[Marco Freire]

Non-CVC calendar:

1. Argentina (Buenos Aires) (February 26)
2. Brazil (March 5)
3. India (March 19)
4. Emirates (Dubai/Abu Dhabi alternating) (March 26)
5. USA (Austin) (April 9)
6. Singapore (April 23)
7. Azerbaijan (April 30)
8. Monaco (May 14)
9. Spain (May 28)
10. Austria (June 11)
11. France (Paul Ricard) (June 25)
12. Britain (July 9)
13. Germany (July 23)
14. Belgium (August 20)
15. Hungary (September 3)
16. Italy (September 10)
17. Canada (September 24)
18. USA (Port Imperial, NYC) (October 1)
19. Mexico (October 15)
20. Japan (October 29)
21. Australia (Adelaide) (November 12)

[Marco Freire]

Crap that was a mistake…

[Marco Freire]

Realistic 2017 calendar:

1. Brazil (March 12)
2. USA (March 19)
3. Malaysia (April 2)
4. Bahrain (April 9)
5. China (April 23)
6. Azerbaijan (April 30)
7. Monaco (May 14)
8. Spain (May 28)
9. Russia (June 11)
10. Austria (June 25)
11. Britain (July 9)
12. Germany (Juiy 23)
13. Belgium (August 20)
14. Hungary (September 3)
15. Italy (September 10)
16. Canada (September 24)
17. Mexico (October 8)
18. Japan (October 22)
19. Singapore (October 29)
20. Abu Dhabi (November 12)
21. Australia (November 26)

Non-CVC semi-realistic calendar:

1. Argentina (Buenos Aires) (February 23)
2. Brazil (March 2)
3. USA (Austin) (March 16)
4. India (March 30)
5. Emirates (Dubai/Abu Dhabi alternating) (April 6)
6. Singapore (April 20)
7. Azerbaijan (April 27)
8. Monaco (May 11)
9. Spain (May 25)
10. Austria (June 8)
11. France (Paul Ricard) (June 22)
12. Britain (July 6)
13. Germany (July 20)
14. Belgium (August 17)
15. Hungary (August 31)
16. Italy (September 7)
17. Canada (September 21)
18. USA (Port Imperial, NYC) (September 28)
19. Mexico (October 12)
20. Japan (October 26)
21. Australia (Adelaide) (November 9)

Dream, no-holds-barred season:

1. South Africa (Cape Town street circuit) (January 22)
2. Caribbean (St. Maarten street circuit) (February 5)
3. India (March 5)
4. New Zealand (March 12)
5. Thailand (March 26)
6. Emirates (April 2)
7. Singapore (April 16)
8. Japan (April 23)
9. Tunisia (May 7)
10. Monaco (May 21)
11. Spain (June 4)
12. Russia (June 18)
13. France/Austria (July 2)
14. Britain (July 9)
15. Germany (July 23)
16. Sweden/Finland (July 30)
17. Belgium (August 20)
18. Eastern Europe (September 3)
19. Italy (September 10)
20. Canada (September 24)
21. USA (Port Imperial, NYC) (October 1)
22. Brazil (October 15)
23. Argentina (October 22)
24. Mexico (November 5)
25. USA West (Auto Club Speedway Roval, Los Angeles) (November 12)
26. Hong Kong (November 26)
27. Australia (December 3)

[Marco Freire]

I think it has to be a mixture of grass roots and new territory. Formula One is a world championship, and I for one am happy that the calendar is not like it used to be pre-2008- when 75% of the rounds were in Europe and 5 or 6 rounds were in other places in the world. I think racing in China with its terrible human rights record is not only dreadful, but it also hasn’t worked out either. Sure, China is a massive market- but a race in Hong Kong, I think would strike the best possible compromise between not racing on the Chinese mainland and being present in the Chinese market. In situations like that nowadays, where F1 needs to be present in more places around the world (such as Africa), but with the 5 most important grass-roots Western European rounds (Monaco, Italy, Britain, Germany, and France) immune from any kind of removal from the calendar.

