Anyone Else Follow Formula 1 Racing?

[HutchFan]

I sorta dabbled in following Formula 1 racing for years.  As a young person, I have vivid memories of hearing Jackie Stewart's -- and Jim McKay's -- voices on race days.  (I was just a little kid when Stewart retired, so I never saw him race in real-time.)  Plus, I've always dug racing movies and documentaries.  And a couple of my buddies are long-time F1 fans, so I'd listen in on their conversations and follow the sport a bit.

But -- like lots of other folks -- the Drive to Survive series on Netflix has cemented my involvement in the sport.

After watching Drive to Survive, my wife enjoys F1 too, so we usually watch the qualifying and races together.  Good fun.  We recently celebrated a wedding anniversary, and she got me a Pirelli podium cap.   

 

So... anyone else out there enjoy F1?  If so... 

- Do you think LeClerc can overtake Verstappen and win the championship?

- Will Mercedes be able to climb back into contention and compete with Red Bull and Ferrari in the second half of the season?  

- Which drivers or teams do you pull for?

 

Or bring up whatever else tickles your fancy F1-wise.  

 

Edited July 18, 2022 by HutchFan

[JSngry]

8 minutes ago, HutchFan said:

(I was just a little kid when Stewart retired, so I never saw him race in real-time.) 

did you ever see the PSA he did about not driving and drinking?

[HutchFan]

1 minute ago, JSngry said:

did you ever see the PSA he did about not driving and drinking?

Don't recall that. 

Should I look for it on YouTube?

 

[JSngry]

if you have the time, and if it's there...I've already spent too much time unsuccessfully looking for the George Fenneman driving the water car commercial already.

You Tube is full of holes in the historical record!

[HutchFan]

Jim,

Couldn't find a PSA, but I found a Heineken commercial that Stewart did about not drinking and driving. 

 

Question:  Is there anyone cooler than Jackie Stewart?

Answer:  NO.

 

[JSngry]

maybe it wasn't Stewart...but it was some guy driving through cones "before and after" and he had a thick accent talking about "don't dive donk".

[danasgoodstuff]

I followed F1 and long-distance racing when I was young, had a subscription to Motor Sport since they had the best coverage IMHO.

Niki Lauda, the face of courage, won two more world championships after having been given the last rites.

[Teasing the Korean]

I was a big fan of Rat Fink.  Any overlap in aesthetics?

[T.D.]

When I was a kid, the 1966 film Grand Prix w. James Garner was huge.

I was heavily into F1 in the late '90s and very early oughts, used to drive up to the Montreal GP every year. Enjoyed the races, and Montreal is a nice place to visit.

The bewildering annual technical rule changes gradually turned me off. Plus, there aren't many competitive teams; the same few win all the races every year.

Not to bring politics into it (mods delete if desired), but a couple more turn-offs for me:

1) Bernie Ecclestone and Max Mosley, who ran F1 like a fiefdom when I was heavily interested, turned out to be seriously sleazy characters.

2) As far as I can tell, F1 is the world headquarters of "sportswashing". Just run through all the exotic and far-away race venues.

[HutchFan]

1 hour ago, danasgoodstuff said:

Niki Lauda, the face of courage, won two more world championships after having been given the last rites.

Lauda is one of the greats, for sure.  Coincidentally, I watched a documentary about him last week.  A fascinating guy and tough as nails.  The fact that he returned to racing so soon after such a horrific accident, burning his head and hands horribly...  That ain't normal.  

dana, I assume you've seen the film Rush -- with the actor Daniel Brühl portraying Lauda and Chris Hemsworth as James Hunt.  It's all about the 1976 F1 season when they were competing for a championship and Lauda had his terrible crash.  The filmmakers took some liberties with it (of course), but it's still well worth watching.  

 

[Teasing the Korean]

I am now just learning that Formula 1 is essentially Grand Prix, or more accurately, that participating Formula 1 countries hold their own Grand Prixs.  Is this accurate?  

Grand Prix - or Formula 1 - seemed very international and jet set to me when I was a kid.  This was when I had Aurora Model Motoring tracks and cars.  Did anyone have these?  Collectively, all this made me think of suave, nattily dressed Europeans drinking wine or champaign while watching the races.

Formula 1 seems like the opposite of Nascar, certainly in terms of the demographic that the latter attracts.  (I don't want to teeter into political discussion.)

Edited July 18, 2022 by Teasing the Korean

[HutchFan]

4 minutes ago, T.D. said:

Not to bring politics into it (mods delete if desired), but a couple more turn-offs for me:

1) Bernie Ecclestone and Max Mosley, who ran F1 like a fiefdom when I was heavily interested, turned out to be seriously sleazy characters.

