Formula 1 2023

[wood 11249]

+ GT World Challenge at COTA, beginning today. Lots of cars. Lots of track time. Several classes. Minimal breaks between sessions. By far the biggest sportscar event here in many moons. My kid's already out there today, & I'll probably go tomorrow and/or Sunday. Five races each on Sat & Sun, ranging in length from iirc 40 min to 90 min. Something like $53 for the whole weekend and around $25 each day after today. Seems like it's track rental a la NASCAR. The only place I know of to get tickets is the GT World Challenge website. https://www.showpass.com/sro-cota/

[wood 11249]

^Ouch. Apparently there are fences all over the place, & the only open viewing areas are from the Main GS to T1, the 2 bridges. Even the T15 GS is closed. The east end of the T3 bridge is closed off so you can't access the esses. From at least the top of 1 to about 16 is all off limits. They even have 19 fenced off. Unreal. Sucks.

[utee94 15856]

I hate the offseason.

 

[Dutch 4474]

It’s Rawe Ceek, boys  

 

 

 

[Guest]

Went to COTA this weekend. Took the kid karting. Man, that place is such a mess. I think it's just a factor of having one-off events... has to be tough to find folks work those sorts of jobs.

In good news, if there is a race and you want to go watch, just tell them you are there for karting. They will wave you through. Then you can just go sit in the grandstand. Watched some of the races this weekend before and after karting, sitting on the starting line.

 

 

 

[wood 11249]

Not F1, but got dammit.

FIA president "horrified" at Baja Rally attack (a local rally, not the 500) https://www.autosport.com/rally/news/fia-president-horrified-at-baja-rally-attack/10472194/

Quote

Baja California officials have stated the gunmen in a vehicle opened fire on people and vehicles at the rally. Reports indicate that at least 10 people have died in the incident, while several people have been injured in the clash.

The incident was attended to by units from the army, navy, and state and local police.

Several reports have attributed the incident to a clash between organised crime groups, but no group has claimed responsibility.

"I am horrified by the reports of an appalling attack at the Baja California Rally in Mexico," said Ben Sulayem in a short statement issued by the FIA.

"Motorsport events should be safe places for participants and spectators.

"On behalf of the whole FIA family our thoughts and prayers are with the victims of this senseless violence."

 

Edited May 22, 2023 by wood

[PittsburghTiger 6195]

I saw there was an issue with the team's and all their equipment and that the flooding was preventing some of it from being cleared out and thus Monaco was in danger as well. Has anyone seen any of this?

I'll be down there this weekend and we were thinking about scoring a couple tickets for the race. We will have to check.

[NoName 16384]

18 minutes ago, PittsburghTiger said:

I'll be down there this weekend and we were thinking about scoring a couple tickets for the race. We will have to check.

you just happen to be in Monaco? put that on the bragging montage haha

that said - you should absolutely buy tickets.

Edited May 22, 2023 by NoName

[PittsburghTiger 6195]

37 minutes ago, NoName said:

you just happen to be in Monaco? put that on the bragging montage haha

that said - you should absolutely buy tickets.

It's not as much of a brag as one might think.

Every year Bad-Wurttemberg gets two weeks off for Pentecost and that was a big vacation time when the kids were young. So, I've been meeting my German cousins and then we drive down to St. Tropez for at least a week at the beach.

This year Pentecost falls in line with the race. It does that every few years.

I'm hoping Dirk will look into tickets cuz we could drive to Nice and then take the train over.

[VABuckeye 2472]

Must be Nice.

[NoName 16384]

Athletic: The Olympic career that prepared Tom Stallard for life as an F1 race engineer
 

Quote

 

Each driver has their preferences and particularities. Stallard has found Piastri “super calm” and “quite analytical.” Carlos Sainz was “quite emotional”, making it important to give him “information that lets him stay calm, so he’s in his happy place.” Daniel Ricciardo “needs some reassurance.” One of the more curious drivers that Stallard worked with was Stoffel Vandoorne, who raced for McLaren in 2017 and 2018. “He seemed to drive best when he was a bit more angry than he naturally is,” he said. “It’s quite an interesting dynamic for pushing a driver.”

