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Formula 1 2023

Anton Chigurh

By Anton Chigurh
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5 minutes ago, Anton Chigurh said:


This is top tier Instagram commenting.

 

3 minutes ago, utee94 said:

I assumed it was generated from ChatGPT with a few selected prompts.

I'm sure it's been done, but maybe I should start a Twitter feed that's essentially low-brow college football message board takes applied to F1 racing. 

"I talked to my realtor friend. Toto Wolff is house hunting at Caldecotte Lake in Milton Keynes. Hearing Red Bull is going to make him an offer and make him say no."

"If Max doesn't win the WDC next year, it's pretty clear that Gianpiero Lambiase needs to go. His high school style race engineering just isn't keeping up with the evolution of today's game."

"Just heard that Charles LeClerc was passed out Casino de Monte Carlo last night. I'm hearing he's going to be suspended the next two races and there's a lot of tension in the paddock."

 

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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. Fuc

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Next special livery for the Williams https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/williams-reveal-special-gulf-livery-chosen-by-f1-fan-vote/10494807/

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8 minutes ago, FirstTimeCaller said:

I wish we could know how much of an advantage this provided. I mean, you have to have rules and restrictions to keep the competition in check, but the vibe I'm getting is that they are getting a disqualification for something that's minor. Then again, I'm just a guy on the internet reading from other guys on the internet.

In a typical race, a very low floor can lead to much better aerodynamics for the overall car.  The intent of the rule is to make sure teams don't run *too* low - I think I read this was due to the fact that anything that raises that floor during a race (like a bump for example) can cause a rapid loss in downforce that can lead to the driver losing control.

Even as a Max fanboy, this seems unfair on this particular weekend - the stewards even said (paraphrasing) "it's probably because we didn't give them enough time to dial things in since we added a sprint race.  Oh, and also because this track surface suuuuuuuuuuuucks."

2 minutes ago, FirstTimeCaller said:

And of course... 

"Lewis Hamilton didn't lose. He just ran out of laps."

I did laugh at this during the interview... :)

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crash_davis

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I don't know shit about F1 but if 50% population fail of a "random" test, then it's it a pretty clear indication that you need to test the whole population. Did they test all cars in the field or said, "we did our damage from the test, we gud."

Also, is there a clear advantage from having a lower plank? More downward force allowing the cars to be more maneuverable at higher speeds?

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16 minutes ago, crash_davis said:

I don't know shit about F1 but if 50% population fail of a "random" test, then it's it a pretty clear indication that you need to test the whole population. Did they test all cars in the field or said, "we did our damage from the test, we gud."

Also, is there a clear advantage from having a lower plank? More downward force allowing the cars to be more maneuverable at higher speeds?

I mean if possible, every car should be tested for every thing.

I did read that the "random" tests aren't random in that they are drawn out of a hat. They are random in that the teams don't know when they will happen. The officials can watch things and see if there is something they should look more closely at.

Saw a picture (can't find it now) comparing LeClerc, Hamilton, and Verstappen through the esses. It was pretty clear that the two of them were sitting much lower.

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crash_davis

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https://carbuzz.com/news/why-were-lewis-hamilton-and-charles-leclerc-disqualified-from-the-us-grand-prix

"The FIA selects cars randomly before each race; in this case, the stewards chose Max Verstappen, Lando Norris, Lewis Hamilton, and Charles Leclerc." 

I guess it doesn't matter who was selected. Everyone knows the rules. They should've adjusted their car height accordingly. Still seems silly that only a small handful are "randomly" chosen. Test all of the cars for all regulations. Why make it a game of "chance"?

 

Spoiler

A few hours after the race, the FIA announced that Hamilton and Leclerc had been disqualified for a technical breach. The FIA selects cars randomly before each race; in this case, the stewards chose Max Verstappen, Lando Norris, Lewis Hamilton, and Charles Leclerc.

The FIA inspected the planks underneath the cars and found that Leclerc and Hamilton's plank wear was outside the legal limits.

 

1191120.jpg© Wolfgang Wilhelm for Mercedes-Benz AG

 
 

What Plank Are We Talking About?

The plank underneath the car exists so the FIA can enforce the ride height rules. It basically creates a physical barrier forcing the cars to ride at a certain height - if they try to ride lower, they bottom out. But if a car is run at a lower height for a prolonged period - like driving a stanced Honda Civic Type R down a bumpy suburban road - these planks wear thinner, and if they measure below a certain point of legality, the car is non-compliant, and the car/driver duo is disqualified.

This plank was heavily influential in Red Bull's poor performance at the Singapore Grand Prix. Everyone thought Red Bull had fallen victim to the then-new flex-wing and flex-floor regulations, but the engineers knew that running their car low on Singapore's street circuit put them at risk of destroying the plank. So, the ride height was lifted, and the RB19 did not enjoy that.

