Any F1 racing fans?

I had a similar idea in my post but deleted it, fearing it might not be relevant. You have made it so. It’s not about racing, which of course is not always a successful long term outcome.

We/ve been there to tour the museum and track. We also attended many of the GP’s at Indianapolis. At Indy it was a four day event. But not a party event, it was the track, the qualifying, the many displays, the interviews, and the races. Very spectator friendly and encountering. It’s there that I saw the car I really first fell in love with, the #21 Ferrari 250LM that I watched win the 1965 24 hours of LeMan’s. In Indy’s museum no less.

Indianapolis was an experience topped off with a race, celebrated from the top to the bottom of the field. All the way to Zsolt Baumgartner winning a point in the Minardi. One would have thought they won the world championship the way they celebrated.
I went to the first year f1 came back 200 I think, and took my order brother and father

Same thing, great time and 3-4 days of racing.

They had Ferrari challenge series, then porsche GT3, then porsche cup or what ever they called the professional and non professional series back then. Then the qual and race. V10s were incredible.

Funny story, one night we were on our own for dinner and as can be imagined everyplace was packed. Being from NY we didn’t think of making reservations but Indy isn’t a huge city etc. so we were kind of screwed, my father wasn’t going to eat McDonald’s lol.

So we settled on a Cheesecake Factory that was just opening up, I think it was the first or second night it was actually open. We get out and get on line which looks to be a little long but we figured it’ll move. After a few minutes we realized it went around the building..shit.

As we we about to leave a younger guy cones out (I was mid 20’s and he looked a few years older than me) who is the manager and is doing damage control for the line. He ask where are you from etc…I say NY. I also say my college friend is a manager at a cheesecake in NY…yes his name is Vinny lol.

He goes..holy shit I trained with him. The manger took us in the side door and sat us down immediately.

My brother still laughs about it 25 years later.
 
He showed himself in a very nice way again, didn’t he?

I imagine that the team hates him already.
It would have been great if the reply over the radio was " Do as told". They are usually tame over the radio because everyone is listening. I probably wouldn't have cared about who was listening and said quite a bit more. Especially at the end when he asked "should let him pass also."
 
He showed himself in a very nice way again, didn’t he?

I imagine that the team hates him already.
Until recently he’s always had the best car. Like Vettel or Verstappan before him. Kimi R , Max, and Alonso can lift a car beyond its potential but I haven’t really seen that yet from him. He choose wisely leaving McLaren when he did, but I bet he wishes he was still in that Benz.

He’s no Senna that’s for sure. He was the absolute best.
 
Oscar is going to be the next drivers champ. The Williams were outstanding today.
Unless McLaren decides to fuck him and favor Lando OR RB gets their shit together and can get some pace out of their cars. Piastri is the better driver (McLaren) though.

I also have a "feeling" that McLaren is bending, or flat out breaking, some rules. Hence their wing coming under inspection before Spain. I don't know how they get their tires to outlast every other team and to outpace Max, even with his inferior car, and the all the other teams by such a huge margin. You could say the same about 2023s RB, but Max is just brilliant and is actually that fast.
 
Unless McLaren decides to fuck him and favor Lando OR RB gets their shit together and can get some pace out of their cars. Piastri is the better driver (McLaren) though.

I also have a "feeling" that McLaren is bending, or flat out breaking, some rules. Hence their wing coming under inspection before Spain. I don't know how they get their tires to outlast every other team and to outpace Max, even with his inferior car, and the all the other teams by such a huge margin. You could say the same about 2023s RB, but Max is just brilliant and is actually that fast.
Except that RB has been on the edge for awhile now which is why every other driver can’t make it work within that small performance window.

Also I think the bigger factor is that Newey is gone, and his pending departure meant he didn’t work on that car much if any. The golden rule of F1 is……. If you’re not developing the car, you’re going backwards.
 
...We also attended many of the GP’s at Indianapolis. At Indy it was a four day event. But not a party event, it was the track, the qualifying, the many displays, the interviews, and the races. Very spectator friendly and encountering. It’s there that I saw the car I really first fell in love with, the #21 Ferrari 250LM that I watched win the 1965 24 hours of LeMan’s. In Indy’s museum no less.

Indianapolis was an experience topped off with a race, celebrated from the top to the bottom of the field. All the way to Zsolt Baumgartner winning a point in the Minardi. One would have thought they won the world championship the way they celebrated.
We went to the first two F1 races held at IMS. Very enjoyable! Very fan-friendly. A much better place to see a race than either Miami or Vegas.
 
