[Official] United States Grand Prix 2021: Grand Prix Weekend Thread - Round 17 of 22

[bjohnsonsmith]

Hamilton pits and the crowd roars as Max takes the lead.

[crmalcolm]

And now Lewis in - comes out halfway between the two Red Bulls. ~6s in each direction.

[broadrun96]

Alpine needs to shut their mouths, Alonso is a POS and passing off track and slammed Kimi wide. There is NO chance Alonso could make that corner passing Gio.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Lewis pits again.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Blimey.

Congrats to Max.

[broadrun96]

Decent GP for 2, the rest were miles back. But they did get to fight fairly and think traffic actually helped Max with DRS on the front stretch and no DRS for Lewis

[dcp2685]

Wow what a race. Tense throughout the entire race.

[Beau2]

Brilliant stuff by Lewis and Max who showed exactly why they are class of the field. Excellent stuff by Verstappen who had saved enough in his tyres to keep Hamilton just about at arm's length.

Horner made his most sensible comment of the season when he said that didn't think Max could hold on. Masterful stuff.

[chillibowl]

Originally Posted by broadrun96

...I think it's the cameras, nothing like making a track look slow filming from poor angles and pretending it's cool, and the focus on everything around the track...

They must have improved the placement because i thought they did capture the speed well particularly through turns 7-9 no?

Side note, Shaq really just stood there during the podium. Looked like he wanted to stay for the champagne!

[ascarracinguk]

tense race but i enjoyed that. 2 drivers at the absolute top of their game. Think Red Bull had the edge, but it was damn close. just look how far back everyone else was in comparison.

2 outstanding drivers.

[GT6]

A good race but not sure about having more races in the usa, the coverage seemed rather to keen on showing celebs with nothing to do with motor sport getting their freebie day out. They were talking about the possibility of 3 races held in the USA in future, please can we limit it to COTA only, a good circuit and if we have to have a race in the USA let us have something that is not a circus.

[ascarracinguk]

Originally Posted by GT6

A good race but not sure about having more races in the usa, the coverage seemed rather to keen on showing celebs with nothing to do with motor sport getting their freebie day out. They were talking about the possibility of 3 races held in the USA in future, please can we limit it to COTA only, a good circuit and if we have to have a race in the USA let us have something that is not a circus.

I agree, i think 3 races is too much. 2 seems sensible if they can draw the crowds. same for the middle east really, 4 seems too much, especially since they cant draw the crowds

[chillibowl]

Are athletes just 'celebrities' though?

in this case a few of them have clear connections to Miami. Shaq and Chris Bosh having won titles with the Miami Heat and Serena holding a minority ownership stake in the Miami Dolphins.

Seeing Rory McIlroy there was fun as he just seemed to be a fan in attendance but maybe he has a larger tie in with AM?

George Lucas is a big big fan and F1 has a nice history with star wars themed tie ins.

With the exception of that one singer i dont know, they were all athletes and actors whom i have enjoyed tremendously so it was fun for me to see them on the grid/pits and a sign of life going back to pre pandemic.

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by GT6

A good race but not sure about having more races in the usa, the coverage seemed rather to keen on showing celebs with nothing to do with motor sport getting their freebie day out. They were talking about the possibility of 3 races held in the USA in future, please can we limit it to COTA only, a good circuit and if we have to have a race in the USA let us have something that is not a circus.

F1 is one big circus though.

Many would claim that Monaco is a great place for F1 to race (including a lot of posters here). But why?

An article on the F1 site includes reasons such as:
'And it’s all set against some backdrop, with the Principality stretching up above the circuit and a harbour that is filled with luxury yachts. It’s fantasy stuff that feels like it would never be approved now, which just makes it all the more special.'
'As a race that features numerous high-end events around it, the Monaco Grand Prix is the place to be seen for A-listers. The grid is always packed with elite athletes, film stars, artists, models, designers and so many more, all keen to be part of one of the most glamorous weekends on the sporting calendar.'

If fantasy lifestyle surrounding the event and a grid full of A-listers is good for Monaco, then why not USA?

[Lancsbreaker]

Just watched the recorded highlights from Ch4, after a weekend away at Silverstone to support the Birkett and the CSCC season closer, I couldn't keep my eyes open long enough to watch it last night. Normally I think its illegal to go to bed the same day I got up, but it was nearly the case yesterday



Anyway, a tense battle for the top places, and obviously the debate on strategy can go either way - maybe if Lewis had pitted first he's have kept the edge he got so well from the start, but it was a good battle to watch. Amazing really how far ahead Max and Lewis were from the rest of the field. Bottas at 80 seconds back just didn't perform......



Good battles throughout the field, nearly got a bit silly at times with Alonso and the Alfas, but all good in the end.

[GT6]

Originally Posted by crmalcolm

If fantasy lifestyle surrounding the event and a grid full of A-listers is good for Monaco, then why not USA?

Good point lets scrap monaco and have another race in the USA full of celebs wandering around pretending to be interested in F1, Monaco is there for it's history i think everyone would admit the racing itself is not up to much.

If you want to see celebrates watch the oscars.

It is important that F1 has different types of races and appears across the world. Historic race tracks are important, as is making F1 appeal across the world, one race in the USA is good but having more will obviously mean less races elsewhere and that will no be good, let America have Nascar and its own racing series rather than try and force F1 down their throat.

[chillibowl]

With respect if you dont like celebs or even if these types of sporting celebs are not your thing fair enough...but you cant mention history without acknowledging that the grid walk has long been about brundle glad handing bernie and his special people.

