Latest / Full Credit to the Noise / NEWS: Australian GP price gouge + Supercars civil war
Transcript
- Speedcafe Team: Hello and welcome to Full Credits of the News brought to you by Authentic Collectibles. My name is Andrew Van Leuren and I'm joined by Speed Cafe's managing editor, Stefan Bartholomew. Stefan, how's your week been? It's been a productive week, Andrew. It was certainly nice to ⁓ not have to catch a flight on Monday when I dropped you off at the airport. Although you did nearly leave that German pasta in my car, which ⁓ which would have been a shame. German pasta and White asparagus. There were some of the treats that I brought home from Harndorf. I hope you've It was fine, apparently. The the lady at the shop in Harndorf assured me it wouldn't be an issue, and the Beagles left me well alone when I ⁓ when I landed back in Perth. So no issues there. I hope you've adjusted back from what feels like Europe back to normal South Australia. It is just a bizarre little place, Harndorf, isn't it? It's a very interesting part of the ⁓ part of the world you've got there. I did have to clean my car out after the alleged waste deep water that it was parked in, which I'm sure you've had a bit of feedback on. I definitely have. But anyway, we got it out and ⁓ we got back to our accommodation and we're back in our respective homes for a very short amount of time until the Bath is one thousand. But that's ⁓ that's only good news because that's always a fun week that we spend there. But let's Let's not start with too much supercar stuff because I think the big story of the week is that we have a Formula One calendar for 2027, 24 races in total, an increase from six sprint races from this year to 10 next year. One of those sprints will be in Melbourne, and another interesting one is Monaco, but we'll get onto that a little bit later. Let's start with Albert Park. On the released calendar, it is the third round behind Bahrain and Saudi Arabia with a date of April 1 to 4. That is the weekend after Easter and during the Victorian school holidays. But there's a bit of a but that comes with that date, and that is the ongoing uncertainty over those Middle Eastern races. That means there will be for some time, I think, a lingering chance that Melbourne could be moved forward. There were some murmurings out of Europe in the last couple of days that it is F1's preference. Melbourne, I mean, as the opener if Bahrain doesn't go ahead, but then there's a compliment. Complication of the new pit building and the timeline on that being completed, plus the fact that it's a street circuit, so there needs to be some certainty for the community around road closures and all that sort of stuff. AGPC boss Travis Old did speak about that at a media call on Thursday and didn't shut down a date change entirely, but made it clear that the AGPC is pretty locked into the date that's been announced at the same time if you are booking accommodation I'd make sure it is refundable just in case. That's certainly what I've done for you and me, Stefan. anyway, whatever the date ends up being, we've got a sprint race. What are your thoughts on that for Melbourne and the general ramping up of sprints to nearly half of the calendar for next year? Yeah, I'm really torn on the sprint races as a whole because you can look at it sort of in isolation and go Having an extra qualifying session and an extra race is better than practice sessions. So on that basis, you'd say this is a massive win for Australia getting a sprint. But when you actually zoom out, I can't help but feel that twenty four races and ten sprints is just getting too much. It sort of reaches a saturation point and starts to erode that mystique of a Grand Prix. So again, you look at what they've done with the calendar and they're starting the season with a sprint, which I think is a really odd choice. And then they've put them at the last two events as well. So there's every chance you could be crowning a champion on a Saturday, which doesn't quite sit right either. So I do feel like they're going for this sort of short-term rating spike, potentially to the detriment of the bigger picture. They're just really cashing in on the demand and producing more and more product. I feel like I would have agreed with you at some point, but I've really warmed to the sprint format over the years and yeah, I I do it was my first thought was right, what if we do get moved to the first round of the season? Do they want to sprint as the first round of the season? And then you take another look at the calendar and go, Hang on a minute, Bahrain's a sprint as well. So that's happening regardless, whether it's in Melbourne. Or whether it's in Bahrain, if it ends up being in China, then I guess that's a whole other discussion. But I don't know. I've kind of I've I've warmed the format and I do love it for Melbourne. Like it's you know, we're going to go to Albert Park and we're gonna have qualifying on a Friday, we're gonna have a race on Saturday morning, we're gonna have more qualifying on Saturday ARVO. I don't know. I I I like it. I sort of I I guess you look at what Mode G P does and And they just went right, if we're gonna do this, we're gonna do it across the board. And I don't I I'd never liked that. Are you that on board with the sprints that you'd want them at all twenty four races? 