F1, WRC, motorsport 2021 - making it up as we go along

[jason voorhees]

I think it can very well follow the Premiership (so wish NBC Sports was back in its heyday.)

You have Austin and Miami, you have Hollywood and rap stars hanging with Hamilton, it's during prime Sunday morning beer time before NFL...and it's SO much better on tv than Nascar. The technology of helmet cams and in-car cameras and wheel cams with the twists and turns of the track make it so much better viewing.

Or much like the US is a World Cup nation now, they may just be a Drive To Survive/Austin Grand Prix nation now. Chase Carey's mustache wax would be flinging off the ceiling as everything anti-Becclestone they planned came up roses.

[Third rate Leszno]

Yes, before Andrea Moda it was Coloni which was indeed “neat” and “little” and made races. I remember Osella and Zakspeed as whipping boys in the 80s, along with Minardi until they stopped trying to use Motori-Moderni engines and got some off Ferrari. But there were always wheeled bedframes trundling round through the 70s-90s and many were dangerous as well as slow.

As someone who tends to favour the underdog I loved Minardi in the late 80s - early 90s, when Pierluigi Martini occasionally bothered the big teams and got in amongst the top 6.

My other favourite underdog team of that era was Leyton House, in 1988 they got their Adrian Newey designed and naturally aspirated car in front of quite a few of the turbos and in Capelli and Gugelmin they had two of the most likeable drivers out there.

[Sits]

As someone who tends to favour the underdog I loved Minardi in the late 80s - early 90s, when Pierluigi Martini occasionally bothered the big teams and got in amongst the top 6.

My other favourite underdog team of that era was Leyton House, in 1988 they got their Adrian Newey designed and naturally aspirated car in front of quite a few of the turbos and in Capelli and Gugelmin they had two of the most likeable drivers out there.

All of that. And Alessandro Nannini started out at Minardi too.

[blameless]

In later years, so did Mark Webber.

[ursus arctos]

Mercedes will not make any further appeal against the dramatic events in Abu Dhabi which saw Max Verstappen crowned world champion over Lewis Hamilton.

The team, which had already made two unsuccessful protests against the decision which led to Hamilton’s defeat in a last-lap shootout on Sunday, had until Thursday evening to make a final appeal. However, in a statement, Mercedes said that conversations with Hamilton, combined with Wednesday’s announcement by the FIA that it would investigate what happened in Abu Dhabi, meant they would withdraw from taking any further action.

[Incandenza]

F1 faces challenges getting a foothold in the US as there are already two race series that are solely in the US and typically won by Americans, while F1 has been a barren wasteland for American drivers for over 40 years. It is a very chicken and egg situation which I can't see how they get past in the way the Premier League did (carpet bombing coverage as a viewing alternative to paid programming).

F1 has gotten more media attention recently than Indycar has. People know the Indy 500, and I think that's about it. As JV said, it's prime early Sunday morning television time. I've seen a few US sports Twitter people make this exact point--they watched the Netflix show, and saw that the races were on when there really wasn't any other sports on except for the Premier League. Some have it on in the background, but some are now avid fans.

[Incandenza]

https://twitter.com/harrymouat/status/1471513560370929674

[diggedy derek]

Just reflecting back on a recent dip into F1 after 30 odd years, I find some of the ways they communicate what's happening with the race an enormous advance on how it was in the 1990s. When Schumacher crashed* into Hill to stop him winning the championship, it was just that, there was nothing that was going to be done. The frustration was enormous, like if a Tour De France rider was on EPO but they were shrugging their shoulders and saying nothing could be done. Now, if there's an incident between cars on a corner, it often gets noted within seconds and then ruled on within on within minutes. I feel like it's much clearer and less like the Wild West now.

[Sporting]

Just reflecting back on a recent dip into F1 after 30 odd years, I find some of the ways they communicate what's happening with the race an enormous advance on how it was in the 1990s. When Schumacher crashed* into Hill to stop him winning the championship, it was just that, there was nothing that was going to be done. The frustration was enormous, like if a Tour De France rider was on EPO but they were shrugging their shoulders and saying nothing could be done. Now, if there's an incident between cars on a corner, it often gets noted within seconds and then ruled on within on within minutes. I feel like it's much clearer and less like the Wild West now.

Yes, but if it were football the anti-VAR brigade would be fuming.

[diggedy derek]

Yep, fair point. I suppose the difference being is that there's no way F1 could be referred on the spot, in real time.

[ursus arctos]

Rather bonkers story in l'Equipe today, as Jean Alessi is in police custody, being thought to be the leader of a small group that bombed his brother-in-law's architecture office. The victim is getting a divorce from Alessi's sister and Alessi is said to have admitted that the bombing was a "bad joke gone wrong".

[Kevin S]

That's rather trumped the news that Loeb will return to the WRC with M-Sport next year, which I thought was pretty big and good news.

[ursus arctos]

What was originally thought to be a mechanical explosion that has cost one of the "Paris-Dakar" (now held in Saudi Arabia) officials his legs is now being investigated as a possible terrorist assassination.

[Kevin S]

I know we need a new thread but, this tweet....

https://twitter.com/formationIap/status/1478690039890599939?t=zuyWPTn6NMEpsmA9vyG-wQ&s=19

[Incandenza]

Hahahahahaha!

Are we going to keep this thread going?