2023 Season

[chunterer]

Originally Posted by veeten

Well, after today's effort, we can say that Vowels has 'no time for Sergeant', and will replace him with Mick Schumacher for the rest of the season.

Just a feeling, that's all...

The rumours about Logan will rumble on til the end of the season. He was someway off of Albon's pace in qualy but still ended up 10th quickest.

I am sure they will compare data between the two from Zandvoort and see whst he does at Monza and maybe take a view on the seat after Singapore.

[Aysedasi]

Bearing in mind that they say that his off in the race was a failure, perhaps he has a while yet....

[broadrun96]

Originally Posted by veeten

Well, after today's effort, we can say that Vowels has 'no time for Sergeant', and will replace him with Mick Schumacher for the rest of the season.

Just a feeling, that's all...

Hmmm, so the team taking his car failure on themselves and NOT on him is what exactly? Feels more like they're taking heat off of him from the couch pundits

[Mike Harte]

I wonder which team or teams this refers to about flexing wings:

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/w...down/10518559/

[Richard C]

Originally Posted by Mike Harte

I wonder which team or teams this refers to about flexing wings:

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/w...down/10518559/

Speculation elsewhere is multiple teams such as AM, Mercedes, RBR and maybe others. Some worse than others. AM seems to be near the top of the list, but not the only offender for sure.

Teams are passing the prescribed static deflection tests, but when looking at video of front wings on the circuit, there is clearly a lot of advantageous "flexing" going on.

Richard

[broadrun96]

Well this could be fun for the Vegas GP now, they have just under 2 months to settle and last one took 9 months

Culinary Union on strike in Vegas with the 3 big casino groups, all along the GP track. About 50k worth of food service, wait staff, housekeeping and bar tenders at Caesars, MGM, and Wynn (Bellagio, Waldorf Astoria and Mirage among others).

[Mike Harte]

Don't know where else to post this, but this morning Bernie Ecclestone pleaded guilty to not declaring £400 million in assets that were held in Singapore.

So, at least one man has managed to significantly make an absolute fortune out of F1!

[Richard C]

Not sure where to post this, but felt some might find this interesting...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tegNkXtqZkA

Show current state of preparation for Las Vegas race with shots in garages, etc. and around various parts of the circuit. Looks like it is getting there, but lots of work yet to be done.

Richard

[Mike Harte]

Whilst talking about the race at Vegas, Pirelli have forewarned that they expect the potential for issues with tyres. This is due to a few elements for this year's race, especially that it has been decided to start the race at 22.00 hours, when they expect the air temperature to drop to around 10 degrees centigrade which means that they anticipate that the tyres will probably not be at their best operating temperatures. This will be compounded by the long main straight and the lack of high speed corners.

See: https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/w...egas/10545932/

[chillibowl]

if tires not suited to the circuit are again the downfall of an American GP...

not that im particularly excited for this race (overly long season and a race in a totally soulless place/track imo), but obviously dont want to see anyone get hurt or, more likely, a team be embarrassed by a lack of performance due to the poor planning and timing of this event.

[Richard C]

I am looking forward to the race (will not watch it live due to the late start for east coast US). But it seems odd that they would create such risk for the race by having it take place under such extreme weather conditions. It is winter, in the desert, at night. What did they expect?

Richard

[Tourer]

Originally Posted by Richard C

I am looking forward to the race (will not watch it live due to the late start for east coast US). But it seems odd that they would create such risk for the race by having it take place under such extreme weather conditions. It is winter, in the desert, at night. What did they expect?

Richard

It IS strange for sure - chilly for spectators & as mentioned above, could make it difficult with tyres.

I expect that those teams regularly getting tyres up to temp quickly (such as Ferrari, McLaren, Haas) might be feeling bullish about qualifying at least.

I guess there’s some kind of logic to the date & time chosen but it may be that not enough consideration was given to other factors, such as temp.

[Richard C]

Originally Posted by Tourer

I guess there’s some kind of logic to the date & time chosen but it may be that not enough consideration was given to other factors, such as temp.

My guess as to the logic...

Date... Probably when it could fit into the calendar
Night vs. Day... They want a night race so that it can showcase the "Vegas at night" view.
Time at Night... Late in the evening (not just after it gets dark) is targeting a more optimal viewing time for Europe.

Richard

[Mike Harte]

Originally Posted by Richard C

My guess as to the logic...

Date... Probably when it could fit into the calendar
Night vs. Day... They want a night race so that it can showcase the "Vegas at night" view.
Time at Night... Late in the evening (not just after it gets dark) is targeting a more optimal viewing time for Europe.

Richard

Hardly optimal time in Europe, Richard; that's 6 AM in the UK, and 7 AM in the rest of Europe; Sunday mornings are for sleeping in!

[bjohnsonsmith]

I really don't understand why they are having the race at 10:00pm.
It's no good if you live in Europe, which is where the majority of F1 fans are and it's really no better if you live on the East coast, or in the Central time zone.

[broadrun96]

Originally Posted by Mike Harte

Hardly optimal time in Europe, Richard; that's 6 AM in the UK, and 7 AM in the rest of Europe; Sunday mornings are for sleeping in!