'Cause that does feel like this is where it's heading. That is that you're right. And I don't know if I want that, but I'm not against having more of it. So that's sort of the moral dilemma that I'm still debating. You know, it's only been a couple of days since we got the calendar, but I do feel like we're reaching the point when there was like five or six of ⁓ or whatever, then it is kind of like, all right, well, this is still a bit of a rarity, but it does feel like by this point, do you just go, well, let's put ⁓ for every race? Let's have Christmas every month, bugger it. It's fun. Let's just do it. The Monaco as a sprint is the really interesting one and there's been a lot of feedback in our FCT and Discord and And out in the wider internet about that. I think I actually get Monaco as a sprint because we know the racing product in Monaco is subpar, right? And yes, a sprint format means more racing on Monaco weekend, but it qualifying at Monaco is elite. Like that's one of the best, alongside the top ten shootout at Bathurst, that's one of the best kind of hours of motorsport of the entire year. And we get two qualifying sessions. the sprint format. I do think that's the thinking behind it. What's what's your thoughts on it? I think everyone's had the same reaction to this. The first thought is what sort of madness is that? Yeah. A race at Monaco with no pit stops is gonna be the most dull thing you could do. But then you go, ⁓ wait a minute, two qualifying sessions. Yeah. That is kind of exciting. So I have seen a lot of commentary as well around whether the sprint format needs to be more different. To the Grand Prix format, whether it needs to be something other than just a cut down Grand Prix. Yeah. And Monaco could be actually the place where they experiment with that sort of thing. Whether it's a it's a one at a time full field shootout or something that's called the sprint. We did do that once upon a time and it did not work. But at Monaco it might be more interesting than a than a sprint race. True. True. Obviously the the Monaco format used to be different with having Thursday practice rather than Friday. But yeah, I don't know. Just the idea of a sprint race in Monaco doesn't do it for me. No, I don't mind it. Two qualifyings in Monaco, I'm on board with it. Let's go back to Albert Park and talk about ticket prices because firstly, thank the good lord we get media accreditation, Stefan, and we get to go through the gates for nothing because that pricing is astronomical. For next year's Australian Grand Prix. So we're talking about $425 for a four-day general admission pass. That's $40 more expensive than last year, which is one thing. But it is a whopping 130% higher than the $185 that the same ticket costs for the ill-fated 2020 event. That event obviously didn't go ahead, but it doesn't, that doesn't change what the what the ticket prices were. The cheapest grandstand options for the 2027 Australian Grand Prix are six hundred and twenty dollars for four days. Now, AGPC boss Travis Old defended the pricing on Thursday, saying it's all about balancing the offering in terms of music and food and and so on with keeping tickets accessible. But these prices that surely they're getting dangerously close to losing the accessibility part of this whole thing. Yeah, I mean, obviously they're trying to lean into the demand that's there in order to get some of their money back because it costs so much to to put the race on. And they know that they can pump up these ticket prices and people will still go. But yeah, doubling the prices in five years, adding this membership program that you've got to pay for just to get access to certain tickets, like it just smells absolutely like a cash grab. So I definitely feel for The long term fans that are getting priced out of this thing, the the fans that are trying to bring a family to the event and it's telephone numbers to do it. And just the the people who do actually fork out the money to go GA and they walk around the track unable to find a place to actually watch some car racing because there's all this corporate hospitality and activations blocking the view, which we found last year when we went for a went for a walk in the Friday sessions. Actually finding the track was half the battle. Yeah, no, you're exactly right. It is just so much money now. And I get it's one of those things where whether you can do it and whether you should do it, like that's kind of the question, right? Like clearly you can do it. They're gonna record another massive crowd. And at that kind of price increase, even if you fell a couple of thousand short of the record crowd that it seems to be every single year, like it's just I don't know, it just you're right. A GA ticket, I guess that's what d what does sort of s come to my mind is that that four hundred and twenty five