I think there should only be one race in that area between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore- and since Singapore is the better event, Malaysia should go. That market is too overstuffed, in my opinion. And Simtek- don’t forget Mussolini’s Italy, either…

[Marco Freire]

@anto I agree with almost everything you are saying- there are too many F1 GP’s in countries that have too much money and not enough interest in motorsports in general. Bahrain and China I would cut without hesitation because motor racing has never really caught on in either of those places; Russia I would preferably move closer to Moscow or St. Petersburg. But if I had to shorten a 21-race calendar, Russia would be the next to go after Bahrain and China. Abu Dhabi and Singapore both have potential, only if both those circuits’ layouts are changed- I have yet to see one good F1 GP at either one of those places. I like the idea of having a GP in the Middle East and also entirely at night in a large, neon city. And all of those wrong-headed Tilkedromes- with the exception of Turkey- were just corporate arenas to try and spice up overtaking- which are all failures at attempting to do that- instead of trying to make the circuits challenging and varied or unique in some way, we get more hairpin-long straight-hairpin.

India was hurt by external politics and 3 poor races all of which were won by Vettel in a Red Bull-Renault. The track wasn’t too good, either, although its location made ample sense. This logic, unfortunately, did not apply to Korea or to a lesser extent, Turkey. South Korea was screwed right from the start because of its location- in the middle of nowhere in an ugly, industrial part of the country. In a location like that in a country that has very little history of motor racing and car manufacturers that have only just started to make decent road cars, the event had no chance of being successful because it didn’t have the proper exposure. Had that circuit been closer to Seoul, it’s chances of success would have been a lot greater- its exposure to one of Asia’s largest and most cosmopolitan cities would have been far greater to local businesses- Samsung and Hyundai included. Turkey didn’t work out because it was just a bit too far from the wrong side of Istanbul.

I don’t believe it’s possible nowadays to stage the Dutch and Belgian GP’s on the same calendar- both those countries are very small and are right next to each other; it’s either one or the other. Zandvoort is not the circuit it used to be (nor are most European circuits anymore, for that matter), and Spa is the best circuit to drive in Europe with the Nordschleife.

[Marco Freire]

I for one agree with Kavin- Russia and China should be dropped; Sochi is an abomination of a circuit and Shanghai has produced as you said a few good races, but not much drama. I also think Bahrain and Malaysia should be dropped, but there is little chance of that happening at the moment. The 2014 Bahrain GP was one of the best this decade, however. France and Argentina should be back on the calendar- and regarding Spain, I don’t think that should be off the calendar; but the teams should race elsewhere other than at a venue where they test often.

[Marco Freire]

@fastiesty I think that is the calendar voted by consensus that is most realistically able to be staged by today’s ridiculously expensive standards (plus Hockenheim and minus Nurburgring). However, building on what you said, I think this is the calendar that consensus would like to see, regardless of cost (5 votes or more) (depending on if there are any more people willing to share an opinion- btw, what’s your ideal schedule? You haven’t posted one yet)

1. Australia (Melbourne)
2. Malaysia (Sepang)
3. Abu Dhabi (Yas Marina)
4. San Marino (Imola)
5. Spain (Catalunya)
6. Monaco
7. USA (New York City)
8. Canada (Montreal)
9. France (Paul Ricard)
10. Austria (Red Bull Ring)
11. Britain (Silverstone)
12. Germany (Nurburgring)
13. Hungary (Hungaroring)
14. Belgium (Spa)
15. Italy (Monza)
16. Portugal
17. Singapore (Marina Bay)
18. Japan (Suzuka)
19. USA (COTA)
20. Mexico (Mexico City)
21. Argentina
22. Brazil (Interlagos)

[Marco Freire]

Circuits wise, the most popular ones selected (in order of popularity, from most to least)

-Monaco
-Spa
-Monza
-Interlagos
-Silverstone
-Catalunya
-Suzuka
-COTA
-Montreal
-Albert Park
-Nurburgring
-Red Bull Ring
-Sepang
-Marina Bay
-Hermanos Rodriguez
-Abu Dhabi
-Port Imperial (New York City)

And a special mention to Road America, which has never hosted an F1 race but was included several times here.

