Word: tracking
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...sport came to a total crack-up last year, and just how rickety it remains. At times over the past few years, Formula One has looked as ungovernable as California: big teams quit, and more threatened to do so; the financial industry canceled its lifeblood sponsorship almost en masse; track attendance is down; and scandals have tarnished everyone from a world champ to the former head of motor sport itself. Bernie Ecclestone, the septuagenarian who is usually described as F1's principal stakeholder (a description that doesn't come close to encompassing his power) insists that all is now well...
...rburgring (a new, shorter version has been used since the 1980s) is not on this year's F1 schedule. Yas Island in Abu Dhabi is. The gulf state has spent $1 billion on the new track and $39 billion on the outlandish infrastructure surrounding it, including hotels, golf courses and Ferrari World, billed as the world's largest indoor theme park. Here you can experience the g-forces of an F1 racer firsthand on a roller coaster that reaches speeds of 124m.p.h. (200 km/h). The roller coaster may be more thrilling than the race itself. New tracks like Yas Island...
This year's season may open next week, but it won't reach Europe until mid-May, passing first through Bahrain, Melbourne, Kuala Lumpur and Shanghai. Only eight of this season's 19 races are in Europe, and the proportion will likely continue to shrink. England's legendary Silverstone track almost lost its spot on the schedule altogether. France no longer has a race...
...tech bubble and thrives on a velvet-rope mentality that keeps all but a few very high rollers far away from the cars and the drivers. "F1 has gotten extremely constipated and overly grand for itself," says Jackie Stewart. "When I was a wee boy, I went to the track and got [Juan Manuel] Fangio's autograph, I got Stirling Moss's autograph. It's still a fantastic sport, but it needs more of a feel-good factor...
...rights, its most valuable asset. In 2005 he sold most of his stake in Formula One Management to private equity firm CVC Capital Partners. But thanks to a complicated ownership structure, he's still the straw that stirs the drink. Ecclestone alone makes the big TV, sponsorship and track deals that keep F1's cash gushing. He rests his legacy on the numbers, and they are indeed impressive, not least his own. Forbes latest tally puts his personal fortune at $3.7 billion. Ecclestone turns 80 this season, but he isn't going anywhere. "I do what...