bucks, how much formula one action are you gonna see? Because we know full well that trying to get out there and see anything without a grandstand ticket is just it's nearly impossible now. Yeah, it's basically buying the right to go and then buy a thirty dollar hamburger. Yeah. I feel like the fact that the whole thing is sponsored by a French champagne company now pretty much says it all. When you look ⁓ right back to the first Grand Prix in Adelaide was sponsored by Mitsubishi. It's ⁓ it's stepped up a fair bit. Yep, that's ⁓ that's very true. And good on you for not letting go of the fact that Adelaide used to host a Formula One Grand Prix. ⁓ that's ⁓ that's a fight worth fighting forever, I reckon, for a South Australian. ⁓ Well I think the first one in Albert Park was sponsored by Transurban, so maybe ⁓ that's right. That's another good example. Very true. The AGP date release does give us a piece of the supercar's calendar puzzle as well, despite the slight chance that it could change, but it still feels like a full supercar's calendar is is still a bit of a way away, Stefan, given the TRC negotiations over the number of rounds ⁓ ongoing. You've got a bit of intel into what's going on there. What's the latest with that? Yeah, the the headline out of it really is what you've summarised there, that ⁓ we're in mid September. And this deal's not done, so it is essentially holding up the calendar. And ⁓ race has now tabled its latest offer to the teams. And my understanding is that there's a divide among the teams as to whether it's acceptable. Clearly, money's been at the heart of the negotiation the whole way through, and there's different appetites in terms of what's a fair compromise. So there's been at least five teams pushing back hard on the money side. And race needs a seventy-five percent majority to to get the deal through. But there's some other issues as well around other changes to the TRC and how the sport is being governed as a whole. So essentially the teams that are pushing back aren't going to give ground without holding race to account on how it runs elements of the business. And I think it's worth considering that this discussion isn't happening in a vacuum, you know. The whole paddock really seemed to be at war at the bend. I've never felt it as divided as it was at the last event. So I just hope they can get this all together and and yeah, do a deal that ensures we have fourteen rounds for the greater good. Something that was interesting in your story today was that the we always talk about the twelve rounds being the T V contract, but that the current agreement is more anchored to fourteen rounds than twelve rounds. Yeah, that's my understanding of the agreement that started this year. So if they if they cut it back ⁓ below fourteen, they have to give money back to to Fox. That is interesting. All right, now for some news from our dear friends at Authentic Collectibles, and this one is for Track Stars Collectors because something very special is on the horizon. A special 164-scale triple set is due to arrive next week, just in time for the great race. Stay tuned to the official Trackstars social channels next week for the big announcement. Trust us, this is one set you'll want in your collection. Collect the set, chase the rare. Remember, the race never ends. There's obviously no time certainty in Trackstar's world, Stefan, if the race ⁓ never ends. They ⁓ keep popping them out, which is great. I believe you've got a few of them on your desk. ⁓ I know that's your wheelhouse there, those ⁓ those little models. So, ⁓ I believe our friends have looked after you quite well in terms of your collection. ⁓ now let's talk door numbers in supercars, Stefan. We know they look great. We saw that when they launched Brody Kasteki seventeen earlier this year with the door number on it, which was just for the launch. They didn't keep it on the livery for the season. We are seeing it again with the GRM livery for the Bathus one thousand wildcard that does have the the number on the door. The fan reaction has been strong enough. That it has been a topic of discussion at supercars. And we believe at commission level about whether it should be made mandatory. The issue is that the reason supercars got rid of them was to increase sellable space on the side of these cars. And that's not an issue that's gone away, as Jamie Winkart made very clear to us when we chatted to him about it at the bend. Yeah. Prime real estate was ⁓ his key term. about this that ⁓ the teams can't afford to give that up and I do think it was clever for Supercars to bring this up at commission, even though they would have known that the teams would have knocked it on the head. But ⁓ supercars are now the good guys in this story because they tried their best and it's the big bad teams that have blown the house down on it. But ⁓ yeah, Jamie's comments around the reliance on sponsorship for the teams and he even said that like no one out there in Teamland is turning a profit at the moment. It was all pretty pointed in the context of the TRC negotiations we were talking about