I am not expecting great racing but would love to be proven wrong .

Colossal mistake by Verstappen not to set an early time in Q3. He's going to be thinking about that all night.

Well that was interesting . With a very different top 10 starting positions tomorrow could be quite a challenge for some of the top drivers .

With three DRS zones, the RBs will be 1-2 in no time.

Enjoying that the drivers are having difficulty even if LeClerc is one of the victims.

Look forward to hearing Rtrorkt’s marshal report.

The one thing that sucks for US F1 racing, it changes my personal schedule!

I like to eat breakfast, read the paper, and then sit down and watch the race that recorded on my DVR earlier. Today I will have to wait until after the race pre-coverage starts at 1:00 PM for 30 minutes or so, to be able to fast forward through the commercials in pre race coverage, and once the F1 broadcast starts the commercials are over.

Such a first world problem I have to suffer through! Oh poor me.

90 minutes of pre race is a bit much but so far I'm enjoying the circus. I can't imagine Las Vegas. The purists are going to go nuts. It is a circus with a race in the center ring.

Go Alonso. Ever since I watched his bio on TV he's been one of my favorite people. It's great that he can drive a race car too!

^^^ this pre-race stuff is beyond cringe-worthy. An orchestra for the driver intros???? I was able to get thru about 5 minutes of it before switching it off. :rolleyes:

and then these goons manhandling Jackie Stewart on the grid walk?! He's got more street-cred than the entire crowd walking the grid added together and he's treated like an interloper.

Ha ha.

Fernando: "What place is Lance in? Great move into Turn 1."

Watching on the Jumbotrons as he's racing around, himself, in P3. :D

Easiest pop quiz ever: who won Miami and who finished second?

I am surprised at all the Vin Deisel haters here.

After seeing last year's race I was prepared. To see Stewart hassled was kind stupid but he and Martin Brundle go back pretty far and we don't know anything about that.

But over a tennis player? Nope! One thing that stands out boldly to me is that the 'grid walk' should be cancelled. And you know who leads that parade? Martin Brundle. You heard him say something finding more people that would ignore him.

Next year I hope the 90 minutes is not there, but I'll know to turn it off until lights out. I did notice that was the only time there were commercials. Sorry Glen.

I had the race on record,got home later, fast forward the video to the formation lap.Too many celebrates,too much BS!

I started watching 20 minutes after it started and was 3 minutes behind at the lights out. Several batches of commercials we skipped.

My wife hated Danica's dress. :rolleyes:

Unless the two RB’s take each other out somehow (unlikely), I see no chance for any team to beat them this year. That car does everything well, and has such a speed advantage with DRS open, that no car on the grid stands any chance whatsoever when the Redbull is within DRS range. None.

I’m bored already. This isn’t racing. It’s a clinic on how one team can absolutely dominate a series. It’s like watching Porsche 935’s race in a Spec Miata series.

Bad analogy, Scott. We'd all watch flame-spitting 935s beat up on Miatas, or anything else.

That's why Indy car is so good. And it doesn't make any difference what car races the Indy 500 as long as they consistently do 220 in traffic and are somewhat equal. That's when you see team and drivers shine.

I'm really disliking the Liberty-Era F1...
I do not care for most of the new city tracks (Jeddah, Qatar, Miami, etc) - I cannot stand the so called celebrities on the pre-grid with their bodyguards acting like they own the place, and I half expected the drivers intro (Cringe) to be a Rap. I was actually shocked the guy pronounced the names right! Would have been par for the course. Also not a fan of all the tweaks to the race format because "Joe-new-viewer may get bored".

Cannot wait for the (sue me) traditional Euro portion to begin, with the tracks of old, the real race tracks with a soul where I can do a lap in my mind and almost name each turn. And Suzuka... And bring back Germany, Portugal and Kyalami while you're at it. I've loved F1 for 40+ years and I'm starting to fall behind with this instagram F1... One of my wife's girlfriends (completely clueless about motorsports) started raving to me about Lewis Hamilton over lunch (mostly his activism and fashion stuff, OMFG) - that's when I know F1 is jumping the shark. You bring the gen-pop into this sport and it's gonna have to change to be 100% a show and no longer a technical meritocracy.