Piastri first worked with Stallard when he conducted some private testing for McLaren at the end of last year to help prepare for his rookie F1 season. They immediately struck up a good working relationship.

”We did a lot of work to make sure we’re speaking the same language and are on the same wave length,” Piastri said. “There are some things you just don’t find out about each other until you’re under the pump in qualifying or in the race. But I think it’s been really, really good.”

 

text:

Spoiler

The Olympic career that prepared Tom Stallard for life as an F1 race engineer

By Luke Smith

5h ago

4

---

For all the roaring engines and on-track fury, Formula One is a sport built upon subtleties. The factors that feed into deciding who climbs the podium and who loses their seat — the novel training methods, the last-minute strategy calls, even the more nutritious food — are rarely on full display. The Athletic’s new F1 coverage is designed to throw light on all of them, and that’s what we’ll be doing in Untold Stories. Follow along as we take you beyond the headlines (and the headliners) to understand how teams and drivers climb the pinnacle of motorsports.

Tom Stallard may not spend any time in front of the cameras, but he has one of the most challenging jobs in Formula One. As the race engineer to McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, he is responsible for not only guiding his rookie driver through a race, but keeping him in the best mindset to perform in high moments of stress.

“You are literally the voice inside his head,” Stallard told The Athletic. “The psychology side, I really like. It makes it feel like I am part of the race and very much part of the result.”

The F1 race engineer is the primary contact between the team and the driver in the car. He will keep the driver updated on the race, strategy plans, condition of the car and the weather. Essentially, they manage the driver’s race.

It’s no easy task to be an effective voice inside an elite athlete’s head. But Stallard has an advantage: He’s been there. He knows what it’s like to dedicate your life to compete at the very highest level, to taste great glory, to lose races by narrow margins, and deal with that full range of resulting emotions. He’s an Olympian.

Stallard rowed with great success at the University of Cambridge, twice winning the famous Boat Race against Oxford. After graduating, he became a full-time athlete and secured a place on Great Britain’s men’s eight rowing team for the 2004 Olympics in Athens. So much of his life had led up to that moment, his first Olympics. A shot at winning gold. The pinnacle for any elite rower.

Team GB finished ninth out of nine boats.

Stallard came home frustrated and, in his words, in need of a “big emotional rethink” after falling so short of what he felt was his peak potential. Although his next goal was Beijing in 2008, he didn’t want to “waste four years rowing, and create a lot of pressure” for that race without making strides towards his post-rowing life.

Rowing and engineering were always the two big passions for Stallard. A “LEGO kid” growing up, by 13, he was rebuilding cars in his spare time when not at school or training. His mother’s interest in F1 meant the sport was always on the periphery of his life, and when it came to decide on a path to pursue at university, Stallard saw a way to combine his passions.

The appeal to Stallard was what he called the “human machine interface” of F1: “The car is kind of like a cyborg, right? There’s a machine that has grip and physics, but then there’s a human that’s controlling it.

“What’s going on in (the driver’s) mind and his movements, and how that affects the control of the car, and the competitive aspects of that, I find really, really exciting,” he said. “That transcends the two sports that I’ve done.”

Man, not machine

Previously frustrated by how his degree was taking time away from his rowing, Stallard went back to university to complete a masters in motorsport engineering. By the time Beijing came around, he knew it would be his last competitive outing, and his start date at McLaren was already lined up. It served as motivation to get him through the final difficult training camps, to unlock the extra bit of performance that could make all the difference come race day.

Stallard and his team made the podium, but not the top step: second place, 1.22 seconds behind Canada. “No one feels that happy with a silver medal, I’m not going to lie,” he said. “But I felt I had done close enough to representing my ability at the games to stop.”

Stallard knew what it felt like to be embroiled in the intensity of a race, pushing your body to find the extra tenth of a second deciding victory or defeat. Finishing races only able to see in black and white, lactic acid burning, body completely spent, were normal.

