ADVERTISEMENT
  • Who are you backing this weekend? #saudiarabia #formula1 #straighttothegrid
  • Highlights from the opening race of the season 🥳 #bahrain #2023 

📸: F1 live feed
  • Just hours away from the first race of the season!! #bahraingp #straighttothegrid #formula1
  • Follow us on TikTok ahead of the 2023 season #straighttothegrid #linkinbio
  • Verstappen has won the final race of 2022 - marking his 15th win of the season #abudhabi
  • George Russell wins the Brazilian Grand Prix in São Paulo 🏆
  • Max Verstappen has been crowned 2022 world champion after winning the Japanese GP 🏆🏁
  • 🏁 Highlights from Monza 🏁
Straight to the grid
ADVERTISEMENT
  • Home
  • News
    • All
    • Driver News
    • Latest
    • Team News
    Red Bull

    Championship Standings: Red Bull running away with early points as Formula 1 heads to Australia for Round Three

    Perez

    Sergio Perez wins Saudi Arabian GP to lead second Red Bull one-two of the season making team history

    Perez

    Qualifying: Perez in pole position after Verstappen’s shock departure

    Red Bull drivers Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez

    FP3 Saudi Arabia: Red Bull domination continues with one-two to finish practice

    Verstappen, FP2, Saudi

    FP2 Saudi Arabia: Verstappen remains out front while Hamilton’s struggles magnified

    Verstappen

    FP1 Saudi Arabia: Max Verstappen fastest but Aston Martin showing pace at Jeddah

    saudi arabia

    Everything you need to know ahead of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix

    verstappen

    2022 Saudi Arabian GP: Throwback to Max Verstappen securing the win after epic battle with Leclerc

    Toto Wolff, Bahrain

    Big changes confirmed at Mercedes after “one of the worst days in racing”

    • Latest
    • Driver News
    • Team News
  • Features
    • All
    • Interviews
    • Race Reports 2020
    • Race Reports 2021
    Verstappen, FP2, Saudi

    FP2 Saudi Arabia: Verstappen remains out front while Hamilton’s struggles magnified

    Verstappen

    FP1 Saudi Arabia: Max Verstappen fastest but Aston Martin showing pace at Jeddah

    saudi arabia

    Everything you need to know ahead of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix

    verstappen

    2022 Saudi Arabian GP: Throwback to Max Verstappen securing the win after epic battle with Leclerc

    • Interviews
    • Race Reports 2020
    • Race Reports 2021
  • Races
    • Race Calendar
    • Championship standings
  • More
    • Quiz
    • Competitions
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • All
    • Driver News
    • Latest
    • Team News
    Red Bull

    Championship Standings: Red Bull running away with early points as Formula 1 heads to Australia for Round Three

    Perez

    Sergio Perez wins Saudi Arabian GP to lead second Red Bull one-two of the season making team history

    Perez

    Qualifying: Perez in pole position after Verstappen’s shock departure

    Red Bull drivers Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez

    FP3 Saudi Arabia: Red Bull domination continues with one-two to finish practice

    Verstappen, FP2, Saudi

    FP2 Saudi Arabia: Verstappen remains out front while Hamilton’s struggles magnified

    Verstappen

    FP1 Saudi Arabia: Max Verstappen fastest but Aston Martin showing pace at Jeddah

    saudi arabia

    Everything you need to know ahead of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix

    verstappen

    2022 Saudi Arabian GP: Throwback to Max Verstappen securing the win after epic battle with Leclerc

    Toto Wolff, Bahrain

    Big changes confirmed at Mercedes after “one of the worst days in racing”

    • Latest
    • Driver News
    • Team News
  • Features
    • All
    • Interviews
    • Race Reports 2020
    • Race Reports 2021
    Verstappen, FP2, Saudi

    FP2 Saudi Arabia: Verstappen remains out front while Hamilton’s struggles magnified

