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

My cousin looked at us getting tickets to the USGP a couple of years ago, and it was going to be about $5K each.
That was way more than I was willing to pay.

 

Tickets start at $500 each, so I assume $2k gets you pretty good seats. Three days of racing for $2k per ticket? It’s not cheap, but I’d pay it. Probably cheaper than good seats to a weekend baseball series in NY, BOS or LA.

 

I’m in Vegas and saw them film an F1 commercial a few nights ago on the Strip; the Vegas GP is going to be a great spectacle.

 

Nothing much going on at Interlagos, just a pole for (record rip) Kevin Magnusson in the Haas.

 

I love rainy qualifying. That's awesome.

 

Good race Sunday at Interlagos. Plenty of overtakes and solid race strategy. Glad to see Russell get his first F1 win. His reaction was fun to watch.

Not sure Mercedes could have won without the incident between Verstappen and Hamilton, but it does look like they’re driving a different car than they were earlier this season. They still have work to do for 2023, but they’re a lot closer than they were.

Verstappen really is a petulant and selfish shit, isn’t he? Not exactly a news flash, I know, but I wonder if Checo is regretting the decision to sign an extension to keep driving next to this asshole for two more years.

 

I read somewhere that Russell's win resulted in a milestone: The first time "God Save the King" was played after a F1 race.

 

I can't find it in a quick Google search, but when did F1 begin playing the national anthem of the winner post-race? Queen Elizabeth's reign started in February of 1952, while F1's Worlds Championship started in 1950, which would be correct since no British drivers won races in the first two seasons.

However, there were several Grands Prix won by British drivers under the F1 banner between 1946 and 1949.

 

As much progress as Mercedes made from the start of 2022, it makes me wonder what direction they went with the 2023 car. Evolution of what they had, or a totally different direction with sidepods?
And yeah, it's a really bad look for Verstappen. Team asks him to yield, and he cries a fit about having to give up 6th. I'm sure Horner will find a way to justify it as he always does, but egads.

 

I've got to believe that Toto and Mercedes saw Red Bull as too far ahead, and given one-or-the-other choice to improve this season's vehicle or work on next year's, they went with the latter. Cut your losses ... and go get 'em next year.

Checo probably weighed being the No. 2 at Red Bull, even behind Verstappen, as a better seat that top driver at one of the bottom-feeding teams. Could see that changing if a handful of seats became open, but alas there are currently none of those. So he stays, and Christian Horner continues the balancing act.

 

The race announcers said it Sunday when he won the race, so I guess it's accurate.