[Marco Freire]

OK- so of the 13 calendars posted far, there were some countries that were on everyone’s lists. They were (in alphabetical order):

-Australia
-Belgium
-Brazil
-Britain
-Canada
-Germany
-Monaco
-Italy
-USA

Here were the countries that were included 12 times:
-France
-Spain
-Japan

And here were the rest that were mentioned:
Abu Dhabi (6)
Argentina (5)
Austria (8)
Azerbaijan (1)
Bahrain (4)
Caribbean (2) (Barbados and Sint Maarten)
China (4)
Dubai (3)
Finland (2)
Holland (1)
Hong Kong (1)
Hungary (6)
India (3)
Ireland (1)
Korea (1)
Macau (1)
Malaysia (7)
Mexico (7)
New Zealand (3)
Portugal (5)
Qatar (1)
Russia (1)
San Marino (Imola) (7)
Singapore (7)
South Africa (3)
Thailand (1)
Tripoli (Libya) (1)
Turkey (2)

[Marco Freire]

@fixy Are you aware you put the same circuit twice on your calendar? Just checking.

[Marco Freire]

Baltimore? Really? The awful chicane was put there because of the above ground rail system there, which was slightly higher than the rest of the track, and they took out the chicane for the first practice session at the 2012 event, but it at one point made some IndyCars go airborne- but the circuit was actually quite good, and far more challenging than most other street circuits- it just wasn’t well managed.

[Marco Freire]

Bahrain never produced a good race until last year (thanks to the awkward track layout, it needed DRS to bring it alive; that is how badly designed it is), and Baku looks alright- but I do not like the idea of staging a GP in countries with poor human rights records and severe restrictions on almost all facets of its inhabitants’ lives. These countries are small enough to be affected by something as exotic, glamorous, prestigious and (at face-value) innocently apolitical from any government politics. To have a GP being run in them- and both Azerbaijan and Bahrain distort the actual truth about what goes on in those countries; inviting foreigners to come to those countries makes it clear that the people who run those governments are not interested in their own people- but only themselves, and what they want.

[Marco Freire]

Testing wise, I would do something like this (aside from 30 days maximum between the last and first races of adjacent seasons, teams would only be allowed to test at these scheduled times during the season, except for SA and NZ, partcipation is optional)

1. Kyalami, South Africa
2. All new circuit in Tunis/Carthage, Tunisia (Team testing/Young driver test 1)
3. Daytona, USA
4. Estoril, Portugal
5. Dubai Autodrome, UAE
6. Sepang, Malaysia
7. Deodoro, Rio/Interlagos, SP, Brazil (alternating)
8. Monza, Italy
9. Istanbul Park, Turkey (Team testing/Young driver test 2)
10. Nurburgring GP track, Germany
11. Donington Park, UK
12. Paul Ricard, France
13. Autodromo Galvez No. 15, Buenos Aires, Argentina (Team testing/Young driver test 3)
14. Autopolis/Suzuka, Japan (alternating)
15. Taupo Motorsport Park, New Zealand

[Marco Freire]

Also, Malaysia and the Valencia street circuit can get thrown in there.

[Marco Freire]

Thanks for the kind words. This is basically a compilation of all the GP’s and/or tracks that should never have been run into a feasible calendar:

1. Bahrain (THIS GP MUST GO)
2. Qatar (not run, but it’s been mentioned; this must never, ever be allowed to happen)
3. China (I don’t care how popular this GP is- F1 has no business being on the Chinese mainland.)
4. Azerbaijan (the track looks alright but Azerbaijan has no business hosting a GP)
5. Iran (same situation as Qatar)
6. Russia
7. Phoenix, USA (Dullest F1 track ever…)
8. Las Vegas, USA (in addition to the horrible Caesar’s Palace track, you could not possibly find a less glamorous and suitable location to stage a GP; people of taste who have not been there will want to leave immediately)
9. France (Magny Cours) (I don’t like that track)
10. Britain (London street track)
11. Germany (New Hockenheim)
12. Hungary (Hungaroring) (Was never sure about this event; Budapest is great, however.)
13. Belgium (Nivelles)
14. USA (Detroit) (This race had a charm of its own by being grueling, but nothing else is charming about Detroit)
15. Argentina (Buenos Aires No. 6; that twisty variant of the facility unsuitable for F1)
16. Abu Dhabi (This track needs to have its average speed raised by 35-40 mph; more fast corners, please and take out a the faux-street circuit-ness about it)
17. Japan (Okayama, aka Aida) (Same situation as Buenos Aires)
18. South Korea (what they were thinking when they decided to build a GP circuit in the middle of nowhere hours away from Seoul; maybe it was to be as far as possible from North Korea, I don’t know)

Also Rodney I think including Dallas is a bit harsh as that pretty good track was made worse by the fact that F1 decided to hold that race in the face melting heat of a Texas July. Not a good idea.

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