^^^^^^

Add me to the list of people that were blown away by the treatment of Sir Jackie. I'm sure those security guard guys had no idea who it is/was, they were only there to keep the rif raf away from Lindsey Vonn. How is it that she and other 'celebs' were in front of the velvet rope for the stupid orchestra driver intro but guys like Sir Jackie were not? Not only has F1 jumped the shark but Fonze also just crashed the motorcycle.

Federer is a class act. The others, Vonn, Williams sisters are only there for the spotlight. No coincidence that they also are there to support Hamilton. I'd give $10 bucks for anyone to ask them to name another driver, not Hamilton or Verstappen, on the grid. They'd struggle mightily.

Brundle was pretty funny, "There are Venus and Serena. I'm not sure I can take the rejection again". Meanwhile those two are the most condescending poor sports ever to play. Sure, great records but arrogant and rude also rings a few bells.

Liberty out. Funny that Chase Carey a few years ago talked about getting back to F1 roots/history/heritage. Now look where it is.

Speaking of Hammy: I saw where he is spearheading an effort to bring F1 to Africa, you know, where he is from Maybe he should be pushing F1 move to Grenada instead.

Sorry, gents, but the cigar shaped Coopers were gone a long time ago along with guys like Von Tripps. Ringling Bros only had spot lights and Taco Bell was one store. Not much later the 356 guys were predicting the end of Porsche.

On that crazy thread about mushrooms and evolution the dude said we are approaching AI taking over AI if I got the drift. So really, the end is where the end is depending on who you are and how old you are. If you were raised on video games, then this all makes sense. How many laps do the drivers do on sims?

Can a stick and ball player hit and kick using strictly a sim? Strictly, not a net to catch a golf ball. Time to let it go and go to the dirt track. Or maybe Lucas channel still has that stuff. IDK, I cut the cable years ago

Is that a purpose built race track in Miami?
When'd they do that?

It was nice to NOT have a Russian or Chinese F1 race this year. Those countries need to be off the calendar forever, along with all the Arab countries. They have zero history of car building, and only have a track and a race because of massive billions in petro dollars.

The European countries with real race tracks are what I am waiting to see again. Spa should be like Monaco, just a given race place. Same for Italy, Germany and Spain.

It is cool as an American to see three races in the USA this year. The celebrity and BS of the Miami race is just silly over the top. I suspect other races will try to mimic it. LL Cool J did do a good job with the driver's names, it was obvious he practiced it a bit, and he did great. The orchestra was complete BS.

Now we have another era of Red Bull domination, like the Vettle era. We had 8 years of Mercedes total domination. Any decent driver in Hamilton's car had a winning ride. It never broke, and was clearly way faster than the rest of the field. One thing I have to admit about Hammy, he just does not crash into the wall or make bonehead moves.

I still like the racing but not the politics/big money, commentators, drama and more street courses.

Try vintage racing.

Saw some brits calling Miami GP "Festival of greed" (vs goodwood's festival of speed)
Menu from a track eatery (for 4 but still)
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1683822067.jpg

heard from a friend Team Tshirts were 3x the price of F1 website too. Clearly it was for the rich and famous, and Vegas promises to be even worse...

Wow. I would expect those prices at Monaco, but Miami? No fricking way would I pay anything close to that for food when I can eat in a few hours at normal prices.

That is pretty obscene pricing.

Can I get a hotdog and a Coke please?

I saw someone post a video on Instagram attending the race, I believe she lives in Miami. They were in the cabanas. Literally all of the women were in no where near the railing to see the race and just standing in clusters talking to each other. Guys were not much better. Looked like no one was watching the race.

Then another photo posted by same person of a car in that turn. Caption read: "go team". Clearly no idea which team's car nor driver.

So yes, it is a social event much like going to a South Beach club where you get bottle service and try to look important.

*** also saw today that most of the drivers were unhappy about the orchestra intro of drivers pre-race. Hot, wearing our stuff, would prefer to prep with engineer, bla bla bla. The only driver that liked it was, wait for it and try to be surprised: Hamilton.

Sure, for 4, $350

You shouldn't even have that thought. The F1 series left Long Beach after the '83 race. They were even at that time asking for way more than was economically feasible. The LB city council in agreement with the LBGP Assoc. told them to not let the door hit them in a the ass on the way out.