    Verstappen

    FP1 Saudi Arabia: Max Verstappen fastest but Aston Martin showing pace at Jeddah

    saudi arabia

    Everything you need to know ahead of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix

    verstappen

    2022 Saudi Arabian GP: Throwback to Max Verstappen securing the win after epic battle with Leclerc

    • Interviews
    • Race Reports 2020
    • Race Reports 2021
  • Races
    • Race Calendar
    • Championship standings
  • More
    • Quiz
    • Competitions
No Result
View All Result
Straight to the grid
No Result
View All Result

Peter Collins: Does Ireland have the potential to host a Formula 1 Grand Prix?

Ireland

Credit: Steve Etherington

Each Grand Prix venue spends the bones of 12 months preparing to host a round of the Formula One World Championship, even more than that.

I once asked Bernie Ecclestone if Ireland could ever host a Grand Prix. He immediately dismissed the notion…and this was at the height of the Jordan Grand Prix era, where interest in the sport here in Ireland was at an all-time high.

Slightly taken aback by the ease at which Bernie dismissed Ireland’s chances of getting a round of the World championship, I immediately asked why?

First of all he said, you don’t have a circuit to host it, and secondly, even if Mondello Park was upgraded to the required standard or the Phoenix Park was manicured to such an extent that it could entertain the high-speed circus, Ireland/Dublin doesn’t have the required infrastructure.

“We’ve plenty of hotels,” I countered. You don’t, he said, reeling off the number of hotel rooms required for teams, officials, sponsors, media, spectators, etc. At that time, he had a point.

What about transport, public transport? He wasn’t wrong, Dublin still had a distance to as far as the required infrastructure was concerned.

But just imagine the excitement had we ever managed to secure such a blue riband event of truly global stature. The motor racing community would have been beside themselves with joy.

The build-up, the anticipation, the expectation, and the desire for it to be ‘the best’ Grand Prix on the calendar. On the hospitality front, Ireland would win hands down I’m sure.

I’m wondering now if Ireland would receive Bernie’s blessing? We do a pretty decent job with the St. Patrick’s Day Parade. Anyway, that discussion is for another day.

Bahrain has the honour of hosting the season’s opener and our appetites have been whetted by the recent tests in Barcelona and at the Sakhir circuit.

Max Verstappen was fastest on the final day in Bahrain, with Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari second and Fernando Alonso put a late flying lap in to finish third fastest in the Alpine.

The Mercedes in the hands of George Russell ended the day fourth. As is the norm in testing all teams encountered teething problems with their brand new race cars, but in time-honoured fashion, most will have their wallowing and other issues sorted out come race day.

The conclusion from testing was that Red Bull and Ferrari were good straight out of the box, McLaren too appears to have found a good baseline with their new challenger.

Alpine showed promise too and while Mercedes with their controversial side pods, had some aerodynamic issues to sort out, they will still be there or thereabouts when the season roars into life this weekend. Can’t wait.

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook

Related

Previous Post

Pierre Gasly reveals AlphaTauri is having major issues in colder conditions after Friday’s Practice

Next Post

Leclerc breaks down Ferrari one-two at Bahrain GP after epic opening for the historic team

Related Posts

Red Bull
Latest

Championship Standings: Red Bull running away with early points as Formula 1 heads to Australia for Round Three

Perez
Latest

Sergio Perez wins Saudi Arabian GP to lead second Red Bull one-two of the season making team history

Perez
Latest

Qualifying: Perez in pole position after Verstappen’s shock departure

Red Bull drivers Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez
Latest

FP3 Saudi Arabia: Red Bull domination continues with one-two to finish practice

Verstappen, FP2, Saudi
Catch up

FP2 Saudi Arabia: Verstappen remains out front while Hamilton’s struggles magnified

Verstappen
Catch up

FP1 Saudi Arabia: Max Verstappen fastest but Aston Martin showing pace at Jeddah

Next Post
Red Bull, Max Verstappen in Bahrain

Verstappen gives major RB19 update in Bahrain which may raise concern among other teams in the paddock