 

Stallard forges a distinct relationship with every driver he serves. Stoffel Vandoorne “seemed to drive best when he was a bit more angry than he naturally is,” he said. (Charles Coates/Getty Images)

So after his first F1 races as a performance engineer (supporting the race engineer, a role he would then step up to in 2014), initially to world champion Jenson Button in 2010, Stallard found he was a “sea of adrenaline.” He’d been through the emotional sporting rollercoaster, yet he’d spent it sitting on the pit wall. “I found that a really disorienting sensation,” he said. “I didn’t know what to do with all this adrenaline and no lactic acid.”

He soon figured it out. Just as the coxswain in the rowing boat would help manage him and his fellow crew through the race, Stallard was now doing the same for his drivers. He had to know the right thing to say at the right moment. Do they need stirring up or calming down? More or less information? “They are human,” said Stallard. “They’re not just machines.”

Stallard may be the one voice connecting the driver to the team, but he processes information from the various engineers, mechanics and strategists on the pit wall and in the garage. Details on tire wear, car condition, other drivers’ strategies and the weather all need to be filtered down by Stallard before he decides what Piastri needs to know.

Each driver has their preferences and particularities. Stallard has found Piastri “super calm” and “quite analytical.” Carlos Sainz was “quite emotional”, making it important to give him “information that lets him stay calm, so he’s in his happy place.” Daniel Ricciardo “needs some reassurance.” One of the more curious drivers that Stallard worked with was Stoffel Vandoorne, who raced for McLaren in 2017 and 2018. “He seemed to drive best when he was a bit more angry than he naturally is,” he said. “It’s quite an interesting dynamic for pushing a driver.”

Piastri first worked with Stallard when he conducted some private testing for McLaren at the end of last year to help prepare for his rookie F1 season. They immediately struck up a good working relationship.

”We did a lot of work to make sure we’re speaking the same language and are on the same wave length,” Piastri said. “There are some things you just don’t find out about each other until you’re under the pump in qualifying or in the race. But I think it’s been really, really good.”

A race engineer’s weekend

Stallard’s role as Piastri’s race engineer goes far beyond the competitive on-track sessions. Before even hitting the track on a race weekend, they will typically debrief how Piastri’s last race went. The Miami weekend started with a full breakdown of Baku, where Piastri battled sickness and made it through the weekend on just four pieces of toast. “As you’d expect after his fourth race, there’s a lot of stuff he can do better,” said Stallard. “We’re not giving him any get off on the fact that he was unwell! We’ve been through that in quite a lot of detail.”

With that done, they turn their attention to the coming weekend, focusing on areas such as the baseline car setup that will be used to start practice on Friday. The first session helps McLaren try out different settings on the car before chasing more performance in FP2, where the focus then turns to race preparations and judging the best tire strategy.

 

Stallard (third from left) joined McLaren as a performance engineer to Jensen Button (second from left). (Darren Heath/Getty Images)

They spend Friday evening digging into the data that can help with potential setup changes or driving adjustments for the rest of the weekend. Stallard said it is tempting to throw tons of info at a driver in an effort to prove you know your stuff. “But actually what you’re trying to do is to get him to do something better, not to make me look good,” he said. “The hard thing is to boil it down into a very simple ‘go and do this’, so he has a plan.”

Then comes Saturday and qualifying which, to Stallard, is the “most stressful session” of the weekend. “You push the boat out and you can’t do any more,” he said. “In the race, normally things happen in a way that you can influence in real time.”

Before the race,  the team will outline its strategy plan using all the data gathered through the weekend, providing information for Piastri to drive his best race while avoiding an onslaught that could be overwhelming. Post-race, Stallard will be part of a “hot debrief” offering a first look at what went right or wrong. The deeper analysis comes the following week, either at the next track or back at the factory.

Changing mindsets

One of the biggest rules in rowing, according to Stallard, is that you never blame the boat. “It stops you focusing on the things that make a big difference,” he said. “It’s all about the crew’s timing, rhythm and power.”

Back when Stallard started in F1, he felt there was an attitude that went against that; that the driver was good enough, but wasn’t winning simply because of the car. It might be true, but it’s no help to a driver. It was a mindset he sought to change, to properly focus on how the driver interacted with their car, and what they could do to get the most out of the machine at their disposal.