Red Bull jumped right back to the top at the race directly after that, securing the Constructors' Championship.

Related Cars For Sale
 
 
 
 
 

1191116.jpgWikipedia Commons

Did Mercedes And Ferrari Cheat At COTA?

The short answer is no, we don't think so. The corrosive surface of COTA was the main talking point the whole weekend, with several drivers (including Verstappen) noting how bad the surface was. But there were other factors.

As this was a Sprint weekend, the teams also had little time to make adjustments to their cars, with only one practice session before Qualifying, after which the cars were held under Parc Ferme regulations, under which teams are not allowed to make major alterations.

Even if Mercedes and Ferrari noticed an inordinate amount of wear on the plank, there wasn't enough time to fix the problem. They also weren't able to run any practice stints long enough to replicate race wear, prepping purely for qualifying and the subsequent Sprint race.

These were the excuses tabled by both teams when they met with the FIA after the disqualifications, and while they do seem valid, the FIA noted that, ultimately, "the onus is on the competitor to ensure that the car is in compliance with the regulations at all times during an event."

 

1191118.jpgCarBuzz 1191119.jpgMercedes-Benz

 
 
 

1191118.jpg

 

1191119.jpg

What Could Have Been Done To Avoid It?

The simple solution is that the suspension should have been run higher or stiffer to prevent the squatting of the car under load. This would've prevented excessive wear and meant more of the board remained at the end of the race for Mercedes to make bespoke skateboards in the future.

But this would have impacted performance. Current-generation F1 cars use underbody aerodynamics (ground effects) to suck the car to the floor, and the closer they are to the ground, the more downforce they generate and the faster they can go through corners.

Mercedes came into the weekend with its final upgrade for the season, which made a huge difference, but we can't say how much of that improvement resulted from running the car at an illegal ride height.

Mercedes and Ferrari will likely jack up the ride height slightly for the sake of compliance, and we'll have to wait and see whether this hampers their ability to keep up with McLaren and Red Bull.

 

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deft

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I mean if possible, every car should be tested for every thing.
I did read that the "random" tests aren't random in that they are drawn out of a hat. They are random in that the teams don't know when they will happen. The officials can watch things and see if there is something they should look more closely at.
Saw a picture (can't find it now) comparing LeClerc, Hamilton, and Verstappen through the esses. It was pretty clear that the two of them were sitting much lower.

I saw the same picture before the announcement about DSQs and planks. The rb19 was clearly higher than the others. It sounds like Red Bull was doing what they needed to do at Singapore and cota to not get tagged.
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dieucla98

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Hasn't the RB19 always been higher? Their performance advantage is such that they don't need to run the car crazy low and risk bottoming out.

Also, comparing pictures between cars that are on different tire compounds, or tire age, or wind conditions, or... all make a difference in the downforce created in that particular instant.

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wood

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On 10/22/2023 at 11:27 AM, FirstTimeCaller said:

Last year (I think?) we saw the line for admission at the gate at T1 and walked down to see if there was a shorter line somewhere else. Ended up by the tunnel at the start/finish and the way the fences were lined up, it just kind of forced us inside the fence line as we crossed. Had tickets, never had to show them.

And then I went to kart during some other race series. Just showed my karting reservation and they waved me in while they were checking everyone else's tickets. Took advantage to just go sit on the main straight for a bit.

Yeah they didn't check my ticket at T11 on Friday and missing more peolle than they checked. Couple years ago I was wearing a wristband at the Lot A entrance but it was up inside my sleeve and they never even asked me for a ticket and I just walked in. Next day I decided to try it again. Same thing. So after I got in I watched for a couple of minutes. If you presented a ticket they scanned it, but if you didn't, they just waved you in. Did the same the next day. Same result.

On 10/22/2023 at 2:03 PM, hayden_horn said:

I was just out there dropping someone off. What a shitshow. How does anyone have fun or there knowing that somehow you have to get out of there? So much wasted pavement out there. 

22 hours ago, blacklab said:

Got to car in lot D at 4:30

Haven’t made it to lot A yet

How long did it end up taking you?

21 hours ago, dieucla98 said:

Ya COTA sucks, the other 10000 posts about it have let us know already.

But as far as a track that produces some great races (outside the sprint, which was unexpected given how exciting most sprints have been), this was another great one. Different strategies, tight racing throughout, highly entertaining. I love this track layout.

It's a fantastic layout. It's just too bad they've let the surface turn into such a shitshow.