  • Trending
  • Comments
  • Latest
30 years ago Jordan Grand Prix made its Formula One debut

30 years ago Jordan Grand Prix made its Formula One debut

Latest figures show F1 to be the second fastest growing major sports league on the planet

Latest figures show F1 to be the second fastest growing major sports league on the planet

Jordan

INTERVIEW: Eddie Jordan is an ‘irrepressible character’ who ‘ducked and dived’ to make it in F1

standings

Championship Standings: Max Verstappen leads as we head to Texas

Red Bull, Max Verstappen in Bahrain

Verstappen gives major RB19 update in Bahrain which may raise concern among other teams in the paddock

Aston Martin, FP2, Bahrain

Fernando Alonso shocks spectators as he places his Aston Martin at the top of the FP2 timesheet in Bahrain

Mercedes, George Russell, Bahrain

Issues persist for Mercedes as George Russell complains about floor and a ‘disturbance aerodynamically’

Aston Martin, FP2

Friday, Bahrain: Here are the full results from FP1 and FP2 as Aston Martin impress

Red Bull

Championship Standings: Red Bull running away with early points as Formula 1 heads to Australia for Round Three

Perez

Sergio Perez wins Saudi Arabian GP to lead second Red Bull one-two of the season making team history

Perez

Qualifying: Perez in pole position after Verstappen’s shock departure

Red Bull drivers Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez

FP3 Saudi Arabia: Red Bull domination continues with one-two to finish practice

Recent News

Red Bull

Championship Standings: Red Bull running away with early points as Formula 1 heads to Australia for Round Three

Perez

Sergio Perez wins Saudi Arabian GP to lead second Red Bull one-two of the season making team history

Perez

Qualifying: Perez in pole position after Verstappen’s shock departure

Red Bull drivers Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez

FP3 Saudi Arabia: Red Bull domination continues with one-two to finish practice

Popular Stories

  • Verstappen, FP2, Saudi

    FP2 Saudi Arabia: Verstappen remains out front while Hamilton’s struggles magnified

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Friday, Bahrain: Here are the full results from FP1 and FP2 as Aston Martin impress

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Fernando Alonso hints at when he plans to leave Formula 1

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Issues persist for Mercedes as George Russell complains about floor and a ‘disturbance aerodynamically’

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0

Straight to the Grid

Straight to the Grid

Straight to the Grid is Ireland's first exclusive Formula One news source, bringing fans all of the latest
news, results, interviews, features and much more!

Navigation

  • Catch up
  • Competitions
  • Driver News
  • Features
  • Interviews
  • Irish F1
  • Latest
  • News
  • Quiz
  • Race Reports 2020
  • Race Reports 2021
  • Race Reports 2022
  • Team News
  • Uncategorized

Instagram

  • Who are you backing this weekend? #saudiarabia #formula1 #straighttothegrid
  • Highlights from the opening race of the season 🥳 #bahrain #2023 

📸: F1 live feed
  • Just hours away from the first race of the season!! #bahraingp #straighttothegrid #formula1
  • Follow us on TikTok ahead of the 2023 season #straighttothegrid #linkinbio
  • Verstappen has won the final race of 2022 - marking his 15th win of the season #abudhabi
  • George Russell wins the Brazilian Grand Prix in São Paulo 🏆
  • Max Verstappen has been crowned 2022 world champion after winning the Japanese GP 🏆🏁
  • 🏁 Highlights from Monza 🏁
  • Max Verstappen has won the Dutch GP 🏁
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • Latest
    • Driver News
    • Team News
  • Features
    • Interviews
    • Race Reports 2020
    • Race Reports 2021
    • Race Reports 2022
  • Races
    • Championship standings
    • Race Calendar
  • More
    • Quiz
    • Competitions

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.