It was a lot of fun writing up advice from scratch again and it was great working with Andrew. I found plenty of new information that I can use to update this web site. Hopefully race fans will find this information helpful and it will mean more people have a great experience at the track.
I haven't written anything here for a long time but that doesn't mean I haven't been writing. I was asked by the owner of the website F1Destinations to write a guide for the Canadian Grand Prix. He has a very good website so it was a little tough to say yes. It has been fun seeing my web site grow and it would be nice to be the go to website for race fans. At the same time, I would like race fans to be able to find the information they need to get the best possible tickets and it really doesn't matter if they get it from me or someone else.
It was a lot of fun writing up advice from scratch again and it was great working with Andrew. I found plenty of new information that I can use to update this web site. Hopefully race fans will find this information helpful and it will mean more people have a great experience at the track.
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The 2013 American Grand Prix has just happened and it would be difficult to find anyone who would tell you it was a thriller. For that matter, it might be difficult to find anyone who would describe anything that happened this season thrilling. And, with regulation changes coming next year, people are already busy forecasting an absence of thrills for next year as well. It all looks terrible of course, but the question comes up. "What is it we want from a race?"
Pirelli seem to be getting much of the flak from the boredom of this weekends race. They brought conservative tyres that meant that the majority of the field only needed to stop once. Pirelli will rightly point out that they have also been criticized recently for bringing tyres that wear too quickly and make the race all about tyre management and pit stops rather than racing. For some reason, Pirelli is being victimized for doing exactly the job they were brought into F1 to do. DRS has also been coping a lot of blame for creating excitement free overtaking. DRS was brought in to combat processional races. Unfortunately, it has lead to the art of overtaking being reduced to being able to get within a second of the car in front on the right part of the track. In short, many of the gimmicks that have been introduced to spice up the show have lead to the show becoming rather bland. I blame tv. We racing fans complain about races. We complain about a lot of things. But, we all know that we will keep on watching no matter what. The problem is that the majority of money in F1 is made from the tv audience. The majority of the tv audience aren't racing fans. They are entertainment fans. They need something exciting to happen or they will change the channel. And here is the problem. Motor racing isn't always exciting. Sure cars go fast. But the fastest cars should win and the slowest should come last. What the tv audience doesn't get, and hopefully race fans do get, is that every now and then this doesn't go to plan and something exciting ensues. Who remembers Hakkinen going around Schumacher and Zonta in one move at Spa in 2000? Who remembers that the only reason he needed to make that move was because he screwed up on a drying track and had one of the most amateurish looking spins I have ever seen? My point is, let motor racing happen as it should and the excitement will turn up. Lets get rid of DRS, KERS, compulsorily running both sets of tyres, and artificially wearing tyres, Let's get rid of all the gimmicks and lets have some racing. Even if that means the odd bore fest. Malaysia was an OK race. There was plenty happening. Weather changes, pit stop dramas, a little crashing, and a bit of racing. But, give it a few months and I'm sure the only thing I will remember is the fight between Webber and Vettel and the press conference on the podium.