20 hours ago, Anton Chigurh said:

Looks like Charles and Lewis will probably be DSQ due to plank wear. They checked 4 cars and those two were out of spec. That’s what a bumpy track and one practice session gets you.

Indeed. And Alonso out with a broken floor after making it to P9, and taking chunks of time out of Gasly ahead.

20 hours ago, deft said:

If 2 out of 4 fail, why don’t they check all 20?

Because it's one of many things that are tested after the race on randomly chosen cars. I'm not sure they can even check more, as it's in the rules that way.

18 hours ago, Hawndoh said:

You would think with only 20 cars and the amount of money involved they could check every car that finishes a race.

Don't think it's about money, but more about practicality and time.At some races, there's a huge time crunch immediately after the race becaue they're racing the next week and everything has to be broken down and shipped asap. The logistics are planned on a very tight schedule to make it happen. This usually one of those races, right before Mexico.

15 hours ago, Fastbreak said:

It’s bullshit that all cars weren’t checked. Giving a podium to a car that may also be illegal is ludicrous

They'd have to have a lot more FIA scrutineers and room for the checks if they were going to try to check every car for all the things they check them for and still get the cars & FIA equipment disassembled and ships in time for the next race.

6 hours ago, Goofyboy said:

Charles is relegated to racing for Ferrari.

Would more practice sessions help to make sure this doesn’t happen? 2/4 cars, on different teams failed. Seems like the rules should be changed to allow for adjustments from FP1 to the race on sprint weekends.

Yeah I've been saying ever since the beginning of the sprint races that Parc Ferme starting on Friday afternoon. 

Here's the schedule I've been suggesting.

Fri: FP1, Sprint Qualifying

Sat: Sprint Race, <open Parc Ferme>, GP Qualifying

Sun: GP

That schedule fixes that problem and has a much more logical flow than this shit. IIRC they're saying they might go to it next year.

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wood

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7 minutes ago, blacklab said:

Took an hour from Lot D to 812/130

Holy shit. 

6 hours ago, utee94 said:

Man that's tough.  On a day when likely a lot more would have failed, and on the sprint weekend, seems like it should be all or nothing.  You either check everyone or you let it go. 

Anyway, at least the race was pretty fun, poor strategy from Ferrari aside.  Oh and the crappy performance of Aston Martin and Fred's retirement aside.

Actually, turns out all my guys struggled.  Eff that race. :)

Actually Fernando was having a pretty nice race until the floor broke, likely on the bumps since he wasn't going off track. He had very good pace and had gone from a pit lane start up to P9 and was probably going to get Gasly for P8. Not an ideal result but pretty great considering how the rest of the weekend started, and considering that they were really treating it as a test for next year.

6 hours ago, FirstTimeCaller said:

I wish we could know how much of an advantage this provided. I mean, you have to have rules and restrictions to keep the competition in check, but the vibe I'm getting is that they are getting a disqualification for something that's minor. Then again, I'm just a guy on the internet reading from other guys on the internet.

Ever since they've introduced the legality plank, it's been common practice that if you exceed the wear limit, you're DQ'd. They take it very seriously.

6 hours ago, crash_davis said:

I don't know shit about F1 but if 50% population fail of a "random" test, then it's it a pretty clear indication that you need to test the whole population. Did they test all cars in the field or said, "we did our damage from the test, we gud."

Also, is there a clear advantage from having a lower plank? More downward force allowing the cars to be more maneuverable at higher speeds?

 

5 hours ago, crash_davis said:

https://carbuzz.com/news/why-were-lewis-hamilton-and-charles-leclerc-disqualified-from-the-us-grand-prix

"The FIA selects cars randomly before each race; in this case, the stewards chose Max Verstappen, Lando Norris, Lewis Hamilton, and Charles Leclerc." 

I guess it doesn't matter who was selected. Everyone knows the rules. They should've adjusted their car height accordingly. Still seems silly that only a small handful are "randomly" chosen. Test all of the cars for all regulations. Why make it a game of "chance"?

Lack of resources, space, and time. They check a lot more on the cars than the plank. It would take a long time to check all of those things on all 20 cars, thus the random testing.

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wood

wood 11747

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Damn. Got back from the game last night at 1am. Didn't look at any news, texts, or try to watch the race. Finished the race a little while ago and suddenly found out all the shit that happened since. Got damn. I missed a lot! 

Bobby says he'll 'fix it', just like he's said before. Says part of the track is 12 years old. Yeah, no shit. But news flash, the problems are all the way around the track, even on a bit that y'all just resurfaced a couple of months ago (T12), and your bullshit low-bid patchwork 'fixes' don't 'fix' anything.

Fucking embarrassing.

