All-purpose open-wheel (F1, IRL) racing thread

That's a pretty good description of him. He's very adaptable as a filmmaker and his versatility makes him consistently good/great. However, that lack of a definitive style prevents him from reaching an iconic status that he is probably capable of reaching if he were more focused and stylistic (a la, Scorcese or Spielberg).

That said, "Rush" was a superbly well done, stylish and entertaining bit of storytelling.

 

It's race day.

Monaco, Indianapolis, Charlotte. A gearhead's Christmas.

Be safe. Drive fast. Everybody have a great time. And hopefully the rain will hold off at the Brickyard. Would love an Ed Carpenter victory celebration, but get the feeling it could be a Penske-Sato-Rossi shootout, especially if it becomes a "beat the rain" strategy race.

 

Helluva race.

 

Nice call

 

How about that! Been immersed in this race since I was a kid, going back to 1966. I can tell you something specific (and the race winner) about every race since 1967. Have now listened to the IMS Network for 49 consecutive 500s, including sneaking a radio into high school in 1973 -- and having a headset on in the grandstands for over a dozen races in person.

Probably the first time I've actually been that smart without 20/20 hindsight -- but I saw a lot out of Rossi and Sato during last week's practice, plus you can never count out Penske.

It is my passion. There is nothing for me greater than the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race.

 

I wasn't impressed. They kept using a split screen with three separate screens - one for the race, one for the running order and one for the commentators - that I hated. They all were too small to be useful on my medium sized tv.

As for the commentators- Danica hardly talked and when she did, she came across a little harsh. Dale Jr. was interesting, but clearly doesn't know much about IndyCars and he acknowledged that repeatedly. The guys on the call were awful. I was going to throw something at my TV if they said "it's getting racy" one more time.

 

Positives:

No gratuitous wife/girlfriend shots.

The NBCSN pre- and post-race shows were outstanding. In 10 minutes, the pre-race made you feel like you were actually there. The post-race completed several of the storylines that ABC always left under-discussed (for example, why Carpenter and Newgarden fell back). The sit down with Tracy, Bell and Pagenaud was informative, even if Paul made it all about himself, as usual.

Lots of great replays from different angles on the pit mistakes and the big wreck in Turn 3.

No Cheever and Goodyear.

Negatives:

Rutledge was fine for the pre-race, but unnecessary for the race. Danica and Junior were nothing except "hey, we're the two most-recognizable ex-drivers here." Tirico was excellent as the host, but his in-race summations didn't really add much. Reminded me a lot of FOX's first U.S. Open golf coverage.

As franticscribe said, too many tiny split screens in real time.

Too many gratuitous in-car cams in real time.

If your major storyline is whether Pagenaud is using too much fuel by running out front, don't be on commercial break every time he pits.

Were you aware the Stanley Cup Finals are on NBC? Even the trophy got a ride in the two-seater.

No Delta Force theme. (However, the IMS Radio Network got the original 1969 show open, with Sid Collins!)

 

As someone who hasn't watched a lot of racing in recent years, these points all hit for me. Well said.

I actually thought Danica was pretty good. Junior, I think, can be good, but was not today. His openness about how little he knows about IndyCar racing was honest and real but I just wish he put in more time learning about it ahead of time so he didn't have to say it.

That said, I actually think he can be a very good analyst if he puts in the time and effort. Obviously, he'll be better suited to NASCAR coverage, but he's got the presence and personality for the job. He just needs the specific knowledge for open-wheel racing in addition to his stock car knowledge. I enjoyed his segment with Mario Andretti and even his time in the pace car was a prime example of his charisma.

 

So, as I mentioned earlier in this thread, my kid is getting into cars and we've been watching "F1: Drive to Survive" on Netflix. I recently bought him the PS4 video game, F1: 2018. In the game, he always drives as Lewis Hamilton in the Mercedes.

He was excited for Monaco today and got home from the grocery store with my wife with around 10 laps to go. It was really perfect timing because he doesn't have the attention span for a 2-3 hour race yet. But we saw how hard Verstappen was trying to pass Hamilton in the hairpin and we saw when he made contact with Hamilton in the chicane on lap 77. My boy got super excited that "our guy" held off Verstappen and managed to win.

It's the first race he's ever watched and the fact that his "favorite driver" won was huge for him. I think it's going to make him enjoy the sport more. It's funny how it has me excited to see the next race.

 

Good for your boy! If he's a Hamilton fan he's gonna love this season. Mercedes is in a class by itself.

 

It was fun to see that today. You could see that every time Hamilton got out of the hairpin or chicane with a narrow lead, that Mercedes just blasted away from the competition.

We're in the process of buying a Mercedes SUV and I brought him to the dealership the day we test drove it, so he's loving the team to begin with. Then my mother-in-law bought him a sweet Lego Mercedes SL AMG set that he was super proud to have built by himself. That kind of steered us to the F1 stuff and he's been obsessed (particularly with Mercedes) ever since. He also likes Fernando Alonso and Daniel Ricciardo. It's a really fun time of discovery with him and it's totally rekindled my enjoyment of the sport. Having Monaco — my favorite track — and Indy on the same day was like a stroke of good fortune in stoking his enjoyment of the sport.

And the Indy 500 today was fucking fun to watch. The replays on that big wreck were insane. Seeing the one driver split between the two cars that were spinning out was so cool. Pagenaud's defensive driving on the last lap was incredible.

I literally haven't been this excited about racing since about 2006 and my kid is the main reason. It's so much fun to watch this stuff with him.