Q: Not a question, but a comment. There are many parallels between Las Vegas and the 2005 U.S. Grand Farce at Indy, at least in terms of lack of communication and travel and expenses being used without the return of an enjoyable experience. In Vegas, the prices charged even for practice being so astronomical, Reginald from the recent Mailbag and those like him deserve better from F1.
At least in the case of Indianapolis we got some free tickets courtesy of Michelin for the following year’s race, but I believe that 2005 event secured F1’s ultimate demise at Indy. Crowds never came back — those last two races were so sparse. I doubt the same fate will befall Vegas. It’d be nice if F1 could find a way to offer this year’s practice day attendees a practice day gratis ticket next year. But I won’t hold my breath for it either…
Marc Hamann, Columbia, MD
CM: All I can really say to that, Marc, is that I agree — it shouldn’t be taken for granted that F1 is a mainstay in the U.S., and the race at Indy was definitely a prime example of how damaging it can be if you don’t treat fans well enough. As you say, we’ve had messages from people who were impacted by the issues, and the compensation was poor in my opinion. Finding a way of rewarding them this season too would be a really good step.
Q: Historically, F1 has been an old boys’ club; understandable with the investment it takes to get a competitive car to the grid. However, in the 21st century it has moved far beyond the old boys’ club into the rarified air of exclusivity. Between the Eurocentric requirements for obtaining a F1 Super License and payments for each point scored in renewing the license, it is a barrier to new drivers.
The B.S. of having “new” drivers test in FP1 at selected events is just that – BS. In the 20th century, teams would tend to seek out the local hotshoe driver of the country (or continent) where an event was being held. Not only did those selected drivers get to drive one session, they got to drive all sessions and race.
Teams should be required to run a third car at events. The third car would be driven by a “new” potential driver — the local hotshoe. These drivers will not possess a Super License, any driver will be granted a maximum of four races with a team; they may be permitted to go through the four race test with more than one team. The new driver’s performance will be evaluated after the completion of the four race tests and then granted a Super License if the driver’s performance was satisfactory. Earn the Super License based on F1 performance, not non-F1 events.
I understand it is easy for me to spend other people’s money!
Chuck McAbee, Sykesville, MD
CM: I think one of the main issues here, Chuck, is how much F1 has changed since the 20th century, especially when you look at garage space (finding garages for 10 extra cars in modern F1 would be pretty much impossible short-term) and the complexity of the cars. You can’t just jump in and drive one for the first time at a race weekend, but testing is banned too because of the cost, and the extra cars themselves would cost a huge amount to build and run compared to the past.
So that would all add up to any hypothetical seat only being available to the highest bidder, and not necessarily talent. What I think the cost cap has done is significantly improve the driving talent, because just being a pay driver isn’t enough — you don’t bring enough value solely through finance these days, you have to pair that with being a multiple race-winner from F2 level at the very least.
Just as an aside: Drivers do have to complete a certain amount of mileage in an F1 car to be able to get a Super License too, to ensure they’re capable in F1 machinery. It’s another reason a Super License point was offered to drivers who cleanly complete over 100km during an FP1 session — so that those sessions could act as a pathway to a race seat for a rookie, like in the case of Logan Sargeant.
But that’s not to say I disagree with your logic. I definitely feel there should be more chances for rookies to race (an extra team or two would really help that, wouldn’t it…) and think it would be great if there was a way of seeing the odd wild card third car entry, with no need for a full Super License for those opportunities, but perhaps solid Super License points on offer for racing.
And the U.S. ladder in particular really needs better rewarding in terms of Super License points, so that drivers can at least get close enough through IndyCar to then run a few FP1s and get the license if they’re of interest to an F1 team.
Q: The Villeneuve and Pironi documentary is now being carried by Max (HBO) streaming. Now, if we can get the documentary on Ecclestone then the planets will be aligned.
Steve
CM: I’ll admit for my sins that I’ve yet to watch “Lucky!” — the Bernie documentary — but I’ll try and play that off as being in solidarity with everyone else waiting for it to come to North America. I remember you asking about both docs last year, Steve, and they were both working on it but hadn’t yet secured anything, so at least Villeneuve and Pironi got somewhere, but there’s been no further info that I can get about any broadcast partner for ‘Lucky!’ so far.
THE FINAL WORD
From Robin Miller’s Mailbag, January 7, 2014
Q: When USAC and then CART started to really get their feet wet with road racing and ultimately street racing, who were the old-school oval racers who really adapted to it well, and who weren’t embarrassed when the road racers from Europe and South America showed up? And assuming there were some, how come it wasn’t that way 15-20 years later? All the IRL drivers from its early years got absolutely blown away once the ex-CART and Champ Car drivers arrived.
Steve May, Corpus Christi, TX
ROBIN MILLER: Lloyd Ruby was a damn fine road racer and Gordon Johncock was always exciting because he’d charge into corners, spin, and storm back to the front. We kid Vuky at our lunches that he was one of the worst road racers ever (and he agrees) and Tom Sneva actually went from a disaster at road racing to half-decent (in 1984 he ran third at Long Beach and won at Caesars Palace in Vegas). I just think the old school racers drove anything and everything every weekend and during the week and were so much more on top of things than the IRLers. Sam Hornish was interesting in that he came from Atlantics, sucked when the IRL went road racing and then improved greatly with Roger Penske’s tutoring.