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kevwun

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I can't remember if it was at the sprint qualifier or during the race, but one of the announcers said the teams design their car to be able to handle the stress that COTA causes.  If the car can handle it here, it will be fine everywhere else.  That's embarrassing as fuck when there are century old tracks that they race on.

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59 minutes ago, kevwun said:

I can't remember if it was at the sprint qualifier or during the race, but one of the announcers said the teams design their car to be able to handle the stress that COTA causes.  If the car can handle it here, it will be fine everywhere else.  That's embarrassing as fuck when there are century old tracks that they race on.

In COTA's defense, I bet it aint 106 degrees for weeks on end with extreme drought followed by ice storms in Austria. 

But yeah, the ground over that way is a mess. Drive down Peace Lane and it is uggggly. But if they can make 71 smooth, then they can do a 3.5 mile racetrack.

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9 minutes ago, utee94 said:

I still haven't had a chance to watch the pre-race walk from the USGP, did anything interesting happen, any rude celebrities? 

No. Lots of celebs there, but most of them were from across the pond. Prince Harry (not on the grid walk), Rory, Anthony Joshua (who I had never heard of).

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ConferenceRoom

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6 minutes ago, utee94 said:

I still haven't had a chance to watch the pre-race walk from the USGP, did anything interesting happen, any rude celebrities? 

There was an awkward wait for Anthony Joshua to finish speaking with some astronauts, but then we got Rory and Patrick Dempsey and those were pretty good. Dempsey plays a driver in the new Enzo Ferrari movie and I was thinking "oh, they got a driver to act." I don't even look at him as an actor anymore, haha. He's awesome. 

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blacklab

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Random thoughts from this weekend

My neighbor works at cota and got me 4 tickets on turn 4 and a parking pass to lot D. I had just semi-jokingly made a comment to her husband to see if they had any extra, and only to Sunday but they came through. 

Friday I got my boys out of school early and we headed over mid afternoon. Looked at the cota site and it said to come in on 812 and turn left on cota blvd to get to lot D. Of course the cops wouldn't let me turn left so I had to drive down a mile and make a U turn.

Holy shit was it hot and miserable. Not a cloud in the sky. It was so sunny I had a hard time reading my phone, not that I got any reception anyway, and also had a hard time reading the 32 inch tv on the other side of the track. I couldn't make out the names on the Rolex leader thing either. Would it kill them to get a slightly larger TV and/or put some shade over it to make it easier to read? Could they put a few of those Rolex tower leader boards around the track? We could only see the top 6 or so from our seats.

After getting blasted by the volume at UT games we got the exact opposite at the track. Barely audible all of the time, completely drown out by the cars and whenever the helicopter was near by.

Dozens of food places along the way to the seats. Nothing anywhere near our seats. I don't understand how they can't have the food a little better spread out. Closest thing was a gyro place with lines 30 deep at all times. The added benefit of this place was the line covered the entire walkway and throttled the crowd down to about 4 foot wide walkway.

Can't believe all the port a potties around. How much could it cost for some bathrooms around the place? Probably a lot cheaper that renting thousands of port a potties every year.

6 waters, 2 cokes, 1 dr pepper, one hat and 2 shirts later and my free ticket cost $400. A few years ago I looked at the F1 online store and made sure the prices were about the same for the shirts and hats I bought. This year I didn't figuring they'd be around the same. Fuck me they were way cheaper on line. Oh well, got to wear the shirt on Sunday, kid 1 wore his shirt Saturday and kid 2 wore his hat all weekend.

Left the venue at around 5:30 and made it to the westlake football game at house park against Austin high by 7:15.

Kid 2 had a soccer game so me and Kid 1 and 2 of his friends went on Saturday. We were joined at the track by another friend who had his own ticket. My kid is usually ok on his own, but get four 14 year old boys together and they are guaranteed to act like jackasses. Came from the north this time and it was pretty easy to get to the lot. Waze didn't seem to thing I could go on cota blvd to get to lot D so it was no help.

Having learned my lesson from Friday I wore my aussie golf hat to keep the sun off my neck and the side of my face for Saturday. It ends up being cloudy and it was annoying wearing that stupid thing all day and after the sun went down.

What was great was seeing all the people on friday with backpacks and coolers so I went to academy Saturday morning and got a back pack cooler. At $59 it was less than I spent on drinks on Friday. Filled it up with water, coke and Gatorade. Damn it was nice sitting in the stands and just reaching down for a drink rather than fighting the crowds.

Me and my kid didn't really want to see Queen but 2 of his friends really really wanted to see them. So after the race we head over to the stage and get a nice place on the very nice golf course like grass of the Germania Amphitheater as per the cota website. Boys wandered off to cause trouble and I sat in the grass. At 6:40 after sitting there for an hour they put up a message that the show is at the other stage. There's a stampede out of there and of course the boys are no where to be found and my son isn't answering texts. Finally find them and head over to the other stage but by the time we get there it's overrun. 

