F1: Texas Toast

Rumor has itNews reports in Europe and the US suggest that Austin’s F1 race is in doubt.  Comments by  Bernie Ecclestone during the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix last weekend suggested that something was amiss.  Ecclestone vaguely alluded to conflict between the promoter (Tavo Hellmund, an old friend of Ecclestone’s) and the circuit owners (an investment group).  Now the fur has begun to fly.  The state is threatening to withhold a promised $25 million payment meant to secure Ecclestone’s race sanctioning fee.  It hasn’t helped that New Jersey just announced a race for 2013.

When the Austin race was announced, we were firmly among the doubters.  Our doubt stemmed from Austin’s complete lack of race provenance,  Hellmund’s relative anonymity, and the loss of Indianapolis on the F1 calendar (add the failure of USF1 to the mix).  Smart people seemed assured that Hellmund, Ecclestone and Texas were serious about a race.

Apparently, Hellmund tried to sell his deal with Ecclestone to the circuit owners, because he secured a race commitment without owning a track (and relied on money promised by the state of Texas that has not been paid).  The owners, for their part, have stopped track construction (because they do not have a race to promote yet).  But the owners are in no better shape than Hellmund viz. Ecclestone, as they do not have the state money either.  Autoweek.com today reported that Hellmund has lost his deal and the circuit owners do not have any contract.  We are now at the point where Ecclestone told Autosport that he will drop the race without a signed deal from the circuit owners by December 7.

James Allen suggested that questions are now being asked whether Austin was a ruse to secure the real prize Ecclestone always desired: New York City.  Again, like Austin, New Jersey has announced a race but has not yet built the venue.  If Austin was played against Jersey, then F1 has done itself immeasurable harm by whipsawing American F1 fans.

All of this makes a good case to tell F1 and Bernie to sod off, quite honestly.  And we are lifelong fans who cringe when saying that.  But we won’t allow F1 to ask for our support of one race as bait to make a better deal elsewhere; Americans may seem simple but we know when we are being manipulated.  It’s the kind of backroom politicking that sometimes makes F1 appear so cynical and tacky.  And, to many American race fans, so irrelevant.

UPDATE 11/28/11: according to an interview with Autoweek.com, Bernie Ecclestone has stated that the original promoter has been forced out by the circuit owners.  The deal thus appears to have been scuttled by infighting among the Texas principals as much as by F1 or Ecclestone himself.  Certainly, some of the back and forth is little more than typical business posturing.  But Ecclestone needs an F1 race in the states, and at the moment, Austin is farthest along in that regard.  So instead of taking a hard line, perhaps Ecclestone ought to realize that he wants to be in the American market and he may need to put the fangs away in order to do it.

Advertisement

---