Vettel in Sochi

The “reigning“ champion ”of Formula 1” Sebastian Vetther visited Sochi yesterday-a highway under construction, on which the Russian Grand Prix of Russia should take place next year.

This is a ridiculous video - Vettel and a known in the past F1 racer David Kulthard on the brand new "Infinity" rush through the mud and puddles, around excavators, and then pose with the hard workers, one of which, it seems, is trying to make a conversation with a three -time world champion. Well, in general, informative - what the construction in Sochi looks like.

In fact, these are not such contrasts. The racers, in the very essence of their work, should not be afraid of dirt, and in the old days and at all, the image of the car driver was deprived of glamor - he was a harsh person covered with dust, soot and machine oil.

In the Sochi arrival of Vettel, however, there are famous ironic nuances.

Firstly, of course, the scale of the so-not-ended Sochi Olympic construction site (and the racing track is part of the Olympic infrastructure) remind of the scale of costs and problems. The international sports obligations of Russia, taken by her in the "obese" first decade of the 21st century, may be painful for the current finances of the country. Another illustration here is a statement by Standard & Poor's analysts about the upcoming expenses for the World Cup-another expensive sports venture, in addition to the Olympics and the Grand Prix. It is alleged that these expenses will almost completely take on the federal budget, that the state of communal infrastructure in most cities where the games will be held is deplorable, and the attempt to shift at least part of the expenses to regional and city budgets, in turn, will finally undermine their solvency, which will already sharply deteriorate in the coming years.

Another subtlety - Vettel arrived in the capital of the Winter Olympics next year from Bahrain, where the day before he won the race. The Grand Prix of Bahrain for the third year is accompanied by mass protests-from the beginning of the "Arab spring". Shiite majority demanded that the Sunni minority expand their rights. It is noteworthy that it is the stage of “Formula 1” in the country that becomes an occasion for especially violent protests (two years ago it was even canceled). The mechanism of this turned out to be simple. Bahrain’s authorities, buying a stage, had in mind to show the whole world the progressiveness and development of the country, that is, use the "royal" car racing for advertising. The opposition acted in the same way - there is no better way to attract the attention of the world community to its own struggle than to promise to disrupt the stage F1. Thus, the opposition received advertising for the money of the government, and for considerable ones. It should be noted that the sponsors began to shun the Bahrain stage. It is not surprising that the non -shy chapter of the formula Bernie Ecclestone called the such actions of the authorities "stupid."

It is difficult to say why the Russian authorities need all these expensive international sports events, especially Formula 1, given the state of motorsport in the country. However, it is easy to acquire anti -advertising for a lot of money, as evidenced by history with the recent conduct of the Biathlon World Cup in Sochi, the organization of which some of the participants called the "nightmare" .

“Formula 1” All this, by and large, is still Vettel, Ecclestone and hundreds of other participants in this huge turtorial move around the world, perform in a variety of democratic and not so, countries, enjoy racing and earn money. They can go through the mud, praise and leave. Especially if profitable. Before leaving Bahrain, Ecclestone, a few days after the words about “stupidity”, announced that he would be happy to sign a new five -year contract with Bahrain to continue racing. “I see no problem,” he said.

In 2014, Formula should come to Russia. Ecclestone and Vettel have already been here.