Absolutely terribly designed venue. The stage is on the other side of the track so it's a long way away. They have stands set up in the front and if you're in the wrong place you can't see the stage. It was dark when we got to the place we ended up sitting down at and the stage was dark. It appeared we could see the stage but as it turned out we couldn't. Ground was rocky with some weeds, so much worse than the other place. Boys wandered off, I told them to meet at the car when they were done. They listened to about 5 songs and were done. I knew all the songs but they complained they only played one they knew. Fat bottom girls apparently not popular with 14 year old boys on spotify. 

Luckily traffic had completely died off at that point and it was smooth sailing to get to the Whataburger at the airport.

Sunday took the wife at kiddo #2. #1 had enough after Friday and Saturday. Decided to come from the north again. Drove past the exit for Ross road thinking there would be an exit for Kellum road. Nope. Contemplate going off road to get to Kellum but just decide to go to the next road which ends up being Wolf road 3 miles down. Smooth sailing all the way to the intersection of Kellum and Elroy. Cops manning the intersection let Elroy go for about 5 minutes, then would let Kellum go for about 20 seconds, then back to Elroy for 5 minutes. Several minutes of no traffic on Elroy while we sat with our thumb up our asses. Fuck that was annoying.

Cloudy when we parked so I chose a baseball cap over the aussie hat. That was a major fuckup as the sun came out and was a bitch all afternoon. Left side of my face is red, right side is white.

Race was great. Kid and I were into it, timing separation of cars and watching Hamilton get close and calculating if he could catch. No internet whatsoever, and with the sun shining impossible to read the times/positions on the TV and Rolex tower.

Race was over at 3:30, we noticed people going on the track so we followed and walked around the S's for a bit. Then headed to Germania and plopped down on the grass for a bit. Kid was grumpy so against my better judgement we headed to the car. I would have liked to sit there for another hour or so to let traffic die down.

Get to the car in lot D at 4:30, 30 minutes to Lot A, 30 more minutes to the 812/130 intersection and we were free.

No idea why the fuck they can't make 812 one way westbound after the race. People coming from 812 westbound into the left most lane, 2 lanes from cota blvd turning onto the two right lanes. Left lane to go south on 130, right lane north on 130 and center lane go strait on 812. Where the fuck were the people going east from 130 on 812 going? They were dead stopped the entire time we were heading west, wherever they were going they should be going a different way.

This concludes my 2023 USGP Ted talk.

 

 

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48 minutes ago, blacklab said:

Random thoughts from this weekend

My neighbor works at cota and got me 4 tickets on turn 4 and a parking pass to lot D. I had just semi-jokingly made a comment to her husband to see if they had any extra, and only to Sunday but they came through. 

Friday I got my boys out of school early and we headed over mid afternoon. Looked at the cota site and it said to come in on 812 and turn left on cota blvd to get to lot D. Of course the cops wouldn't let me turn left so I had to drive down a mile and make a U turn.

Holy shit was it hot and miserable. Not a cloud in the sky. It was so sunny I had a hard time reading my phone, not that I got any reception anyway, and also had a hard time reading the 32 inch tv on the other side of the track. I couldn't make out the names on the Rolex leader thing either. Would it kill them to get a slightly larger TV and/or put some shade over it to make it easier to read? Could they put a few of those Rolex tower leader boards around the track? We could only see the top 6 or so from our seats.

After getting blasted by the volume at UT games we got the exact opposite at the track. Barely audible all of the time, completely drown out by the cars and whenever the helicopter was near by.

Dozens of food places along the way to the seats. Nothing anywhere near our seats. I don't understand how they can't have the food a little better spread out. Closest thing was a gyro place with lines 30 deep at all times. The added benefit of this place was the line covered the entire walkway and throttled the crowd down to about 4 foot wide walkway.

Can't believe all the port a potties around. How much could it cost for some bathrooms around the place? Probably a lot cheaper that renting thousands of port a potties every year.

6 waters, 2 cokes, 1 dr pepper, one hat and 2 shirts later and my free ticket cost $400. A few years ago I looked at the F1 online store and made sure the prices were about the same for the shirts and hats I bought. This year I didn't figuring they'd be around the same. Fuck me they were way cheaper on line. Oh well, got to wear the shirt on Sunday, kid 1 wore his shirt Saturday and kid 2 wore his hat all weekend.

Left the venue at around 5:30 and made it to the westlake football game at house park against Austin high by 7:15.

