2017 FORMULA 1 ROLEX BRITISH GRAND PRIX - LIVE THREAD

7/13/2017 | Chode

[Ted Grant]

My most beloved brand, Rolex!

[crosdaddy]

I saw my first and only F1 race there, last one they held there, I think it was in ‘76. I do go back for other racing events though.

[ETL]

Geez, whatever happened to Watkins Glen? One of the most beautiful and challenging road courses on the planet.

And surely one of the prettiest state parks in the country.

Check out the trail on the left. You can walk along that "gorgeous" creek for quite awhile on it.
(Watkins Glen is classified as a "gorge")

Map showing "Gorge Trail"...

[ETL]

Thanks. I thought I would find better ones. But after several pages of Google search results for GIFs (short animated videos), those seem to be the best available.

[ETL]

Re: Watkins Glen State Park

Great place to go camping, if you're into that.

Many other spectacular parks in the Upstate New York Finger Lakes region,
although I have to say WG is the best. Robert H. Treman SP (below) is another nice one.

Note: both pics are of the same waterfall ('Lucifer Falls'). It's too large to fit in a single photo.

[Lockbox]

With Silverstone race going away is there a Grand Prix of the London Docklands in the works?

Joe Saward London GP story

[Paal Gulli]

"Geez, whatever happened to Watkins Glen?..."

The same thing that happened to the rest of F1: the Chrome Gnome. Very few venues can afford to permanently host an F1 race because of the exorbitant "race hosting fee," plus the fact that F1's race hosting contract stipulates that the circuit owner will make whatever "upgrades" to the track and facilities the Formula One Group (meaning Bernie) deems necessary. Which all too often has run to several tens of millions of dollars. The principals at too many venues just don't want to get into bed with a snake like Ecclestone.

Take the Indian Grand Prix and the Buddh circuit for example. Bernie was never stupid enough to think the Indians could make a long-term go of an F1 circuit (in that location) because:
1) It was built in one of the poorest states in a country where more than 300 million people (about 1/4th of the total population) live on less than $1 a day
2) Widespread poverty means that not only are qualified ticket-buyers in short supply, so is luxury in general. High rollers are not known to be fond of having to fly 12 hours to stay somewhere where many streets are filled with the scent of urine, and where no westerner can go for a walk in public without attracting a crush of beggars and aggressive shopkeepers. Which means Delhi, the only major city close to Buddh, is the anti-Monte Carlo.
3) India is a country the size of France but that only had (before Buddh was built) four paved surface auto racing circuits, and three of them were converted from air bases they inherited from the fleeing Brits. Which tells you they have next to no "grass roots" auto racing culture. Every state in the American southeast and midwest has at least 10-times that many amateur-level paved race tracks, drag strips and roundy-round combined.

Q: So why did Bernie sign them up?
A: Because they had investors with money burning holes in their pockets.

A man with Bernie's business savvy knew full well this was a short-term business arrangement, and that he should get while the gettin' was good.

The best description of the malfeasance of Bernie (in the name of the Formula One Group) I've come across was in an article written by Dieter Rencken for Autosport magazine in 2013. Unfortunately, the full article is behind a pay wall but there is a synopsis that does it justice posted at the Clip the Apex forum.

For years it's been clear that it would be a struggle for F1 to outlive Bernie. But the sport has been trading on past glories for years now and even though Ecclestone is (ostensibly) gone, I'm not sure the sport isn't already sick unto death.

But in any case, good luck to the new owners. They're going to need it.

[God luvs America]

they’ve been yapping about an F1 race in downtown London for years...never gonna happen...

[Lockbox]

Looks like the only option for the near term if they want a British GP.

[ConservaTeen]

Go Jimmy Johnson....oops wrong motorsports...F1 is OK, but I like stock car better....

[mabarker1]

Try some of the hotels in the San Marcos, New Braunfels, Seguin and other towns south and east of Austin and come in the back roads to the Track. They may be a bit further drive but less hassle in the long run. That way Y’All can avoid the commie land and high prices of Austin.

[mabarker1]

Is that Your water draw “crick” ?

Sure is pretty.

!? No more Silverstone?!?! Are they fricking nutz, that would be like NUTSCAR without Daytona, Bristol, Martinsville or ‘Dega!!!

[Lockbox]

Hybrid technology in next F1 engine could be tactical tool - Brawn

Formula 1 sporting manager Ross Brawn believes that the sport's future engine platform should retain elements of hybrid technology, but possibly as a tactical asset.

Brawn is hard at work with consultations and analysis to define the future direction and the specifics of F1's power unit beyond 2020.

While elements of hybrid technology will be retained, Brawn won't settle for a platform which represents a 'soft middle ground' between the demands from manufacturers and what the fan community is expecting.

"We're in debate with the engine manufacturers and car manufacturers and some of the engineering companies like Cosworth and Ilmor - people that are pure racing engine manufacturers - so there is a big discussion going on," Brawn said at F1's London Live event on Wednesday.

"It's not a question really of finding a sort of soft middle ground where you don't offend anyone because I don't think that will be the best solution.

"But hybrid technology is probably going to be retained because it offers some relevance, it offers the engagement of manufacturers, but can we turn it around a little bit and make it a tactical quality?

"So in a race you've got much more capacity to use the battery power and the hybrid nature of the cars to try and get an advantage."

F1 Tactical Hybrid Concept

[ROCKLOBSTER]

F1 is OK, but I like stock car better....

That's not racing, it's demolition derby...All-Star auto wrestling.

[Chode]

this is the crick that runs behind my house, as you see it can get kinda narly at times...

[Stentor]

That top photo looks like it should be in Rivendell. Beautiful.

[Chode]

All-Star auto wrestling.

ohhh sh!t... LOL!!! tooo damn funny.

[ROCKLOBSTER]

But true.

The last time I saw one, in the prelude to the race, they were introducing the drivers and their crew chief or owners, walking away from their transport trucks, with fireworks going off behind them....Their own special video-op fireworks.

Total kiddie hype.

[mabarker1]

SURFS UP!!! Ya might want to run the brown stuff through some cheesecloth 1st😬

[Yo-Yo]

From the article:

Fans want louder engines, and so does F1's sporting manager, but while Brawn is obviously attentive to the fan community's desires, bringing back non-aspirated high-revving engines isn't the plan.

Is a 'non-aspirated' engine the same as a 'naturally-aspirated' engine?

I was hoping to see more in the article abut the 'tactical' use of hybrid technology. For example, at first I wasn't a fan of Indy Car's 'Push to Pass' feature, but I do see how using it becomes a strategy towards the end of the race.

It might be interesting to see DRS activation in F1 be at the driver's control, limited to 10 or 20 uses depending on the track, and see how that plays out as a strategy.