earlier. And we actually asked him how much that space would be worth, that ⁓ sort of door space that the numbers would go on, which is obviously a difficult one to answer because they don't just sell that space ⁓ separately. But ⁓ he did say if race wanted to buy that ⁓ space to put the numbers on, it'd be about 300 grand per car, which ⁓ funnily enough is what I'm hearing is about the difference between what some of these teams want and what ⁓ race has been offering. That is very interesting. That would be a big expenditure, I guess. ⁓ yeah, I like your theory on that, that it's all about saying, well, it would be cool. We'd love to do it, but we can't get the teams to agree with it, which is completely understandable when you actually do the economics of it. But it does look cool. It is a shame we've Yeah, I was gonna say, where do you actually sit on this? Because it is such a passion point amongst the fans. ⁓ I I probably sit on the team side with it, to be perfectly honest. Like I understand how it does look really cool, but I can completely understand that that's a lot of real estate for something that doesn't bring income into the team to to hold. That's that's my thought on it. Like I I probably do that that's where I kind of sit on it. What's what are your actual thoughts on it? Well, you know I'm an absolute sucker for nostalgia and I think the the old cars with enough space to put a big white box and a big black number in that box looks really cool and it works so well on those dare I say the tobacco liveries that to had basically one sponsor and a lot of real estate to use Jamie's term. But then when it got into like the two thousands and some of those rules were relaxed and teams were doing their own number fonts and they were sort of just jamming them into these busier and busier liveries, it actually started to look a bit like an eyesore. So I feel like yeah, the the romance about the old days and what it looked like versus how it could actually be if they forced teams to bring it back doesn't quite align for me. Yeah, because teens will find a way to try and commercialise it as well. There'll be a way to try and build it into delivery and it won't necessarily look anywhere near as good. And that and that is a ⁓ we've had this conversation a thousand times before, but we had it even looking at the scape and ingle cars that were in the welcome centre at the bend, right? Like it's ⁓ particularly the scafe HRT car from from O five there. Like you sit there and look at it and it just it's gorgeous because it just has so little sponsorship interference on it because of the amount of money that was coming in from from Holden and a very few amount of backers to to fund that team. The cast just looked amazing. But that's just not the world we live in anymore. Yeah, I mean Pete Hughes, who ⁓ does deliveries for a lot of the teams, actually put out some some renders not too long ago with door numbers that looked really good. He sort of integrated it into the into the sponsorship packages that exist. And obviously NASCAR managed to do it. Their their numbers are are huge. But again, it sort of just comes back to on the list of things that have to be worked through right now. I'm not sure if that's the ⁓ the best bang for Buck. I've almost been ⁓ embarrassed to bring this up with people in Teamland considering the ⁓ the bigger picture plays that are going on. Yeah it's a decent point. That is a decent Point. Let's ⁓ let's finish up with a bit of Transam news. And there's a move to clean up the driving standards after some huge crashes this season and some high profile beefs between the likes of Todd Hazelwood and James Moffat. Series boss Matt McKeldon says there will be an effort to clean things up with options including a code of conduct, a Demerit Point system, and a series steward on the cards. I love Transam, Stefan. We all want to see action on track. We want to see the odd crash as well. It's ⁓ makes it all bit more fun. But I think I like this because it has felt like that series has become a bit of a demolition derby this year. What are your thoughts? Yeah, I'd say the categories realize that it's going to lose competitors if this level of damage continues because people just can't afford to be tearing up cars every week. So I hope they can clean that up without ending up over policing it. 'Cause there's obviously some desperado sort of stuff going on that they can stamp out, but you don't want to discourage the really good hard racing that ⁓ the category's also known for and and things like the that incident with James Moffat and Todd Hazelwood at the bend, like they were just just racing hard, they were going at it and turned pear shape, but you don't want to discourage people from having a go. Yep, I definitely agree. It'd be interesting to see how that plays out. Well, I think that will do us for full credit to the news this week. Stay tuned to Speak FA across the weekend for all the news and action from the SRO GT Festival at Sydney Motorsport Park. And full credit to the noise will be back in this podcast feed next Tuesday morning.