“It’s not the case that Max Verstappen is winning purely because he’s the best driver,” said Stallard. “The Red Bull’s also the best car. But he’s doing a good job in the best car. We have a better understanding of what that good job might be than we had 10 years ago.

“We’re in a much stronger position to coach the athlete rather than just develop the car. I find that aspect really cool, and actually much more like rowing.”

But as proud as Stallard feels to have been part of this mentality shift in F1, nothing comes close to the thrill of the high-pressure moments on the radio, making the calls to decide a race and help his driver outfox the opposition; to literally be the voice inside their head.

“It’s such a buzz,” he said. “That gives me what rowing gave me.”

The “Untold Stories” series is part of a partnership with Michelob. The Athletic maintains full editorial independence. Partners have no control over or input into the reporting or editing process and do not review stories before publication.

[Mittens 8300]

 

[utee94 15856]

They misspelled Triple Clown livery.

 

 

 

Seriously though, that looks a lot better without the blue.

[utee94 15856]

Anyway, here's the TV schedule for the weekend's activities.  It should be noted that this year, they are once again going with the more standard Fri-Sat-Sun schedule for F1 on-track activity, rather than the historically Monaco-specific Thurs-Sat-Sun schedule.  This is at least the second year in a row with this more standard format.

Friday, May 26 

TIME ET	GAME	TV
7:25 am	Practice 1	ESPN2
10:55 am	Practice 2	ESPN2

Saturday, May 27 

TIME ET	GAME	TV
6:25 am	Practice 3	ESPN2
9:55 am	Qualifying	ESPN

Sunday, May 28 

TIME ET	GAME	TV
7:30 am	Grand Prix Sunday (pre-race)	ABC, ESPN+
8:55 am	Race	ABC, ESPN+

 

And here's current weather forecast:

 

Edited May 23, 2023 by utee94

[Anton Chigurh 3319]

Also, I believe that FOM is running the cameras this year (Monaco was always the only circuit to do TV operations themselves).

[Levi 2592]

On 5/22/2023 at 1:58 PM, PittsburghTiger said:

It's not as much of a brag as one might think.

Every year Bad-Wurttemberg gets two weeks off for Pentecost and that was a big vacation time when the kids were young. So, I've been meeting my German cousins and then we drive down to St. Tropez for at least a week at the beach.

This year Pentecost falls in line with the race. It does that every few years.

I'm hoping Dirk will look into tickets cuz we could drive to Nice and then take the train over.

Dirk?? Like THE Dirk? 

[wood 11249]

That McLaren looks a helluva lot better than the shit they've run the last couple of years. They should stay with it, but they won't. 

[Dutch 4474]

11 minutes ago, wood said:

That McLaren looks a helluva lot better than the shit they've run the last couple of years. They should stay with it, but they won't. 

100%. Not as sweet as the 2021 but way better than their usual.

 

[PittsburghTiger 6195]

11 hours ago, Levi said:

Dirk?? Like THE Dirk? 

Ha ha, not THAT Dirk, although our Dirk is prominent in his field as well. 

[wood 11249]

Honda to AM in 2026 is official. 

[PittsburghTiger 6195]

58 minutes ago, PittsburghTiger said:

Ha ha, not THAT Dirk, although our Dirk is prominent in his field as well. 

Let’s get this trip started!  Breakfast in Frankfurt 

[PittsburghTiger 6195]

2 hours ago, wood said:

Honda to AM in 2026 is official. 

That’s cool.  

[ConferenceRoom 6145]

McLaren miss the boat again. What's the point, Zak?

[NoName 16384]

13 hours ago, wood said:

That McLaren looks a helluva lot better than the shit they've run the last couple of years. They should stay with it, but they won't. 

i tend to give them some slack after running out that awesome blue Gulf Oil one in 21 (which seems like it was a LONG time ago)

i don't understand how you have like 2-3 special liveries all year and come out with something that looks as bad as most of them look. it's incredible.