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Heard something at the Weiner 500 which made me really worried. The announcers stated that the Pre-Race pageantry was as much a part of the race as the race itself. I am afraid this has become true for too many forms of racing including you know what form.

Pageantry, great to show off the 1st grade students at grade school assembles and great with celebrities for Democratic Party campaign rallies. For racing, not so much.
 
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I would like to see on track sprinklers added to Monaco. Nothing more entertaining then a wet race.
Max Verstappen's idea of banana peels throwers a la Super Mario seems more promising...like Mercedes 'Taktik' button Toto Wolff was used to push sometimes... I believe that was connected to a Hamilton balls shrinking system or nebulized beer injection in Botta's helmet.
 
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Looks like Horner is gone from Red Bull and rumors are Max will go to Merc. If that happens Red Bull is done for a while as none of the other drivers could actually drive the Red Bull car.


 
Horner's seeming inability to get Max's car sorted out this season has really been vexing. Max is perhaps the most talented active driver in F1 and he'll probably lose the championship because of the team's failures with the car's setup.

On another F1 topic, it makes me happy to see Hamilton fail- his "wokeness" is a slap in the face to the free world.
 
Helmut Marko is the reason that Red Bull are going in the wrong direction. That's been obvious for years. They designed a Newey car very specific to Max's driving style that only he can exploit. They have been essentially a one car team the last few years, and the competition has finally caught up to where they need that second car to add to the points total.

Yuki was doing great in the Racing Bull car before switching to Red Bull. Perez didn't forget how to drive, and neither did anyone else in that car going back to Gasly or Albon. it was a stupid decision to build only for Max. The money comes from the Constructors placing, and no one really cares about the driver's championship first.

Even when Schumy was at Ferrari, the number 2 driver was capable of winning unless they had to make way to let Michael by. Red Bull never did that. That's all on Helmut. When Dietrich passed, so did anyone putting these guys in their place.

Horner did an amazing job over the years. I hope he winds up at Ferrari, as he know how to build a team. I doubt he'll be unemployed long. Verstappen is one of the best drivers ever........no doubt, but I wouldn't pay that $100M+ buy out for him. Russel and Kimi are their future.

The sad part is the racing has never been closer across the entire field, and the new rules will definitely have teams who get it right from day one, and others (RB? New Power Train) who might not. Que Sera, Sera!
 
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As far as Horner goes IMO it has something to do with the accusations last year. Red Bulls car has been tailored to Max as no one else can drive it with much success, Sergio did OK.
Lewis's driving style does not fit with the aero package cars and I believe he will be better off next year.
All champions are a combination of driver and car, Mclaren has it right now and next year it starts all over.
 
Looks like Horner is gone from Red Bull and rumors are Max will go to Merc. If that happens Red Bull is done for a while as none of the other drivers could actually drive the Red Bull car.



Was just coming here to post this! Wild…

Jos Verstappen (Max’s dad) can’t stand Christian for some reason. Between that, the sexual harassment noise last year, the mess that led to Adrian Newey leaving on a sour note, and Christian’s inability to lead the entire team vs. just catering to Max, let alone being unable to find a good #2 driver probably killed his career despite his strong record.

F1’s all about “What are you doing for me today”.
 
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Was just coming here to post this! Wild…

Jos Verstappen (Max’s dad) can’t stand Christian for some reason. Between that, the sexual harassment noise last year, the mess that led to Adrian Newey leaving on a sour note, and Christian’s inability to lead the entire team vs. just catering to Max, let alone being unable to find a good #2 driver probably killed his career despite his strong record.

F1’s all about “What are you doing for me today”.

That, and the fact there is more politics in F1 today, than in the U.S. Congress.
 
Verstappen is one of the best drivers ever........no doubt, but I wouldn't pay that $100M+ buy out for him. Russel and Kimi are their future.
I do not know if this is true or not, however I read that he has an out. Meaning if Red Bull doesn't perform he can leave on his own accord. If true, that would make it that any team could get him without having to buy him out of his contract. Toto has been spreading rumors that he has been in talks with Max. Also, George Russel was only offered a one year contract extension for 2026 and he's not happy about that.


 
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From my understanding, Horner is still employed just not team principal any longer. And if they will bring Flavio back, there's no way Horner isn't team principal of another team next season. Rumors are that Ferrari isn't happy w/ Fred, although I really like Fred, and Horner may be going to Ferrari. But other than Red Bull, Mercedes, and McLaren, any team is possible in my opinion.