Kid 2 had a soccer game so me and Kid 1 and 2 of his friends went on Saturday. We were joined at the track by another friend who had his own ticket. My kid is usually ok on his own, but get four 14 year old boys together and they are guaranteed to act like jackasses. Came from the north this time and it was pretty easy to get to the lot. Waze didn't seem to thing I could go on cota blvd to get to lot D so it was no help.

Having learned my lesson from Friday I wore my aussie golf hat to keep the sun off my neck and the side of my face for Saturday. It ends up being cloudy and it was annoying wearing that stupid thing all day and after the sun went down.

What was great was seeing all the people on friday with backpacks and coolers so I went to academy Saturday morning and got a back pack cooler. At $59 it was less than I spent on drinks on Friday. Filled it up with water, coke and Gatorade. Damn it was nice sitting in the stands and just reaching down for a drink rather than fighting the crowds.

Me and my kid didn't really want to see Queen but 2 of his friends really really wanted to see them. So after the race we head over to the stage and get a nice place on the very nice golf course like grass of the Germania Amphitheater as per the cota website. Boys wandered off to cause trouble and I sat in the grass. At 6:40 after sitting there for an hour they put up a message that the show is at the other stage. There's a stampede out of there and of course the boys are no where to be found and my son isn't answering texts. Finally find them and head over to the other stage but by the time we get there it's overrun. 

Absolutely terribly designed venue. The stage is on the other side of the track so it's a long way away. They have stands set up in the front and if you're in the wrong place you can't see the stage. It was dark when we got to the place we ended up sitting down at and the stage was dark. It appeared we could see the stage but as it turned out we couldn't. Ground was rocky with some weeds, so much worse than the other place. Boys wandered off, I told them to meet at the car when they were done. They listened to about 5 songs and were done. I knew all the songs but they complained they only played one they knew. Fat bottom girls apparently not popular with 14 year old boys on spotify. 

Luckily traffic had completely died off at that point and it was smooth sailing to get to the Whataburger at the airport.

Sunday took the wife at kiddo #2. #1 had enough after Friday and Saturday. Decided to come from the north again. Drove past the exit for Ross road thinking there would be an exit for Kellum road. Nope. Contemplate going off road to get to Kellum but just decide to go to the next road which ends up being Wolf road 3 miles down. Smooth sailing all the way to the intersection of Kellum and Elroy. Cops manning the intersection let Elroy go for about 5 minutes, then would let Kellum go for about 20 seconds, then back to Elroy for 5 minutes. Several minutes of no traffic on Elroy while we sat with our thumb up our asses. Fuck that was annoying.

Cloudy when we parked so I chose a baseball cap over the aussie hat. That was a major fuckup as the sun came out and was a bitch all afternoon. Left side of my face is red, right side is white.

Race was great. Kid and I were into it, timing separation of cars and watching Hamilton get close and calculating if he could catch. No internet whatsoever, and with the sun shining impossible to read the times/positions on the TV and Rolex tower.

Race was over at 3:30, we noticed people going on the track so we followed and walked around the S's for a bit. Then headed to Germania and plopped down on the grass for a bit. Kid was grumpy so against my better judgement we headed to the car. I would have liked to sit there for another hour or so to let traffic die down.

Get to the car in lot D at 4:30, 30 minutes to Lot A, 30 more minutes to the 812/130 intersection and we were free.

No idea why the fuck they can't make 812 one way westbound after the race. People coming from 812 westbound into the left most lane, 2 lanes from cota blvd turning onto the two right lanes. Left lane to go south on 130, right lane north on 130 and center lane go strait on 812. Where the fuck were the people going east from 130 on 812 going? They were dead stopped the entire time we were heading west, wherever they were going they should be going a different way.

This concludes my 2023 USGP Ted talk.

 

 

This is just COTA during the grand prix. It's why even if there are free tickets, I'd likely not go. Everything about it is a hassle, a mess, and poorly organized... and it never gets better. Your experience is literally everyone's experience. 

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8 hours ago, kevwun said:

I can't remember if it was at the sprint qualifier or during the race, but one of the announcers said the teams design their car to be able to handle the stress that COTA causes.  If the car can handle it here, it will be fine everywhere else.  That's embarrassing as fuck when there are century old tracks that they race on.

That was Mike Krack's response to my question during the Aston Martin zoom call tiktok live stream they let me take part in last Thursday. IIRC I posted about it here. Did you really hear it on the race broadcast? I missed. 

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7 hours ago, FirstTimeCaller said:

In COTA's defense, I bet it aint 106 degrees for weeks on end with extreme drought followed by ice storms in Austria. 

But yeah, the ground over that way is a mess. Drive down Peace Lane and it is uggggly. But if they can make 71 smooth, then they can do a 3.5 mile racetrack.