 

 

[PittsburghTiger 6195]

https://www.gootickets.com/en/7-formula-1/51347-monaco/
 

Sunday looks like nothing is available.  I’ll just stay at the beach

[utee94 15856]

25 minutes ago, PittsburghTiger said:

https://www.gootickets.com/en/7-formula-1/51347-monaco/
 

Sunday looks like nothing is available.  I’ll just stay at the beach

Yeah I guess you'll just have to suffer on the Côte d'Azur.

[Burt Macklin 19038]

Merc’s big update involves RB-esque sidepods. Shocker. I assume everyone, including Ferrari if they can stomach the tacit admission of being wrong, will have the RB style sidepods by next year. 

 

[Anton Chigurh 3319]

Where’s the money, Lebowski!

[PittsburghTiger 6195]

4 hours ago, utee94 said:

Yeah I guess you'll just have to suffer on the Côte d'Azur.

I will take one for the team

[Guest]

Stolen from Reddit:

[PittsburghTiger 6195]

So, we ran a few errands here, outside the Black Forest and got back to the house and I started thinking (usually dangerous) “I think I will look again for tickets for Sunday”, And I’ll be damned. Fuck it!

I’m going to Monaco for the race. Bought two tickets in the Pool Grandstands. We’ll drive to Nice and then take the train, 21-minutes, to Monaco rather than look for parking in Monte Carlo.

I’m so happy!

[utee94 15856]

22 minutes ago, PittsburghTiger said:

So, we ran a few errands here, outside the Black Forest and got back to the house and I started thinking (usually dangerous) “I think I will look again for tickets for Sunday”, And I’ll be damned. Fuck it!

I’m going to Monaco for the race. Bought two tickets in the Pool Grandstands. We’ll drive to Nice and then take the train, 21-minutes, to Monaco rather than look for parking in Monte Carlo.

I’m so happy!

So jealous.  Monaco is a true bucket list item for me.  

Curious, how much were the tix at La Piscine?

[PittsburghTiger 6195]

12 minutes ago, utee94 said:

So jealous.  Monaco is a true bucket list item for me.  

Curious, how much were the tix at La Piscine?

https://www.gootickets.com/en/7-formula-1/51347-monaco/?affid=2&pgs=91

 

Those are what was remaining. Only two sections for Sunday. 

Edited May 25, 2023 by PittsburghTiger

[Dutch 4474]

37 minutes ago, PittsburghTiger said:

So, we ran a few errands here, outside the Black Forest and got back to the house and I started thinking (usually dangerous) “I think I will look again for tickets for Sunday”, And I’ll be damned. Fuck it!

I’m going to Monaco for the race. Bought two tickets in the Pool Grandstands. We’ll drive to Nice and then take the train, 21-minutes, to Monaco rather than look for parking in Monte Carlo.

I’m so happy!

Take lots of pictures and report back.

[utee94 15856]

1 minute ago, PittsburghTiger said:

https://www.gootickets.com/en/7-formula-1/51347-monaco/?affid=2&pgs=91

Well, at $37, I could afford to go today, anyway!

 

 

[PittsburghTiger 6195]

4 minutes ago, utee94 said:

Well, at $37, I could afford to go today, anyway!

 

 

We were discussing the price and said, “we are two guys from steel towns and we have done okay for ourselves and we want to do it, so we will”

Dirk, my German cousin’s husband, is from Duisburg and I grew up in Pittsburgh, after dad moved us from San Antonio. So, we are treating ourselves to this.

[utee94 15856]

1 minute ago, PittsburghTiger said:

We were discussing the price and said, “we are two guys from steel towns and we have done okay for ourselves and we want to do it, so we will”

Dirk, my German cousin’s husband, is from Duisburg and I grew up in Pittsburgh, after dad moved us from San Antonio. So, we are treating ourselves to this.

Oh no doubt.  You gotta:

If I were already there, I'd definitely go ahead and buy tix.  The much more expensive part is the travel to get there, and stay there. Someday, I'll do it.

