14
I’d love to see an 8 race championship to be honest. These last years with so many races have been tedious. Double headers just seems stupid and unappealing. Might actually throw a little chance into it that F1 seems so keen on adding recently, but not in such a contrived way. I’m really not missing F1 and if they slam a bunch of races into a short period of time I may just finally lose all interest.
DB-C90 (@dbradock)
17th April 2020, 6:46
Why just a double header?
Why not 6 races per week with a day off in the middle if the week to make some car tweaks. No need for qualifying or anything like that. Start position is dictated by previous race finishing position.
They could all be held at the one venue – let’s say Abu Dhabi ( because it’s such a special track) where no one will notice that there’s no spectators.
What a show it would be………
24 races in 4 weeks – Liberty’s shareholders would be so happy and proud.
Jere (@jerejj)
17th April 2020, 7:45
What’s wrong with an outsider winning, though? I don’t really agree with his argument that the number of races should be at least 16 because of the amount of luck potentially coming along with fewer races.
Concerning the Belgian GP-info: No refund on tickets even if the event were to go ahead without attendees? Both weird and unfair if that indeed is or would be the case.
Don frika del prima
17th April 2020, 8:44
They’re saying either you get a refund or they will count for next year.
Source: https://m.gva.be/cnt/dmf20200415_04923755/organisator-van-belgische-gp-formule-1-in-spa-francorchamps-ik-sluit-geen-enkel-scenario-uit
Dutch, so you might want to use Google translate
Phil Norman (@phil-f1-21)
17th April 2020, 9:21
I agree. If they can get 16 races in then fine but I don’t see any problem with an ‘outsider’ winning. I guess the only issue is for them, or their team, their win is likely to be devalued because of the special circumstances.
Tommy Scragend
17th April 2020, 9:27
An outsider won in 2009 (obviously for different reasons) and everyone thought it was great.
Alianora La Canta (@alianora-la-canta)
17th April 2020, 10:48
@jerejj Refund policy for cancelled races depends on the provider, and is based on whatever was signed up to in the first place. Mostly it’s handled by the ticket companies, not the event promoters. The good news is that refunds are supposed to be getting honoured, though Ticketmaster (F1’s provider) has a spectacular backlog (30 days is currently a guideline instead of the usual maximum timeframe, and they’re only doing it once they have confirmation of cancellation).
MacLeod (@macleod)
17th April 2020, 13:13
As A Dutch reader i can tell you that they offer a refund or the abillity to keep your ticket for next year.
John H (@john-h)
17th April 2020, 8:08
I have a ticket for Spa and they are saying no refund if they reschedule, perhaps to a date I cannot make. Well I’m never going again in all my life if that’s the case. Disgraceful.
SadF1fan
17th April 2020, 9:02
With which money should Circuit Spa-Francorchamps refund you?
Coz what ever you have paid is long, long gone.
Tommy Scragend
17th April 2020, 9:28
That shouldn’t be his problem, though.
ColdFly (@)
17th April 2020, 12:30
You’re hired to do all communication with my banks/creditors :p
SadF1fan
17th April 2020, 12:44
It’s a simple case of Force Majeure.
They aren’t obligated to refund, because of unforeseeable circumstances.
ColdFly (@)
17th April 2020, 23:08
You seem to be doubling down on a not-so-smart statement, SadF1fan.
Whereas ‘force majeure’ is oftentimes part of a contract, it’s never (as far as I know) used to keep the ticket proceeds when not organising the event at all.
I bet you my car (the nice one) if that is part of the general conditions, rather than a refund, or exchange of the ticket, when the event is cancelled (note that this has not officially happened yet).
John H (@john-h)
17th April 2020, 18:58
@coldfly LOL.
@Sadman I don’t think they’re obliged to refund us, but taking all that money (and there are those that have paid much much more than me!) for nothing in return? Can’t say I’m too happy about that stance. Maybe some middle ground?
Alianora La Canta (@alianora-la-canta)
17th April 2020, 10:52
@john-h That’s because F1 does not allow ticket resale for any of its races (which is the mechanism the “hub” ticket seller – Ticketmaster – uses to manage the situation for people who cannot make rescheduled dates). Since the event organiser wouldn’t be able to get its money back if it refunded someone who wasn’t rescheduling, they may not be able to give spectators that option either.
Liberty would be a better target of your justified anger… …because some other event organisers have relaxed their “no resale” rule in view of the current situation, and it’s just about possible that Liberty could be persuaded to do likewise. Then the event organisers would be in a position to refund those who cannot reschedule.
MacLeod (@macleod)
17th April 2020, 13:14
refund is no problem as you can read in the article.
John H (@john-h)
17th April 2020, 18:54
I’ve read the Spa website. It’s not clear whether the race is cancelled, postponed, or whether fans will be refused entry. I don’t see refund being an option there.
Patrick (@paeschli)
22nd April 2020, 14:00
Have you tried contacting them? @john-h A lot of companies give refunds when asked but don’t ‘advertise’ it to avoid too many people requesting their refund at once.
Patrick (@paeschli)
22nd April 2020, 13:59
You can still sell your tickets for the 2021 race to someone else