Yeah, I've heard as much.  I'm glad they're no longer running F1.

In an odd coincidence, F1 is now owned by Liberty Media, the same company that owns my local baseball team, the Atlanta Braves.  I assume it was Liberty who introduced Drive to Survive.   

Re: your other point: A limited number of teams competing at the top is very much part the sport.  I can definitely see why that might bother some folks.  I think some of the changes that they've implemented this year have improved things -- like the spending cap -- if only slightly.   

 

11 minutes ago, T.D. said:

When I was a kid, the 1966 film Grand Prix w. James Garner was huge.

I love that movie too, watch it every few years. 

 

[T.D.]

1 minute ago, Teasing the Korean said:

I am now just learning that Formula 1 is essentially Grand Prix, or more accurately, that participating Formula 1 countries hold their own Grand Prixs.  Is this accurate?  

...

Formula 1 seems like the opposite of Nascar, certainly in terms of the demographic that the latter attracts.  (I don't want to teeter into political discussion.)

1. I believe so.

2. Some motorsport enthusiasts follow both F1 and Nascar. I never followed Nascar, so can't directly compare the demographics. I get the feeling the F1 fan base is rather more cosmopolitan, for want of a better word.

[gvopedz]

George Harrison was a fan of Formula 1.  He wrote the song "Faster" - check out the video of the song - you might recognize some of the Formula 1 race drivers in the video:

 

[HutchFan]

31 minutes ago, Teasing the Korean said:

I am now just learning that Formula 1 is essentially Grand Prix, or more accurately, that participating Formula 1 countries hold their own Grand Prixs.  Is this accurate?  

Grand Prix - or Formula 1 - seemed very international and jet set to me when I was a kid.  This was when I had Aurora Model Motoring tracks and cars.  Did anyone have these?  Collectively, all this made me think of suave, nattily dressed Europeans drinking wine or champaign while watching the races.

Formula 1 seems like the opposite of Nascar, certainly in terms of the demographic that the latter attracts.  (I don't want to teeter into political discussion.)

Formula 1 is a racing series with a set of rules to which all teams and drivers must conform.  All of the races are referred to as "Grand Prixs"; however, there are also other racing series that use that same term.

Yes, the image of F1 has always been very European and jet-set-y.  There are only 20 drivers on 10 teams in all of F1 -- and it's ridiculously expensive to field a team -- and that adds to the aura of exclusivity.  The rise of Lewis Hamilton has changed F1's image somewhat, however.  (I think Hamilton's impact has been comparable to Tiger Woods' on golf.)  They're less likely to play up the champagne and caviar angle now, I think -- but it's still very much part of the sport.  There are still plenty of movie stars in the paddock. 

Also, you're right about F1 being different from NASCAR, although there have been some racers who've done both.  The cars are very different, but probably the most meaningful distinction is that NASCAR drivers are largely from the U.S., and F1 drivers are mostly European.  (Only two racers from the U.S. have ever won the F1 Championship, and one of them -- Mario Andretti -- was born in Italy and became a U.S. citizen.)  Despite their differences, I have a sneaking suspicion that good F1 drivers would make good NASCAR drivers and vice-versa.  They're all lunatics for speed.

The demographics (and, by extension, the politics) of the F1 and NASCAR audiences are indeed very different.  Then again, people are people wherever you go.  . . . I think I'll leave it at that.

 

Edited July 18, 2022 by HutchFan

[HutchFan]

1 hour ago, Teasing the Korean said:

I was a big fan of Rat Fink.  Any overlap in aesthetics?

TtK, I just had to Google Rat Fink to know what you were talking about.

No, I don't think there's much overlap there.   

 

[Teasing the Korean]

46 minutes ago, HutchFan said:

Formula 1 is a racing series with a set of rules to which all teams and drivers must conform.  All of the races are referred to as "Grand Prixs"; however, there are also other racing series that use that same term.

Yes, the image of F1 has always been very European and jet-set-y.  There are only 20 drivers on 10 teams in all of F1 -- and it's ridiculously expensive to field a team -- and that adds to the aura of exclusivity.  The rise of Lewis Hamilton has changed F1's image somewhat, however.  (I think Hamilton's impact has been comparable to Tiger Woods' on golf.)  They're less likely to play up the champagne and caviar angle now, I think -- but it's still very much part of the sport.  There are still plenty of movie stars in the paddock. 