There's more to it than the weather and the soil conditions. There's a human element involved, too. A COTA human. I'm sure you can guess who. Check it out in the COTA sucks thread if you don't know what I mean.

 

7 hours ago, faps said:

"The Sebring of the West", may as well embrace the bumps or include enough in the budget to mill and inlay the entire surface every year.

Basically, that's what Epstein is doing. He's never going to pay for proper repairs, so what he's doing instead is patchwork low-bid repairs whenever MotoGP or F1 complains loudly enough. Then he waits until they do it again and does the absolute minimum to keep them coming back another year or two. 

 

4 hours ago, utee94 said:

I still haven't had a chance to watch the pre-race walk from the USGP, did anything interesting happen, any rude celebrities? 

I never could find it on my DVR at all. Heard it was on ESPN+ and that ESPN had their own prerace show or some shit instead.

7 minutes ago, kevwun said:

I can't remember if it was the race or the sprint qualifying.  It was one of those 2 because I didn't watch practice or the sprint itself.

The Sky broadcast? That's wild. I also posted about it on the Autosport board, and I'm about 100% sure that Crofty and maybe a couple of other Sky people hang out there too under  assumed handles. Other seeing it on a message board, I think the only way to have heard that was on the live stream.

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1 hour ago, blacklab said:

Friday I got my boys out of school early and we headed over mid afternoon. Looked at the cota site and it said to come in on 812 and turn left on cota blvd to get to lot D. Of course the cops wouldn't let me turn left so I had to drive down a mile and make a U turn.

Yeah a blind monkey throwing darts at a spinning map could could make a better traffic plan than COTA does. 12 years. Still just as bad as it ever was.

...  had a hard time reading the 32 inch tv on the other side of the track. I couldn't make out the names on the Rolex leader thing either. 

Yeah that's a major complaint that falls under the "Bobby doing the absolute minimum" category. At least they were on. I remember one year during MotoGP this Aussie guy out at T11 was absolutely losing his shit that he had paid all that money and come from the other side of the world and they only had the screens on up to like T4. He wasn't wrong.

After getting blasted by the volume at UT games we got the exact opposite at the track. Barely audible all of the time, completely drown out by the cars and whenever the helicopter was near by.

That's something I noticed at Montreal. The audio didn't seem crazy loud when the cars weren't around, but when they came by, you could still hear the announcers clear as day. Even in 2010 in the V8 era. Weird.

Dozens of food places along the way to the seats. Nothing anywhere near our seats. I don't understand how they can't have the food a little better spread out. Closest thing was a gyro place with lines 30 deep at all times. The added benefit of this place was the line covered the entire walkway and throttled the crowd down to about 4 foot wide walkway.

Yeah their concession line management is just nonexistent, and people have zero common sense, so yeah, that's fun.

Can't believe all the port a potties around. How much could it cost for some bathrooms around the place? Probably a lot cheaper that renting thousands of port a potties every year.

So, back when they started releasing designs to the public, back when Tavo was involved, they had plans for like 10-15 permanent bathroom facilities spread all the way around the track. They also had more bridges. After he kicked out Tavo, Bobby axed all of that unnecessary shit to instead ruin a great viewing hill by building the super-important tower for $14 Million. At $35 a pop, I wonder if it's paid itself off yet. Kinda don't think so.

...

Left the venue at around 5:30 and made it to the westlake football game at house park against Austin high by 7:15.

Kid 2 had a soccer game so me and Kid 1 and 2 of his friends went on Saturday. We were joined at the track by another friend who had his own ticket. My kid is usually ok on his own, but get four 14 year old boys together and they are guaranteed to act like jackasses. Came from the north this time and it was pretty easy to get to the lot. Waze didn't seem to thing I could go on cota blvd to get to lot D so it was no help.

Blind monkey. Spinning map. Better plan. 

...

Me and my kid didn't really want to see Queen but 2 of his friends really really wanted to see them. So after the race we head over to the stage and get a nice place on the very nice golf course like grass of the Germania Amphitheater as per the cota website. Boys wandered off to cause trouble and I sat in the grass. At 6:40 after sitting there for an hour they put up a message that the show is at the other stage. There's a stampede out of there and of course the boys are no where to be found and my son isn't answering texts. Finally find them and head over to the other stage but by the time we get there it's overrun. 

Hey I heard Freddy Mercury died. Is that for realz or some kinda fake news bullshit?

Absolutely terribly designed venue. The stage is on the other side of the track so it's a long way away. They have stands set up in the front and if you're in the wrong place you can't see the stage. ...

Yeah and they have like 3 levels of upgrades before you even get to GA. So the GA kids stampede to get to the front of GA, which is like 75 yards or more from the stage, and then you have some people paying out the ass for upgrades that they think will get them up close, and they don't. It's awesome.