The first Champ Car race (Indy Car) the next year actually had a couple of cars arrive on an open car trailer. Just for the record, I think these were Dale Coyne and Dick Simon. IIRC, there was on car that didn't qualify owned by some local businessmen and a couple cops. Ironically the entrant was PIG Racing.

Anyway, it was a lowbrow affair that was widely accepted and popular and has been ever since. Mario won the first 2 years and Michael got his first win in the 3rd year. It has been said that Mario was responsible (more or less) for the success.

Now for the real irony: LBGP reported this year one of the best crowds ever at 192,000 over 3 days. (I honestly don't know the count method). The Miami crowd was estimated at 243,000. That's insane given how crowded and sold out all of LB is on GP weekend.

Yes, the LBPG has gotten more expensive over the years, but it's still a bargain:

General admission · Friday: $38. · Saturday: $77. · Sunday: $82. · Three-day package: $112.

Parking can be tough but it costs way more to park at a Dodgers or Angels game. Many people park uptown (free) and take the train or bus to the front gate for a little over a dollar.

One can go full luxury for just under $1200. You get it all including catering for breakfast and lunch in a suite with passes to anywhere you want to go. Alcohol extra.

Or you can buy a photo pass that just lets you into some cool view spots and the pits at select times for $265.

No that would be a ground Kobe beef bratwurst on a bun made from hand milled flower from a stock of wheat from a private island served with a tea made from tea leaves from a mountain side in Borneo. Limited availability for just $900.

My first race was Hockenheim 2001. Tickets on start / finish across from Ferrari paddock were just a hair over $300. That INCLUDED Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. I did same at Nurburgring in 2004, same cost and 3 day coverage. Parking was FREE

In 2005, we went to the infamous Tire debacle race at Indy. $350ish bones for ONE day. Extra charge for other days, even for support races. Even more money for parking, a lot more.

Went to Canada in 2006 and 2007. IIRC, tickets were 3 day. Took my very young kids for just a little on Saturday and it was pretty cheap.

I know its been a while since I've been but my experience is that Europe races were cheaper and all inclusive. Looks like now even European races are like US in price. 3 day Silverstone starts at 4,500 euro. Sunday only Monaco is over 600 euros, if you have to ask about 3 day tickets there you can't afford (13,739 euro).
BUT 3 day ticket in Hungary is only 495 euros, score. Ditto at Red Bull Ring, 3 day 480 euro.

Dang, I need to win the lottery.

I did Spa in 2001 while working a contract in Germany. I think the weekend GA ticket was around $125. Parking was free.....or perhaps I pulled into the field through an exit not knowing the lay of the land or the language........:eek:

A litre of Stella and an oversize brautwurst were roughly $10 bucks after conversion. The engines were LOUD....the RPM's were STRATOSPHERIC......the track was AMAZING.
Not a hybrid engine, nor DRS system to be found. What F1 was meant to be. No tire management strategies either!!

Miami is everything that is wrong with today's F1 IMO.

Now Get Off My Lawn!! :D

Yeah I'm sure those prices were only in the snooty boxes where the rich accumulated to be seen--hot dogs were available outside I bet.

And not surprised with Hamilton--he seems to really like stuff for fans and was the only one happy to see LL Cool J. The introduction was cringy but way less cringy than I expected it to be.

I read that Hulkenburg admitted he got some goosebumps during the introductions, so Hamilton wasn't the only guy to enjoy the unique format. Cringey nonetheless. Thank goodness only Americans have bad enough taste to do something like that.

I bet the it is copied by some other tracks with bad taste. Some track with lots of government money thrown at it will try to top it or replicate it. Just my prediction. Just imagine the big show Las Vegas will try to put on to top it. That is my prediction. I offer a double your money back guarantee!

Even with the insane prices, to have over 250,000 people show up over the weekend shows the draw of F1.

C’mon you can’t get more posh than classical instruments.

Just think it could have been far worse, they could have used EDM or a rapper.

Will.i.am actually wrote a Formula One rap, which goes without saying is terrible, and I was terrified that they were going to be playing that during the introductions.

Strange to feel relief to see Will.i.am conducting an orchestra, but that's life now I guess.

Well, Vegas will of course try to top the Miami show. But at least they have showgirls. ;)

Yea, and when I think of high class, Vegas is not what I think of.