Also, you're right about F1 being different from NASCAR, although there have been some racers who've done both.  The cars are very different, but probably the most meaningful distinction is that NASCAR drivers are largely from the U.S., and F1 drivers are mostly European.  (Only two racers from the U.S. have ever won the F1 Championship, and one of them -- Mario Andretti -- was born in Italy and became a U.S. citizen.)  Despite their differences, I have a sneaking suspicion that good F1 drivers would make good NASCAR drivers and vice-versa.  They're all lunatics for speed.

The demographics (and, by extension, the politics) of the F1 and NASCAR audiences are indeed very different.  Then again, people are people wherever you go.  . . . I think I'll leave it at that.

Thank you for the detail.  You have confirmed my overall impressions.  Now, did you have Aurora Model Motoring when you were a kid, or was it before your time?

[HutchFan]

27 minutes ago, Teasing the Korean said:

Thank you for the detail.  You have confirmed my overall impressions.  Now, did you have Aurora Model Motoring when you were a kid, or was it before your time?

I never had one of those sets, but I always thought they were cool.  As kids, we referred to them as "slot car racers."  (I assume that's the same as what you're talking about.)

OTOH, I had plenty of Hot Wheels and Matchbox cars.  

 

Edited July 18, 2022 by HutchFan

[danasgoodstuff]

4 hours ago, HutchFan said:

Lauda is one of the greats, for sure.  Coincidentally, I watched a documentary about him last week.  A fascinating guy and tough as nails.  The fact that he returned to racing so soon after such a horrific accident, burning his head and hands horribly...  That ain't normal.  

dana, I assume you've seen the film Rush -- with the actor Daniel Brühl portraying Lauda and Chris Hemsworth as James Hunt.  It's all about the 1976 F1 season when they were competing for a championship and Lauda had his terrible crash.  The filmmakers took some liberties with it (of course), but it's still well worth watching.  

 

Despite my admiration for Lauda, I avoided seeing Rush since I have a bit of a thing about fires since my brother died in one.  And I already knew the story and rarely go to films..

[BFrank]

I don't follow Formula 1, but does anyone here follow SailGP? It's the "Formula 1" of sailing. Extremely high tech sail boats 'foil' above the water allowing them to go MUCH faster than any existing sailing technology. Very addicting

It's a Grand Prix concept with races staged all over the world and points are awarded depending on where they finish.

Check out their website or watch the races which are archived on YouTube

[danasgoodstuff]

Unnamed model with Chris Ammon's Ferrari, if this is what happens when you don't win any races what in the world happens when you do?  Ammons drove for Ferrari in a particularly chaotic era for them and while he led races and set lap records, he rarely finished.  Won long-distance for them and the Tasman series too.

[SwingItTrev]

Jazz music and Formula 1 racing. Clearly I’ve found my people. If anyone here is also a graphic designer we might have be become best friends.

[Teasing the Korean]

13 hours ago, HutchFan said:

I never had one of those sets, but I always thought they were cool.  As kids, we referred to them as "slot car racers."  (I assume that's the same as what you're talking about.)

I think the phrase "slot cars" was originally applied to the larger-scale cars that you would take to race in public locations that had a track set up.  Do you remember those?  My older brother had a car made by Cox, and I remember as a very little kid going with him to the track that was in our town.  This would have been late 1960s.

But yeah, "slot cars" began to be applied to both Aurora and later Tyco HO-scale race cars.  I wish I still had my Aurora set, but you can't keep everything.

Since this is a music site, two Formula-1 soundtrack albums I have are Michel Legrand's Le Mans and Maurice Jarre's Grand Prix.

 

 

Edited July 19, 2022 by Teasing the Korean

[Teasing the Korean]

Most of the upcoming Forumula-1 races are too early in my timezone to drink Champagne.  I will have to wait for the Brazilian and Japanese races.

[HutchFan]

3 hours ago, Teasing the Korean said:

I think the phrase "slot cars" was originally applied to the larger-scale cars that you would take to race in public locations that had a track set up.  Do you remember those?  My older brother had a car made by Cox, and I remember as a very little kid going with him to the track that was in our town.  This would have been late 1960s.

But yeah, "slot cars" began to be applied to both Aurora and later Tyco HO-scale race cars.  I wish I still had my Aurora set, but you can't keep everything.

I know what you're talking about -- with the public tracks -- but my only childhood recollections are of the sets that you set up in your house.  Given my age (b. '68), they likely would've been HO-scale cars.

 

Edited July 19, 2022 by HutchFan