Frankly there is little other reason to watch the grid walk.

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by GT6

Good point lets scrap monaco and have another race in the USA full of celebs wandering around pretending to be interested in F1, Monaco is there for it's history i think everyone would admit the racing itself is not up to much.

IMO, celebrities are an increasingly important part of F1's history and heritage:

‘Dear Cyril,
‘Please be reminded that where possible, grid access passes should be used for celebrities or people of note or as always, really glamorous ladies.
‘This is not so much a sporting matter but a part of the show business of Formula One.
‘Yours, Bernie.’

Putting aside the objectification part, celebrity culture has been part of F1's DNA for a while now.

[Richard C]

I generally find the complaints about the quantity of celebrities that were shown at the GP at COTA this past weekend confusing.

First, as outlined above. This has been common practice for a long time. Second, I believe that outside of a few examples (Monaco, Japanese and maybe British GP), FOM's own TV production group controls direction and who is shown on camera. The point being, they show who they want to show! I do find it odd for middle of the race cuts to show someone like George Lucas. I think it's fine in pre-race, of it someone just happens to be in the background as a guest in the garage. But in general, this type of thing has been going on for many many years and this past weekend was nothing new.

While poking at what the F1 director choses to show during the broadcasts, I find other things very common. So common they are predictable/laughable.

1. Shot of stone faced Toto deep in the Mercedes garage. Sometime they do the shot even when someone is standing between Toto and the camera even just in hopes of seeing Toto.
2. Variation of the above... Shot of Horner with a grin on this face. Usually during podium ceremony.
3. Someone on the pitlane wall has two common shots...
3(a). Zoom in on a finger resting on the controls (controls of showing on-board cameras??).
3(b). Zoom in on a nervous "toe tapping" or "jumping foot" (they love this one)
4. Zoom in on mechanics holding tire warmers on front tires while cars are in the garage. (Its not a shot of the car in garage, but a zoom in on the tire warmers)
5. Mechanics just sitting in chairs watching the race on TV

I think there might be a few others that come up all the time.

As to other things at the COTA race. At first, I thought the crazy Texas "art car" that was eventually parked at the podium was cheesy at first, but you know what. It was something different. And probably "very Austin". Clearly the Red Bull guys were enjoying hamming it up in the car during the podium ceremony. Shaq on the podium was funny. First, he was nearly at tall as Max with Max standing on the top podium. Also, it was funny he was behind the top three vs. standing to the side. I was disappointed he didn't hang out to get soaked by Champagne.

If anyone was at the race, I am curious if they had a rule regarding no incendiary devices (I assume yes, and I also wonder how hard it would have been to buy an orange smoke bomb in the Austin area!) There wasn't much in the way of orange smoke bombs for Max (I think I saw two). I was waiting for a security guard to perform a flying tackle on anyone with a smoke bomb.

As to more races in US. I tend to think that three would be too much, but lets see how it goes when we move from one to two (addition of Miami next year). But frankly the US has a lot going on for it with respect to multiple races. It has a long standing motorsports culture, is large in both geography and population and it would be idiotic to not consider more races here if the attendance holds up. It looks like attendance at COTA was huge this past weekend. I am going to the COTA race next year and maybe Miami as well. I can imagine those of you in Europe (or even farther east) may not care to stay up late to watch more races in North, Central or South America. But welcome to my world of getting up early to watch F1.

Richard

[broadrun96]

Originally Posted by Richard Casto

I can imagine those of you in Europe (or even farther east) may not care to stay up late to watch more races in North, Central or South America. But welcome to my world of getting up early to watch F1.

Richard

I personally love the early race and then I have Sunday ahead of me, the race was odd and after the market and a short nap

[Adam43]

Originally Posted by broadrun96

I personally love the early race and then I have Sunday ahead of me, the race was odd and after the market and a short nap

Me too. Doesn't ruin your entire day. The early ones I tend to watch, the later ones struggle to find time.

As for the celebs. Whatever. They aren't a problem per se. I am against them showing anything other than the cars for the actual race. Especially the crowd, but also the pitwall and the mechanics (apart from when doing something for the race - not just cheering). Doubly so when they cut away from a move that isn't even over to show them.

[Adam43]

Although I have just seen a clip of the grid walk with Brundle. Very funny!

[wnut]

Originally Posted by GT6

A good race but not sure about having more races in the usa, the coverage seemed rather to keen on showing celebs with nothing to do with motor sport getting their freebie day out. They were talking about the possibility of 3 races held in the USA in future, please can we limit it to COTA only, a good circuit and if we have to have a race in the USA let us have something that is not a circus.

F1 has always been celebrity laden.

Here is the 1968 British GP - Prince Charles on the grid and Lord Louie presenting the trophy on the podium.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwlZGg6-s_o

Lesson - Everyone whose imagination you can capture with motor racing, the more likely it is to survive. Celebrities attract the masses and other celebrities and power brokers.

[Richard C]

Originally Posted by broadrun96

I personally love the early race and then I have Sunday ahead of me, the race was odd and after the market and a short nap

To be honest, me too. Many decades ago, and before it was easier to time shift (I was not going record via VHS and watch later), I would just get up and watch live, no matterhow early. Now I DVR everything. I may watch it live, or slightly delayed. Either way, it's a morning activity that gives me the rest of my day to do something else.

This was the sound that would really wake me up on Sunday morning.

https://youtu.be/qgiBkydMW8k

Richard

[Adam43]

Love that jingle