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

I really don't understand why they are having the race at 10:00pm.
It's no good if you live in Europe, which is where the majority of F1 fans are and it's really no better if you live on the East coast, or in the Central time zone.

See above, revenge for Sunday morning US time GPs in Europe??

Although I prefer the morning GPs and recording delay viewing and have the rest of my Sunday free.

[Guthrie]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

I really don't understand why they are having the race at 10:00pm.
It's no good if you live in Europe, which is where the majority of F1 fans are and it's really no better if you live on the East coast, or in the Central time zone.

There are F1 fans all around the world and I think all the fans in various parts of the world have to watch the races at some weird times, especially those who live in Austalia.

[P38 in workshop]

There are a few reports online about the slide in ticket sellers asking prices for Las Vegas,this is one. https://edition.cnn.com/2023/11/09/b...ces/index.html
It seems that stratospheric pricing and a championship that has already been decided have combined to make it less of a "must see" event.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by Guthrie

There are F1 fans all around the world and I think all the fans in various parts of the world have to watch the races at some weird times, especially those who live in Austalia.

Indeed, there F1 fans all over the world but its biggest fan base and TV audience is in Europe. Liberty are aiming to grow that fan base in the US, with three Grand Prix and with Vegas being a showcase event. Having the race at a time that will make it difficult for fans in Europe and the US to watch, seems counter intuitive.

[Tourer]

Originally Posted by Guthrie

There are F1 fans all around the world and I think all the fans in various parts of the world have to watch the races at some weird times, especially those who live in Austalia.

Yeah - the typical Australian F1 live experience is somewhere between midnight and 1:00AM for the start - races from the Americas typically 4:00AM or thereabouts. It is part of "keeping it real" here down under!

Actually feels REALLY strange that the Vegas race will start at 5:00 PM Sunday afternoon for us.

Originally Posted by Richard C

I am looking forward to the race (will not watch it live due to the late start for east coast US).

C'mon Richard - live a little, you could go the Full "Australian" experience, watch the race at 1:00AM, turn the heat right up in the house, pitch black outside, swear heavily at the TV and curse any red flags that only result in even less sleep and even more blurry eyes for work on Monday morning & hope that you don't wake or annoy the neighbours with any yelling.

[Mike Harte]

BJ, since when did anything that F1 has done been anything that makes sense to the average person?

[Tourer]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

Indeed, there F1 fans all over the world but its biggest fan base and TV audience is in Europe. Liberty are aiming to grow that fan base in the US, with three Grand Prix and with Vegas being a showcase event. Having the race at a time that will make it difficult for fans in Europe and the US to watch, seems counter intuitive.

Originally Posted by Mike Harte

BJ, since when did anything that F1 has done been anything that makes sense to the average person?

I suspect that the late evening start time might have been done to accomodate local interests, such as the casinos, to have their support for the event.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by Mike Harte

BJ, since when did anything that F1 has done been anything that makes sense to the average person?

[broadrun96]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

Indeed, there F1 fans all over the world but its biggest fan base and TV audience is in Europe. Liberty are aiming to grow that fan base in the US, with three Grand Prix and with Vegas being a showcase event. Having the race at a time that will make it difficult for fans in Europe and the US to watch, seems counter intuitive.

ANY time on this Saturday or next would be IMPOSSIBLE for them to air. Well maybe on ESPN32 but sorry Saturdays from noon Eastern to 3ish am are booked up on ESPN. Fitting this race in before midnight wasn't likely, even the worst college game on Saturday will outdraw the race and ESPN has 30 college games on Saturday in their lineup. Saw they removed a couple late games to afternoon west coast to make it the race work on ESPN.

No, none of that matters in the grand scheme of world wide TV but if the purpose is to grow US audience Saturday afternoon on ABC/ESPN ain't happening late in the season and Sunday outside of pre-1300 is tough for a second weekend even though ESPN has the day free in their lineup but the NFL lurks huge. And LV is Pacific time so 3 hours behind EST, 8 hours from UK. And Vegas may function 24 hours but it's a 10am to 3 am city.

And yes, desert temps make it TOUGH to schedule a good time for the race, but at least they have avoided the desert rains. Seen pictures from my cousin with a foot of FLOWING MOVING water on The Strip, doesn't often but when it does it comes down in buckets. But days in the 30s to nights in the teens isn't uncommon this time of year, I'll bet that pavement will be pretty hot still even with the late start, high sun gets hot even in winter.


That said, the spiderpig track is a DUMB idea and a straight cash grab. Got an update today from AMEX trying to sell ticket packages, they were just a BIT cheaper than the first prelaunch pricing. Went from about 5k per for hotel and ticket to 1500 for decent hotel packages. TMobile had a deal earlier too but was fancy hotels and full package of 5-12k and that was supposed to be a deal?? I'll be interested to get my cousin's take from his buddies after the weekend, he used to work at a few casinos out there and has friends who were ready to go on strike tomorrow before they settled, would have been a MESS without housekeeping, bar tenders and a few other groups all week.

[Sodemo]

Having seen the old car park venue at Caesar’s Palace what I will say is that F1 has raced at worse since.

This new venue they are using, I mean it’s a bit of a fast corner free zone. I think there is 1, perhaps 2 fast corners on the layout. I do think we will see a lot of locking up of brakes.