Vegas F1..

[ZRX61]

As expected, cascading clusterfuck... Ticket prices have plummeted (almost 90% in some cases), they'll probably be giving them away this time tomorrow.

[Nordboy]

Clusterfuck is exactly the word I'd use to describe it. The entertainment part of F1 has tried to overtake the sporting part. And, based on what I've seen so far, failed dismally.

They very much need a good qualifying and race.

[MrLongbeard]

They very much need a good qualifying and race.

Unlikely though

[KungFooBob]

I saw the thing about the manhole covers fucking the cars up.

[mangocrazy]

They spent billions on the glitz and glamour (including the quite ridiculous Sphere which is not 'a Sphere' or 'the Sphere' but just 'Sphere') and failed on the absolute basic requirement of providing a safe race track for the competitors. I mean who could have foreseen that cars that are basically massive underfloor suction devices wouldn't be likely to dislodge manhole covers?

There are a catalogue of other stupid decisions made that were only taken with an eye to the spectacle and not the racing, but that seems par for the course with Liberty Media. For once I'm in complete agreement with Max Verstappen - he hates it all and has said so very clearly. All he wants to do is race.

[ZRX61]

https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2023/11/15/busi ... index.html

[ZRX61]

I saw the thing about the manhole covers fucking the cars up.

Some poor fucker tried to fill the airtime by interviewing the managers from Mercedes, Ferrari, Mclaren & Williams. Ferrari Fred looked & sounded like he was about to start a fist fight.
Then they gave Sainz a 10 spot grid penalty for changing the damaged parts on the Ferrari...

[Count Steer]

As expected, cascading clusterfuck... Ticket prices have plummeted (almost 90% in some cases), they'll probably be giving them away this time tomorrow.

They can plummet quite a lot from $17,500 (for a ticket that includes some sort of pit pass and food) before they're a reasonable price to watch a procession in a race that doesn't matter much. No wonder the Merkins didn't take to it...even though they go round in circles, it's a better day out.

I think F1 ate itself. I can't think who cares much any more. They race in sandy places with empty stands, show it on stations that you have to pay for, organise it by arcane rules on technology and budgets but constantly fall back on the history to a time when it sort of mattered a bit more. Meh. I'd rather watch banger racing.

[Rockburner]

They spent billions on the glitz and glamour (including the quite ridiculous Sphere which is not 'a Sphere' or 'the Sphere' but just 'Sphere') and failed on the absolute basic requirement of providing a safe race track for the competitors. I mean who could have foreseen that cars that are basically massive underfloor suction devices wouldn't be likely to dislodge manhole covers?

IIRC this is an issue that's been around since the '50s. I seem to remember a story in Duncan Hamilton's biog about the cars lifting manhole covers in (iirc) Morocco or somewhere similarly exotic, during practise, and him berating the officials and refusing to race unless they were all welded down.

Having said that: James Vowles made the point that no-one really knows just how powerful the vacuum is on these newer cars under the diffusers and it's quite possible that the covers were fixed down, just not strongly enough.

[Cousin Jack]

As I understand it the cover was ok, the car sucked the cover AND frame up. It was the road that held the frame down that failed.

[ChrisW]

Having said that: James Vowles made the point that no-one really knows just how powerful the vacuum is on these newer cars under the diffusers and it's quite possible that the covers were fixed down, just not strongly enough.

They were - bolted in, but from the looks of it the cover itself failed.

[ZRX61]

As I understand it the cover was ok, the car sucked the cover AND frame up. It was the road that held the frame down that failed.

Yup, the cover was welded to the mount embedded in the road, but it all came up.

[Nordboy]

As expected, cascading clusterfuck... Ticket prices have plummeted (almost 90% in some cases), they'll probably be giving them away this time tomorrow.

I think F1 ate itself. I can't think who cares much any more. They race in sandy places with empty stands, show it on stations that you have to pay for, organise it by arcane rules on technology and budgets but constantly fall back on the history to a time when it sort of mattered a bit more. Meh. I'd rather watch banger racing.

I've been watching F1 for many years. I think at the end of this season I'll be cancelling my Sky sports subscription as I'm pretty fed up with the dumbing down of it all. Liberty want the shares and likes of the social media types and my demographic of fan is very low down on their list. The whole '21 season debacle has accelerated the downhill charge.

It's really not about the racing and the tech any more.

[Cousin Jack]

Used to watch it religiously, but interest has waned. This year ICBA. Everything gets decided by lawyers, not racing. Las Vegas is the final straw.

[ChrisW]

Liberty want the shares and likes of the social media types and my demographic of fan is very low down on their list.

I agree - also think they're falling way wide of the mark for actually satisfying/retaining the new audience they're targeting. It's a real shame.

[Nordboy]

Liberty want the shares and likes of the social media types and my demographic of fan is very low down on their list.

I agree - also think they're falling way wide of the mark for actually satisfying/retaining the new audience they're targeting. It's a real shame.

Yep, the newer fans, they'll get bored much quicker and move onto the 'next thing'. My daughter watched F1 with me last season, this season, not one race.

[Yorick]

Last year we watched the F1 TV series.
After about episode 5 I was absolutely repulsed by what I saw.

I used to watch occasional highlights, but totally ignore the whole thing now.

[Pirahna]

I haven't watched a race since Nigel Mansell left.

[ChrisW]

I haven't watched a race since Nigel Mansell left.

Hopefully for the first time, the comeback was, well...

[KungFooBob]

It's not been the same since the days of...

Nijel Mainsail
Ayrton Sendup
Nelson Pickets
Mickey Louder
Crashhard Banger
Alain Phosphate
T. Hairy Bootson