I went through a few different phases of thinking about the incident. As Webber came out of the pits for the final time, I was hoping that he would be able to hold on for the win. I like Vettel. He seems like a pretty cool cat. But, I prefer Webber for the same reson that I prefer Massa. They both play it straight, fight fair, and deserve the results that are so often taken away from them. Vettel asking the team to move Mark aside didn't exactly enamour him to me either. Even so, I loved the on track fight between the two. Neither of them gave up. They didn't mess around waiting for a DRS drive by, but scrapped it out on the most dangerous parts of the track. It was a great fight. And it was pretty damn funny to watch the pit wall sweating over what was going on. And then the aftermath. From the radio messages to the driver weigh in, you could see that this was going to get very very tense. Now here was some entertainment. Martin Brundle's interview with Mark Webber will go away with me as the highlight of the race. It was then that we found out that Mark was looking after his car and his tyres just as Vettel should have been. That Vettel had taken the whole race into his own hands. That he would rather take seven points off his teammate than accept his position. In short, that Vettel is quite capable of acting like a spoiled little child and expecting to get away with it. Everything about it made for great, tense tv. Webber standing there telling the truth. Vettel left to stand on his precious top step and look foolish. And the team that had just taken a 1-2 result looking like the least happiest of the teams in the pits. At this point I was angry. Poor Webber. What the hell is he meant to do? He is in the best team where he isn't even able to have a shot at taking the wins that he has deserved. He is in a team where his team mate makes up the rules as he goes along no matter what the agreements were. And what can Red Bull do? I don't think they are in a hurry to fire or hold back the driver that has deliverd them the last three World Drivers titles. But how can they not? The last thing I thought about the incident was when the cameras panned over the crowds at the circuit. When you are at the track, you don't know about radio communications or prearranged team orders. Those guys who paid so much for their tickets for the race got to see a damn good race. If Vettel had done what he should have done, then those at the track would have had a simple procession to the end. What happened between Vettel shouldn't have. Vettel is a bit more of a dick in my books. But maybe. Just maybe. What happened, should have happened. Maybe. I have become a bit lazy in my young middle ages. I used to actually set an alarm and get up at ungodly hours to watch races and quallifying. Now that the sensible portion of my brain is more developed, I wait around for the replays. And, I was lucky, because otherwise I would have been up for many unfruitful hours waiting for the Australian Qualifying to get underway. Watching replays of rain falling on empty stands reminds me of the few times that I have done the same.
Rain delays at motor racing are pretty nasty things. At Montreal, the stands have no cover, so you are going to get wet. You never know when or if cars are going to get back on the track, and you are going to get cold. My first rain delay was at the last Champ Car race held at Montreal. I was sitting in Grandstand 24 when the skies opened up after a couple of laps. Luckily, there is some shelter behind the stands and it was there that everyone hung around and waited for developments. As per usual, noone bothered to tell any fans what the hell was going on. After about an hour of waiting for hyperthermia to set in, I gave up and went home. Thankfully, the whole day was red flagged and the race was held on the Monday. Not having much in the way of serious employment at the time, I was able to spend a Monday afternoon in a half empty stand watching the race. My next chance to become thoroughly drenched came at my second Nascar nationwide race. As far as I know, this was the first time that Nascar had brought rain tyres to a race, so when the rain started to fall it looked like we were in for a show. Apparently however, it does not rain in the States and the rest of the race was filled with American drivers driving into walls. I would have still gone home happy if Marcus Ambrose were to win the thing. Unfortunately he got caught out by pit timing and found himself second as the red flag was pulled out. Byt this time the water was pouring down too heavily even for rain tyres. Grandstand 1 is a pretty fickle mob, so there weren't many of us left. I had managed to be allowed to share a sheet of plastic that some fans had brought. Underneath this leaky contraption we waited for anything to happen. Once again though, the fans were left in the dark untill the end. Nascar eventually called the race and we had to settle with watching the celebrations on the big screen despite the fact that they were taking place right in front of us behind closed garage doors. You probably remember the final rain delay I had to endure. The 2011 Montreal Grand Prix was a crazy day. The rain started during the driver parade and kept on intensifying untill it was biblical. The water on the track at the hairpin was at least 6 inches deep. The one and only reason I stuck around was to talk to my friends in the stand who I wouldn't see for another year. There was no way that I could see then restarting the race. But, you know the rest. When the cars came back out, we thought that they might run behind the safety car untill they had 75% race distance and could call it a race. Instead, we got the race of the season. I keep on adding things to pages here, and I realize that things are getting crowded. It takes a while to scroll through all the information on a page and search around all the different pages to find what you are looking for. I know that a lot of people come to this site looking for specific information. At the same time I am willing to bet that plenty of people who come to this site also have first hand experience of some different race tracks. So, in order to find a better way to answer specific questions, and so that others can share what they know, I am launching a forum.
The forum might look a bit basic at first, but hopefully over time I can build it up and others will be able to contribute. Hopefully I can start off by giving an answer as to how the numbering system works for the Grandstand seats in Montreal. Something which seems to be a mystery to everyone. So, I hope you enjoy and I hope the forum is good for race fans out there. The 2012 Canadian Grand Prix threw up some changes for the spectators at the hairpin. Namely big bloody fences. Since then, there has been a welcome addition to the ticketing choices for fans and the not so welcome news that we will be without Fanvision in 2013.