 

[PittsburghTiger 6195]

I’ll either have on my Pitt bucket hat or an Auburn bucket hat. So look for me on TV

 

[PittsburghTiger 6195]

1 hour ago, PittsburghTiger said:

So, we ran a few errands here, outside the Black Forest and got back to the house and I started thinking (usually dangerous) “I think I will look again for tickets for Sunday”, And I’ll be damned. Fuck it!

I’m going to Monaco for the race. Bought two tickets in the Pool Grandstands. We’ll drive to Nice and then take the train, 21-minutes, to Monaco rather than look for parking in Monte Carlo.

I’m so happy!

Oops, our tickets are in Rascasse Grandstand T. Across the track from the pool.  I was mistaken, plus, I’m blond and easily excited and confused. Looks like we have two giant screens across the track too

[PittsburghTiger 6195]

https://www.redbullracing.com/int-en/races/monaco-grand-prix-2023?utm_source=RBR_Newsletter&utm_medium=CRM&utm_campaign=RaceHub_MON_23&utm_content=Race_Event

 

 

And it looks like all tickets are now sold. We beat the clock by a few hours.

[elfenix 34331]

helicopter and new camera position looking back into the tunnel is really nice. 

waiting for the camera hidden inside la rascasse to replace the one the usually stick behind a bush.

Edited May 26, 2023 by elfenix

[McCroskey 1505]

That'll buff out, Albon.

[McCroskey 1505]

Good luck this weekend, @PittsburghTiger, we're all counting on you.  Did you say this is your first time going?

[ChickenSandwich 9849]

Monaco is gorgeous. This race will bore to tears. Bad timing considering how the first 1/3 of the season has been a dud

Need a driver foot race on Sunday before the parade. (Or carts)

[Guest]

53 minutes ago, ChickenSandwich said:

Monaco is gorgeous.

Just came to post this. Watching practice and it's a beautiful blue day. Just a great setting. 

[NoName 16384]

38 minutes ago, ChickenSandwich said:

Monaco is gorgeous. This race will bore to tears. Bad timing considering how the first 1/3 of the season has been a dud

Need a driver foot race on Sunday before the parade. (Or carts)

no kidding, this is from The Athletic's Monaco picks/odds roundable:
 

Quote

 

Made up prop bet: Will there be over or under 1.5 on-track overtakes in the top 5 of the field?

Smith: Under. Sorry, but in this generation of big, wide F1 cars, the tight confines of the Monaco circuit are more restrictive than ever. Don’t expect pass after pass at the front.

Coleman: Under. Turn 1 on the opening lap may be the best chance to see it if some cars lockup, but this is a narrow street circuit. The 2003 grand prix saw no passing moves.

Bianchi: Under. Sadly Monaco just isn’t a competitive track with the outcome often feeling like it’s decided in qualifying rather than race itself.

Gluck: Over. Two passes in the entire top five over the course of a race? That’s not a terrible bet. If someone passes for fifth place and gets passed back later, that’s two right there. Still, the fact this is even a discussion shows you how unwatchable this race can be.

 

 

[utee94 15856]

1 hour ago, ChickenSandwich said:

Monaco is gorgeous. This race will bore to tears

I always call it The Beautiful Parade.  

It's still my favorite and most anticipated date on the Calendar every year.  And sometimes when it rains, interesting things happen.  Guess we'll see on Sunday.

For whatever it's worth, Weather.com is predicting 75% chance of rain at 2 PM on Sunday in Monte Carlo...

 

 

[Dutch 4474]

6 minutes ago, utee94 said:

I always call it The Beautiful Parade.  

It's still my favorite and most anticipated date on the Calendar every year.  And sometimes when it rains, interesting things happen.  Guess we'll see on Sunday.

For whatever it's worth, Weather.com is predicting 75% chance of rain at 2 PM on Sunday in Monte Carlo...

 

 

Rain, at Monaco?

[ChickenSandwich 9849]

[VABuckeye 2472]

James Vowles was interviewed during FP1 and shared some great information regarding cars, setup and performance.  It was interesting to hear him say that downforce is easy to adjust but once you add drag it's very difficult to adjust it out.