That last point is very true.

 

Anyway the request has been denied with the stewards citing that although the footage of Albon breaching track limits is clear they will not review it as their is a lack of footage for all drivers. Essentially although it can be demonstrated that Albon probably should receive a penalty they cannot be certain that every other driver didn't do it as well and it would be unfair to only penalise one driver if all were guilty.

 

It sort of makes sense but just goes to highlight that they really should have sorted out the problem with the CCTV footage before the race began and saved everyone the time.

Max Verstappen says this weekend's Las Vegas Grand Prix is "99% show and 1% sporting event".

 

The triple world champion said he is "not looking forward" to the razzmatazz around the race, the first time Formula 1 cars have raced down the city's famous Strip.

@1725049059034255851

 

 

Well that's basically what Monaco is. F1 being in places like Miami and Vegas is a new thing, so you have forgive the 'razzmatazz' surrounding the events. I think F1 drivers and old-school fans are doing too much over it, honestly.

 

Anything that makes the sport more exciting to more people should be a good thing and not frowned upon.

 

 

Although the track layout for Vegas looks ehhhhh, so we'll see how the race itself goes.

 

 

 

 

But Monaco is at least a challenge to drive. It’s very tight and twisty. f*** your like up through the swimming pool by a mil and you can kiss your front suspension goodbye. Miami and Vegas and Jeddah etc etc have absolutely none of that challenge. Especially Vegas.

 

They may as well have made the circuit in the shape of $

People can easily ignore all the non-race stuff and just watch the race. But please NO CROWD SHOTS when there's a battle for position, the TV direction was abysmal in Brazil and don't expect it to be any better this weekend.

The whole thing seems to be an absolute farce, Miami on steroids and that's hideous enough as it is. Everyone I follow on any kind of social media that reports on F1 in some way seems to be there, paid for, showing how amazing the whole thing is, whilst there are stories of half-filled hotels and poor ticket sales because they priced everything way too high. I'm sure I also saw something about the organisers not realising what the temperatures would be when they booked a night Vegas race in November, and it's way colder than cars would normally run in.

 

I'm away this weekend and there couldn't be a better race to miss.

Edited November 16, 20231 yr by RabbitFurCoat

I'm curious but quietly dreading this race. It has all the ingredients for a total disaster both on and off the track.

 

If it makes Liberty enough money they'll continue to view entertainment and the show as more important than the sporting element and we'll start to lose even more of the brilliant, classic circuits than we already have in favour of rubbish, glitzy street circuits in glamourous cities. Monaco works because it's unique and one hell of a challenge to drive. This Vegas track looks dull as anything.

I understand the 'Monaco is a challenge to drive' aspect, but again I'm telling you that nobody tunes in to see a driver challenged by a track with absolutely no position battles. All Monaco consists of is a bunch of pre-race hoopla about the glitz and glamour, leading up to a green flag with whoever won pole, taking the lead and then zzzzzz, to any viewer of the race. I get this occurs at many other tracks and Monaco is far from the only culprit. However, this is an example of clinging to the classics for nostalgia purposes of whatever and not wanting to try different things and not want to improve, update, and expand the sport. It's just a small capsule view of the bigger attitude of some fans.

 

Vegas very well might end up being a disaster, but I applaud F1 trying to making it more of a global sport and not just a European one.

Edited November 16, 20231 yr by DJHazey

...nobody tunes in to see a driver challenged by a track with absolutely no position battles.

 

Vegas very well might end up being a disaster, but I applaud F1 trying to making it more of a global sport and not just a European one.

Nobody you know perhaps.

Just yesterday as I was watching the Brawn documentary series my friend commented that he has spent more time watching onboard footage of Monaco than he has footage of any other race (in car or otherwise).

For a lot of people Monaco on Saturday is the best day of the whole season. You'd be surprised how loved it is by many.

 

That being said nobody wants another Monaco on the calendar - one of that type is perfect. This is the reason I'm not keen on adding more and more desert races or street tracks, especially when the only reason to do so is because of the glamour factor and not because of the sporting element. The Vegas circuit is uninspiring, will likely end up in dull DRS passes and the most likely cause of excitement is going to be how dangerous high speeds, lack of grip and barriers combination will make it.

The worst aspect is that the US has some incredible tracks like Watkins Glen, Elkhart Lake, the IMS and Laguna Seca that could be upgraded to F1 standard comparatively cheaply but Liberty have elected to go for dull options like thus and Miami 'because... celebrities'. And the Americanisation of the spectacle around the race is off putting for a large number of non US fans.

