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OK, one good point of the event:
The singer of the national anthem did a very fine job.
A good, solid, A grade performance. Mostly on key, and no 'personal touch' embellishments.
And that was it...
Always watch on DVR, to fast forward through the horsesh*t.
Long shots of the side of someone's face.
Some idiot celeberity
Nervous team principal tapping his foot
Clown circus on the Ferrari pit wall (OK, I watch that...)
Also need to keep the volume low to avoid that *sshole Croft.
Was there at least a Jumbotron in view so you could actually watch the race (other than the start\finish)?
Oh yeah, up above the start line! This is a pano shot from section 13 on the start/finish straight, so good for seeing the pre-race stuff, into the pits, garages, but mostly just cars whizzing past for the race. Unlike any baseball/football etc sport, there were no vendors selling food or beverages in the grandstand, other than 1 time on Saturday I saw a beer guy. We also had Bob Varsha and some other announcer doing the PA at the race, so that was great. Up on the big screens the timing was wrong part of the time, it wasn't updating as much as it should have for some reason.
Of all the things missing from this race, I think overtaking/passing zones were missing the most. Made for really boring laps.
Just a dumpster fire. Hard to believe that this is the same game I used to love to watch. Sad.....
The last two races the DRS zones have been shortened, which has cut down on the number of overtakes, as just when the following car is about ready to make the move, it’s time to brake. Another 100 metres of DRS would have seen the maneuver finalised.
If F1 cut short the DRS zones thinking it might make the action ‘tighter’ and slow down the RBs, they totally cocked it up since the RBs are fast enough without the damn DRS engaged to storm past everybody else.
We were sitting right at the start line, so I'll just say that the pre-race introductions were just as bad live as it must have been on TV. The expensive food list was in one of the fancy suites I guess, the regular concession food for us normal people was not like that at all. Beer was like 8 and 9 dollars, so way less than I've seen at Madison Square Garden! Parking was included with the grandstand ticket and that part of the weekend worked very well. pre-race show finally ended so we can watch the race! Formation lap grid
If F1 cut short the DRS zones thinking it might make the action ‘tighter’ and slow down the RBs, they totally cocked it up since the RBs are fast enough without the damn DRS engaged to storm past everybody else.
I'm not sure that F1 and thinking belong in the same sentence. They are adding boring races on contrived circuits. I understand that it's a business and they're undoubtedly making more money, but the value of each race diminishes with the increased number of races. Add to that the dominance of the Red Bull, and I've stopped watching.
I realize that many will cite the Mercedes strength during the hybrid era, but in many seasons, others (Ferrari) were competitive and often better.
I used to watch NASCAR. I'm losing interest in F1 for the same reasons. All we need now is a post race brawl or someone throwing a helmet at a car after a wreck and I'm out.
The problem is the F1 seems to go "full American stereotype" at all the US races and forgets that the core audience is not attracted like that.
A happy medium is probably the best for the US races. Having LL Cool J introduce each driver, through a veil of fog and pounding music, and cheerleaders is "full American".
Austin leans into being US in a nice way. Miami is just tacky and I fear Las Vegas will be the same.
This is similar to when companies take a political stance instead of just staying out of it and collecting money from everyone.
Last edited by LuigiVampa; 05-14-2023 at 01:32 PM.
As a sponsor we get full pit/paddock access for 2 events and the contract defaulted to Miami and Monaco.
I really had no intention of going a couple weeks prior. I don’t like Miami (you can judge a city by its airport), the track or the spectacle that the US races have become. So was going to pass and just do Monaco (which is historical, but honestly just a qualifying track, and show-ground for European opulence and to be seen) and try and go to Spa instead of Miami.
Was talked into it and went and it was more or less as expected. If it wasn’t for Alpine’s fabulous hospitality and total access it would have been pretty miserable.
I did enjoy the Cup races- especially the action post re-start in the second race.
I just came back from Spain and watched the Miami pre-race on the DVR.... no words to describe the horror I saw. My daughter was appalled at security putting their hands on Sir Jackie Stewart and questioned why he didn't have an all access pass to the super VIP area!! When the driver introductions were taking place, my wife and daughter told me to turn it off and said they were embarrassed for the US to have shown the world such garbage.... I refused and told them they have to watch it all before getting to the race so that they can see how bad it was and we never make that mistake again. Alas, like many of you, I absolutely fear what what will take place in Vegas later this year. The vision of an Elvis impersonator doing the post race podium interviews is something I have nightmares about...
The problem is the F1 seems to go "full American stereotype" at all the US races and forgets that the core audience is not attracted like that.
A happy medium is probably the best for the US races. Having LL Cool J introduce each driver, through a veil of fog and pounding music, and cheerleaders is "full American".
Austin leans into being US in a nice way. Miami is just tacky and I fear Las Vegas will be the same.
This is similar to when companies take a political stance instead of just staying out of it and collecting money from everyone.
Agree 100%.
And yes, Las Vegas will also be a tacky **** show. Just like the city that hosts the race.
I used to watch NASCAR. I'm losing interest in F1 for the same reasons. All we need now is a post race brawl or someone throwing a helmet at a car after a wreck and I'm out.
My money's on Verstappen and Russell the first time Russell squeezes Max; makes it stick and beats him across the line for the win. Not this year, but soon IF MB gets their **** together.
Last edited by thebishman; 05-14-2023 at 05:47 PM.
We were next door to Ritter at AMG-Petronas MB Friday and Saturday, guests of UBS as my son is a client. That hospitality was also awesome and I've never had food or service like that. It was pretty obvious soon that the vast majority of people were "netflix" F1 fans or worse. We luckily got invited to the garage during FP2, sitting right behind Lewis' car. A team guy was talking to us as we were listening to team comms on the headsets and it was obvious the others (there were 8 of us) had NO idea what he was talking about. He held up a "Gurney flap" and asked if anyone knew what it was. I sheepishly answered and he was flabbergasted as he said no one had ever answered that correctly before! And my son asked him something about how Lewis likes the front of his car, as the team was changing the rear torsion bars.... later we found out some of the team guys were asking about us, so we got invited to the team village Saturday after qualy to meet George! Guess it helps to be a real F1 fan!
On Saturday Bobby Rahal was in the suite and doubt anyone knew who he was- we chatted for a couple minutes as my son had raced against Graham MANY years ago in a shifter kart race when Bobby was team Principal of Jag and had an off weekend...
Thankfully we weren't there on Sunday and had to miss Tom Cruise and the others. Watched the pre-race back home and was embarrassed by the Vin Diesel crap etc. Also couldn't believe the security guy going after sir Jackie!!!!!
Yes Las Vegas will probably be more of the same- we have a pretty good group of car/F1 guys in Scottsdale and we have NO desire to go to Vegas for the race...
Yup, gotta wonder how this experiment is going to ultimately turn out.
World class professional racing is a combination of legitimate tracks, excellent drivers and engineers, sensible sanctioning and officiating. Add all that up, and you'll end up watching WEC, LeMans and F1 at one of the worlds great tracks - none of which will ever appeal to the average new Drive to Survive fan. It's just too hard, too much concentration required, too much walking, not enough accidents/action/snacks. An event that tactically unfolds over 3 days is, well, far beyond the attention span of F1's new target audience.
Just an opinion, but yeah Miami F1 was painful to watch. I had a chuckle in practice when Brundle said he was 'impressed' with the fan attendance, just as the camera panned to near empty stands.
05-11-2023, 12:31 PM
