Private Investors to Decide Russian GP Future

[Bethonie Waring]

The race fee for the Russian Grand Prix will be paid for by a group of private companies from now on, according to Russian news agency Rambler.

This season will see the race held at Sochi for the fourth consecutive season, but the decision as to whether it returns next year will belong to the private companies now funding the race as the government have capped the amount of money they are willing to spend on the race.

Russian deputy prime minister Dmitry Kozak confirmed about ten investors will pay a contribution to the fee, with oil company Lukoil, finance bank VTB, and aluminium company Rusal the major investors.

President Vladimir Putin has attended the race every year, and enjoyed a good relationship with former CEO Bernie Ecclestone. It has been suggested Ecclestone’s removal by Liberty Media may have helped the government’s decision to limit funding, but disappointing crowd numbers last year could also have played a part.

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Would you be sad to see Sochi go? Let us know in the comments below!

 

[Alex Townsend]

Couldn't care less if Sochi wasn't on the calendar.
All these places that Bernie signed up for races are dull and the turn out of fans show that some of these places just don't have any motorsport history and the sport isn't really the spectacle it once was so it's hard to draw in new fans to the sport. Also with the ticket prices as high as they are most people who may have even a slightest interest in checking it out are put off.
Bring back France. Have a race at LeMans. Stop threatening the circuits that do have a fan base...

 

[mysterion157]

Would love to see Adelaide back, not that it'll ever happen

 

[Nick Gregory]

I don't care if there is a race in Russia, but can it at least be at an interesting track?

 

[Rodent]

Bye Felicia!

The sooner we get rid of the Tilkedromes the better. Though I guess there's worse offenders than Sochi. Still, a hollow husk reminding us all totalitarian money > passion in F1.

 

[fortyfivekev]

In Putin's Russia you will be happy to "invest" in his pet projects if you want to keep doing business so I expect Russia will stay on the calendar for a while yet.

 

[Dennis Phelan]

Sprucing up older F1 tracks and bringing historic but non-F1 tracks up to the needed spec would certainly be be fun. Sochi, not so, let it go.

 

[Blimey]

Bernie should've never made a deal with Russia, that deal only made it worse for the people who used to live in Sochi.

 

[Erwin Greven]

I don't care if there is a race in Russia, but can it at least be at an interesting track?

There are enough spots in Russia where you could build a very interesting track.

 

[KittX]

Bernie should've never made a deal with Russia, that deal only made it worse for the people who used to live in Sochi.

Indeed, now all the olympic complex is fenced out and staying empty. Not sure about the racetrack, but I guess it will be slowly dying.

 

[delpinsky]

Bernie should've never made a deal with Russia, that deal only made it worse for the people who used to live in Sochi.

I've been in Sochi in 2001 and believe me, the things for some people got worse way before Sochi track. Olympic Games are the main culprit, sadly. On the other side, at least a World War II airport is a now a modern one....

 

[slowcrash101]

Sochi gets a bad rap, it's not a bad track, honestly. The second race was pretty interesting, the first was boring, the third was dull but only because the Vettel crash/curse fest stole the spotlight.