Hockenheim - the latest circuit to have doubts over its future

[Nikki Katz]

Question:

What happens if CVC can't pay back it's debt?

PS: IMO given that they were so stupid as to buy the F1 commercial rights for billions when Bernie only payed millions for it, they deserve their fate.

Hmm, I think that F1 itself is incredibly profitable, the problem lies with the holding company. If CVC went bust then administrators would come in and sell off the assets, e.g. F1. Presumably F1 is worth more as it is than as its component parts, it's mostly about the brand name and contracts after all, there can't be a great deal of tangible assets. It would therefore then be sold on to the highest bidder, presumably for a lot less than CVC "paid" for it.
So, it shouldn't be the end for F1, but it would be very disruptive.

[BDunnell]

Question:

What happens if CVC can't pay back it's debt?

You can bet your life that the consequences wouldn't be the same as if we were not to pay back all of our debts.

[jso1985]

When you think about it Bernie has had his race income reduced in the last 3 years by 70 to 100 million dollars because of race cancellations and lost fees. With Germany and the UK under fire maybe another 60 to 70 million on the table.
Do the lost races affect his TV revenue? Who knows, but I can see some countries possibly dropping F1 coverage especially if Germany and the UK go.
TSN in Canada and Speed in the US are possibilities.

While I agree totally that fees should be reduced, I doubt Bernie is worrying dropping key races will afect the TV revenue much, TV stations "sell" the package of having the whole sport on their channel not just a few races. at least in Europe and LatinAmerica, F1 will be always a good profit to broadcast no matter which races are in

[ioan]

You can bet your life that the consequences wouldn't be the same as if we were not to pay back all of our debts.

I had no doubts about that!

What happens if manufacturers and/or privateers decide to pull out/go bankrupt because of financial difficulties? Sure there will not e to much value left into what CVC bought from Bernie.

[Sleeper]

Question:

What happens if CVC can't pay back it's debt?

PS: IMO given that they were so stupid as to buy the F1 commercial rights for billions when Bernie only payed millions for it, they deserve their fate.

Probably the same thing when Kursch couldnt pay back its debts after buying F1, go bankrupt and get taken over by the banks (now theres a scary thought after the recent troubles). F1 was being run by three seperat banks for nearly 5 years before CVC bought it.

[ioan]

Probably the same thing when Kursch couldnt pay back its debts after buying F1, go bankrupt and get taken over by the banks (now theres a scary thought after the recent troubles). F1 was being run by three seperat banks for nearly 5 years before CVC bought it.

So, no matter if the commercial right holder lives or dies F1 continues to live, with a new rights owner or the debitor banks.

So why should we effin care if some idiot was stupid enough to pay 3 billions for owning the commercial rights of a show that they don't really control.
What if the teams pull out? No matter who the owner is he's busted. Don't forget that the previous Concorde Agreement ran out already quite some time ago.

[V12]

Hockenheim's been dead since 2002 anyway...I wouldn't miss it.

[philipbain]

Hockenheim's been dead since 2002 anyway...I wouldn't miss it.

Absolutely agree, the "redevelopment" (or as I like to call it, destruction) of Hockenheim is the root reason for it's demise as it was extremely expensive and made a once unique track into a rather uninteresting and extremely bland autodrome. The old circuit wasnt the most technical in the world but at least it dared to be different, a very high speed low downforce track where there was a rich contrast between the flat out straights and the twisty technical nature of the stadium sector which was made tricky as it had to be negotiated with very little downforce. The modern track is a made for TV track that is typical of modern tracks for being utterly unpunishing in the event of a driver making an error.