 

Having a third race in the USA is hardly making the sport more of a global one so much as appealing to a demographic that got interested via 2021's title fight (and already appears losing interest in some areas) when with the right effort we could be going to S Africa, Malaysia, India, Argentina or elsewhere. Even the Turkish circuit is in Asia. The fact is though that Europe has over double the population of the USA, is the home of Grand Prix racing (and by extension F1), because of the bases of the teams and in it's 117 years history, as well as where the biggest audience lies. On top of that many of the best circuits in the world are in Europe - Spa, Monza, Silverstone, Imola, Nurburgring, Portimao, Ostereichring, Hungaroring and yes Monaco. The whole of the Americas have only three excellent F1 grade circuits - Gilles Villeneuve, Interlagos and the IMS.

 

Two US races is plenty, three if you must, but don't make your choices for superfluous reasons. No amount of glitz and flashing lights will keep motorsport fans interested if the sporting element sucks.

I say we always have to give a track a chance at least. Everyone thought Baku and Jeddah were gonna be terrible even based solely on their layout but they've both provided some excellent races (and the odd Baku snoozefest granted). To be honest with the way this season has gone if anyone other than Max wins somehow it'll get some very large appreciation in certain corners!

The circuit isn't the sole issue though, the desire for a night race and satisfying the core audience for TV revenue is.

 

Running it in November at 10pm is a risky choce. Temperatures are expected to be below 10 degrees, the track surface is newly laid, covered in dirt from local traffic and the weekend has no support races - all factors that mean a low level of grip and difficulty getting heat into the tyres. The circuit itself favours a low downforce set up which will add to this lack of grip should teams aim for the natural option. The circuit layout suggests speeds in the realm of what you get at Monza, but the Vegas track has barriers like Baku (ant the first corner is a hairpin)

 

Worst case scenario is Turkey 2020 levels of adhesion at speeds typical of Monza and Baku run off areas. All just because money talks and bright lights are pretty.

 

I hope the race goes ok but I also hope it gets pulled or at least a major re-think for the future.

Going well... :lol: :lol:

F1 just got very lucky, that could have been a serious accident.

 

As it is according to Fred Vasseur, the car is the virtually destroyed underneath, with damage to the floor, moncoque, engine and battery. It's effectively destroyed Carlos' weekend already, and Ferrari are tipped as the favourites too.

 

Both Ocon and Zhou also had their cars damaged.

Nobody you know perhaps.

Just yesterday as I was watching the Brawn documentary series my friend commented that he has spent more time watching onboard footage of Monaco than he has footage of any other race (in car or otherwise).

For a lot of people Monaco on Saturday is the best day of the whole season. You'd be surprised how loved it is by many.

 

That being said nobody wants another Monaco on the calendar - one of that type is perfect. This is the reason I'm not keen on adding more and more desert races or street tracks, especially when the only reason to do so is because of the glamour factor and not because of the sporting element. The Vegas circuit is uninspiring, will likely end up in dull DRS passes and the most likely cause of excitement is going to be how dangerous high speeds, lack of grip and barriers combination will make it.

The worst aspect is that the US has some incredible tracks like Watkins Glen, Elkhart Lake, the IMS and Laguna Seca that could be upgraded to F1 standard comparatively cheaply but Liberty have elected to go for dull options like thus and Miami 'because... celebrities'. And the Americanisation of the spectacle around the race is off putting for a large number of non US fans.

 

Having a third race in the USA is hardly making the sport more of a global one so much as appealing to a demographic that got interested via 2021's title fight (and already appears losing interest in some areas) when with the right effort we could be going to S Africa, Malaysia, India, Argentina or elsewhere. Even the Turkish circuit is in Asia. The fact is though that Europe has over double the population of the USA, is the home of Grand Prix racing (and by extension F1), because of the bases of the teams and in it's 117 years history, as well as where the biggest audience lies. On top of that many of the best circuits in the world are in Europe - Spa, Monza, Silverstone, Imola, Nurburgring, Portimao, Ostereichring, Hungaroring and yes Monaco. The whole of the Americas have only three excellent F1 grade circuits - Gilles Villeneuve, Interlagos and the IMS.

 

Two US races is plenty, three if you must, but don't make your choices for superfluous reasons. No amount of glitz and flashing lights will keep motorsport fans interested if the sporting element sucks.

 

This is an incredible post

 

Now they've kicked all the fans out of the stands. Oops if you paid over $900 for a Thursday ticket to see a grand total of 10 minutes of action...

Sainz 10 place grid penalty confirmed.

 

The whole thing turning into more of a shitshow than the farce I thought it would be.

It's entertaining at least.

Edited November 17, 20231 yr by DJHazey

Hmm, the stories of this race being a disaster may have been premature. One of the most entertaining races of the year.