The fences were probably a good idea. I would rather have my vision of the hairpin approach obscured a little, than run the risk of wheels flying off cars and killing me. I probably have enough photos of cars at the apex of the hairpin. So maybe the fence was a good idea since now I hardly bother getting the camera out. But, while it was probably a good idea, I spent three days being pissed off that I couldn't see as much from my seat any more, and to tell you the truth, I would rather have some kind of protection from the sun and take my chances with death. While we are on the subject of whining about changes, I might as well mention that Fanvision will no longer be track side at Formula 1 events. Fanvision was great. You had a constant source of information to bring you up to date on whatever you needed. At a glance, you could get a reminder of the running order, see who was turning up the pace, listen in on the radio, or keep up to date with the tv coverage. In short Fanvision was a blessing. And now it is gone. I assume someone wasn't making enough money to justify creating a service to fans. While some seats will still have big screens to rely on, other stands are going to be a lot less valuable without Fanvision. Finally, on a good note, the circuit has come up with a good idea for tickets. Now you can buy tickets to three different stands over the weekend. This is a great idea for Montreal given that it is a flat track and you can only see a small part of the track from any one stand. Now you can tour around different parts of the track for the price of one ticket. I won't be buying these tickets since a big gang of us always meets up in Stand 21 year after year, but if I was going to the track for the first time or by myself I would buy this option at the drop of the hat. Lewis has just signed a three year contract with Mercedes and the est of the world is left wondering what the hell he is thinking. In making the swap he is making a change from a team that is giving him a legitiamte shot at the drivers title (and a shot that would be even better if it wasn't for the misfortune of Italy and Singapore) and moving to a team that has one win. Not only do Mercedes only have one win to their name, but that one win came at the start of a season where nobody could understand the Pirellis that they were racing on. Even Pastor Maldonado could manage a win in those crazy early days where, if you fluked upon a good setup then you were on the podium, no matter the car you were in. Since that win Mercedes have been lucky to hang onto the back end of the mid field while McLaren are finding themselves more and more toward the pointy end of the field. People will point out that Mercedes have plenty of finacing behind them. At the same time it wasn't so long ago that teams like Toyota and Honda came and went with their huge budgets having achieved nothing. What seems to be more important to winning races and championships is having an organization with the knowledge and determination to get it done. Mercedes seem to me to be more determined to sell cars, and t-shirts than in winning championship winning cars. Why elso would you hire a 40 year old out of form racing legend rather than an up and coming prospect. Mercedes seem to willing to throw the money around to buy the image they want. They might be better off from a racing point of view of spending more effort on going fast. All this move seems to suggest to me is that Hamilton is more interested in Hamilton the legend rather than Hamilton the driver.
I love motorracing which goes without saying. I also love sport in general and any sports fan knows that it is always better being there than watching it on tv. With motorsport there are always doubters though. They say that you can only see a tiny part of the track, that the noise is unbearable, and that sitting in the summer sun all day is not their idea of fun. To some degree or another I agree with these three points but obviously I keep going back for more and there are reasons for that.