...

Sunday took the wife at kiddo #2. #1 had enough after Friday and Saturday. Decided to come from the north again. Drove past the exit for Ross road thinking there would be an exit for Kellum road. Nope. Contemplate going off road to get to Kellum but just decide to go to the next road which ends up being Wolf road 3 miles down. Smooth sailing all the way to the intersection of Kellum and Elroy. Cops manning the intersection let Elroy go for about 5 minutes, then would let Kellum go for about 20 seconds, then back to Elroy for 5 minutes. Several minutes of no traffic on Elroy while we sat with our thumb up our asses. Fuck that was annoying.

Monkey. Map. Plan.

...

No idea why the fuck they can't make 812 one way westbound after the race. People coming from 812 westbound into the left most lane, 2 lanes from cota blvd turning onto the two right lanes. Left lane to go south on 130, right lane north on 130 and center lane go strait on 812. Where the fuck were the people going east from 130 on 812 going? They were dead stopped the entire time we were heading west, wherever they were going they should be going a different way.

Home. Those people fucked right in the ass during F1 week.

 

 

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Krack says the COTA bumps basically beat Fernando's floor into submission ...

Quote

Aston Martin have confirmed that Fernando Alonso’s retirement from the United States Grand Prix was caused by damage to a floor edge from a “brutal” track surface.

...

Expanding on the issue that curtailed Alonso’s involvement, Aston Martin Team Principal Mike Krack confirmed: “The track is brutal here, you know, it’s really, really very, very tough and there was one part of the floor, the floor edges on this on the right that is just broken off like half a meter in like this, this long and this wide just gone.”

...

The multitude of bumps notoriously present at COTA became the centre of criticism again post-race, with Max Verstappen arguing the track is currently not “F1 level”.

 
Krack sided with Verstappen’s complaints, highlighting: “The drivers are best placed to say that, you know, we’re sitting outside and look what they do, you know, they drive it.
 
“So, and they have also the comparison to other floors, to other circuits, we know that this is a hard circuit. You know, you come here, you reinforce everything, you strengthen the brake ducts, you strengthen the deflectors, you strengthen everything that you can strengthen.
 
“And if you look at the replacement list, there is also some teams that had to replace some parts because it’s so tough.
“Now, if it is, I think it’s also the combination in the circuit with this kind of, this generation [of F1] cars that you have to run on the lower side that makes it makes it hard. But it is a fact that it is a very hard circuit.”

https://www.motorsportweek.com/2023/10/23/aston-martin-confirm-cause-of-painful-alonso-us-gp-retirement/

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2 hours ago, blacklab said:

I've been to cota several times, never 3 times in one weekend.

Sorry, wasn't trying to be insulting, it's just that everything you said was very typical of an F1 weekend at COTA and yet you seemed surprised about it, so I assumed you were new to it.

2 hours ago, FirstTimeCaller said:

This is just COTA during the grand prix. It's why even if there are free tickets, I'd likely not go. Everything about it is a hassle, a mess, and poorly organized... and it never gets better. Your experience is literally everyone's experience. 

Exactly this.

Of course, it doesn't HAVE to be.  I'm a huge F1 fan and a huge fan of F1 racing at COTA despite its lumps, so I've found a way that works for me where I can spend the entire weekend out there, and not deal with all the bullshit. 

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2 hours ago, FirstTimeCaller said:

This is just COTA during the grand prix. It's why even if there are free tickets, I'd likely not go. Everything about it is a hassle, a mess, and poorly organized... and it never gets better. Your experience is literally everyone's experience. 

Yeah and after spending just a few hours there Friday with very little track action, I was ready to go. Left early to avoid the rush, which I never do. And y'all know I'm a big fan. It just wasn't much fun out there. I'll go back when there aren't so many people. SVRA is fantastic, and WEC will be awesome except that it'll be hotter than the sun.

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I know we have Mexico first, but already looking forward to Brazil. Mercedes and Lewis seem to do well there so I'm hoping for some battling up front. On top of that, it's Brazil. What a fun track.

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On 10/23/2023 at 8:28 AM, FirstTimeCaller said:

Well, well, well.... turns out Lewis SHAMilton and Charles LeCHEAT can't play by the rules. Both them are ruining the sport with their consistent and flagrant use of thin planks. Max Verstappen is a true champion of the sport and life. He would never stoop to the level of these willful cheaters. There's a stain on the sport and these two cheating drivers that will never be erased no matter how thick they run their "rear skid area."

 Lewis should be stripped of all titles and Charles should be relegated to racing for Ferrari.

Skip Bayless - is that you??

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