More and more races, but who's watching them?
Discussions about saturation points in Formula One are becoming increasingly frequent, and all the more so in the wake of a German Grand Prix remarkable for its lack of spectators - to the degree that FIA president Max Mosley commented upon it in his recent interview with Jonathan Noble:
"All the grandstands going down to the Sachskurve were empty," remarked Mosley. "I am sure there were people who would have liked to have sat there, but they cannot afford it."
Then added Mosley: "[But] it is a Bernie [Ecclestone] problem", which commercially it is, of course - or more accurately, that of the septuagenarian's financial masters and his own wife, for he owns but one share in the sport's rights' holding company and CVC Partners, and his family trust most of the rest. But it is, too, a problem for circuit promoters, sponsors, advertisers and F1's massive worldwide fanbase.