If you know what you are looking for, you can see a lot more at a race. This isn't easy. It is easy to turn up, sit down and watch cars go around but if you really look you can find things that the tv never notices. At the hairpin at Montreal you can notice which teams constantly lock up early under braking (are they running low wings or have they screwed up the balance), you can notice which teams lift up their inside fronts at the apex (plenty of roll in the setup, soft suspension settings and therefore probably plenty of wing) and during the race you can notice which cars are sliding into the corner (front tyre wear) and which ones take a fraction of a second longer to get on the gas (rear tyre wear). It can be annoying to only see a fraction of the circuit but with big screen tvs and now with fan vision tv you really don't need to worry. Fanvision, for those who don't know is a portable little tv screen. With it you can watch the race on screen, choose any onboard you like, watch the live timing, listen to commentary and team radio. So long as you don't treat it like you have come all the way to the track to watch tv it is invaluable. I left it on the timing screen for the duration of the race, so you know instantly who has decided to turn it up and by how much. It adds a lot to watching at the track. Lastly (although I could keep on going here), the great thing about being at the race live, is that you are there for three whole days amongst like minded people who love to talk about the sport. Belgium has the added bonus in that you also live amongst them in the camp site. Each year I go to the Grand Prix with a group of friends that I met in the stand and who I only ever see trackside. We spend three glorious days living out of each others beer coolers and wallets. There realy is nothing like a live race. If you haven't been, then go. On the other side of the Atlantic Formula 1 teams, I'm sure, are getting their tickets and visas ready for the trip to Montreal. Car chasis', tools, and plastic chairs will be on the way in a finely tuned orchestra of organisation. On this side of the Atlantic race fans like myself might be a little less organised but equally as excited about getting everything ready for the weekend. I have already pulled out everything I will need for the weekend but I had to put it away again or risk getting kicked out of the house by the girlfriend. But this weekend I will get everything ready for real.
I thought that it might be useful for race fans coming to Montreal to read what an experienced fan takes to the track to help get prepared. Every year I get more stuff that I can't do without but some things are really essential. I sit in the front row so the cars come past me about five metres away. So the number one thing to pack is something to save my ears. I can't stand ear plugs. They never stick in my ear properly and after someone has finished talking to me I can never get the damn things back in. For that reason I bring along ear muffs which I find way better. The seats in the Grandstands at Montreal are terrible solid planks of aluminium. You will get a sore ass if you don't bring a cushioned seat. I got one for about $10 a few years ago and I would say it adds 50% to the value of your ticket. If you spend three days trackside, the likliehood of getting a dump of rain is very good. Umbrellas are no good unless you are in the back row or happy to make enemies of everyone behind you. Some people bring those cheap ponchos but they only keep you 50% dry in light fog. I have a good quality rain jacket and after last years downpour I got myself some good quality rain pants. Both of these survived a weekend at Spa so they will stay forever in the race bag. There is the other usuals: sunscreen, sunglasses, hat, ticket holder, camera, water, and lunch that everyone should bring. One good trick I have is that I freeze two small bottles of water overnight. This will keep your beer cold for a while and as they melt you will have a cold drink to keep you hydrated just enough to remain conscious. Well, it looks like Mercedes actually do know what they are doing and I don't. After a strong F and W duct qualifying on Saturday in China I expected the two Mercedes cars to fall out of contention after half a dozen laps. It seems though that the cars weren't set up for sponsorhip selling, headline making, pole position taking. Instead their pace was genuine and come Sunday we hardly noticed Nico as he was in a league of his own out the front. Aren't you glad you don't take my advice for placing bets.
While I might have been wrong about the strengths of the Mercedes F1 car, F1 is wrong about going to Bahrain and should admit it. People in Bahrain are being arrested, tortured and killed for wanting a government that doesn't exploit them. This government, which pays for F1 to glorify its image, will be made to look good by F1 visiting. In turn the majority of people protesting will be made to look like some people trying to spoil a good thing. Jean Todt says that the FIA is involved in sport and only sport which is a load of crap. I am a Formula 1 fan, but not only a Formula 1 fan. I have other interests and those interests inlude politics. The same is obviosly true of the Bahrain Royal family. I presume they like F1 and they certainly like politics. And in this case they are using sport for a political gain. Bernie Ecclestone might be a F1 promoter but he is not just an F1 promoter. He is involved in other sports, financing and the occasiional bit of politics. Sponsors of F1 are not solely sponsors of F1. They are employers and they are businesses who want a good image of themselves to be portrayed. The FIA represents a sport that is more than a sport. They are going to Bahrain as a sport but they know that they will be used as much more than a sport. The FIA is wrong to go to Bahrain and support this government. They should admit that they are wrong and not go |
TonyI am a race fan. I cannot claim to be an expert on anything, but as a fan I am apparently the most important part of the sport. So I assume everyone wants to hear what I have to say. Archives
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