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Posted 30 November 2023 - 15:57
The way this is going, we will soon in the future get to 30 races, pretty hilarious... not long ago a staple was 16 races.
''Well, it might be Christmas eve, but Santa's sleigh is only the second-fastest vehicle on show this evening... welcome to <Insert random US or Middle Eastern city here> for the 51st - and penultimate - race of the season!''
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Posted 30 November 2023 - 16:31
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Posted 30 November 2023 - 19:06
Remind me why pairing with Montreal won’t work. Too hot in June?
Pairing Austin with Montreal in June? Yep, too hot in Austin in June. Of course it could be done, but if it was done every year, I'd think the drivers and teams wouldn't much like the problems it would present, and I think attendance would drop significantly over time. June isn't the hottest month here, but it's not much cooler than the hottest months (July - early September). To visitors from most places, it would be extremely hot compared to what they're used to.
Edited by AustinF1, 01 December 2023 - 04:34.
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Posted 30 November 2023 - 19:46
It's a lot of races, but I don't feel that bad for the drivers. NASCAR drives about 40 races a year and other sports like pro basketball play several times per week (that is also very physical). It's not like the driver has to pack up the equipment and work all night in the garage. It's the grunts I feel sorry for. Drivers leave after the race right after it is done, stay in a five-star hotel and fly to the next venue in a private jet (often going elsewhere between races) and getting paid millions to do this.
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Posted 30 November 2023 - 20:36
The South African Grand Prix was traditionally held in the Christmas-New Year week.
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Posted 30 November 2023 - 21:38
It's a lot of races, but I don't feel that bad for the drivers. NASCAR drives about 40 races a year and other sports like pro basketball play several times per week (that is also very physical). It's not like the driver has to pack up the equipment and work all night in the garage. It's the grunts I feel sorry for. Drivers leave after the race right after it is done, stay in a five-star hotel and fly to the next venue in a private jet (often going elsewhere between races) and getting paid millions to do this.
I think a big difference for NASCAR is that all the races take place in the USA, so a max 3hr change of time-zone, you are always in your own country so you understand the culture and language, and internal flights are generally easier than international.
I don't know if F1 perrsonnel need inoculations for any countries?
I suspect F1 drivers have a lot more calls on their time during a race event as well.
Even by charter Gulfstream/Lear PER has 10+hour flight time + travel to/from/within airport to visit his family from the UK, add in return journey and it is a different scale of travel.
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Posted 30 November 2023 - 21:55
I think a big difference for NASCAR is that all the races take place in the USA, so a max 3hr change of time-zone, you are always in your own country so you understand the culture and language, and internal flights are generally easier than international.
I don't know if F1 perrsonnel need inoculations for any countries?
I suspect F1 drivers have a lot more calls on their time during a race event as well.
Even by charter Gulfstream/Lear PER has 10+hour flight time + travel to/from/within airport to visit his family from the UK, add in return journey and it is a different scale of travel.
Most of the personnel, yes. Drivers, not so much. They make enough money to bring families to some of the races if they need to, and they have a pretty tight bubble in each country if they desire (it's not like they are by themselves and staying in hostels). They have a four week break a couple of times and usually a week between races. There are a couple of big time zone changes on short weeks but most of the consecutive races have little to no time change, so I don't think it is that bad for the drivers. I would hate to sort out their taxes, though!
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Posted 05 December 2023 - 21:35
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Posted 05 December 2023 - 21:40
Wow. The COTA boss wanted the sprint race and then kinda blamed this year's attendance decline on having a sprint weekend. Now he's got another one? Kinda weird.
The Sprint excuse was nonsense.
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Posted 05 December 2023 - 22:21
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Posted 05 December 2023 - 22:38
Why did they pick China, a circuit that no one has run in over 4 years, as the weekend to have 1 free practice session.
Edited by ARTGP, 05 December 2023 - 22:39.
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Posted 05 December 2023 - 23:11
The South African Grand Prix was traditionally held in the Christmas-New Year week.
Member
Posted 05 December 2023 - 23:52
The Sprint excuse was nonsense.
Agree 100%. It declined because it declined.
Member
Posted 06 December 2023 - 00:33
Why did they pick China, a circuit that no one has run in over 4 years, as the weekend to have 1 free practice session.
Member
Posted 06 December 2023 - 01:07
Perhaps these are the only 6 circuits that were willing to pay the fee.
Do they really pay extra for this nonsense? Wow.
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Posted 06 December 2023 - 01:52
I’m surprised it’s only 6 Sprints.
...so far.
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Posted 06 December 2023 - 08:43
I’m surprised it’s only 6 Sprints.
6 too many.
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Posted 06 December 2023 - 09:42
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Posted 06 December 2023 - 12:44
Why did they pick China, a circuit that no one has run in over 4 years, as the weekend to have 1 free practice session.
Suspect the promoter was more than happy to shell out the extra money precisely for that reason. First race since 2019 - they want as many eyes on the sport as possible.
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Posted 06 December 2023 - 13:51
presumably you get more audience. perhaps this wasnt the case in Austin because the whole event declined due to Miami/Vegas and with that the decline was minimized, but it certainly applies to others. And no matter how you view sprint race (i dont like them) the friday has certainly become more appealing at the track.Do they really pay extra for this nonsense? Wow.
Edited by Marklar, 06 December 2023 - 13:51.
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Posted 06 December 2023 - 14:15
Rather have sprints than practice sessions. I will watch the sprint quali and the sprint race, not going to waste time watching practice sessions.
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Posted 06 December 2023 - 15:20
presumably you get more audience. perhaps this wasnt the case in Austin because the whole event declined due to Miami/Vegas and with that the decline was minimized, but it certainly applies to others. And no matter how you view sprint race (i dont like them) the friday has certainly become more appealing at the track.
Yeah that's what they say and actually I believe they are able to draw slightly more people for the sprint weekend, more because of the Friday Qualifying than the Saturday Sprint. I dislike the sprint weekends intensely, too, but Friday crowds are where you can boost the weekend's crowd number by the biggest margin, and Friday at COTA this year was very crowded relative to most other years, if not all of them. The COTA boss going back to the well again for 2024 just reinforces that belief imho. It was weird that he decided to do that after saying flat out that the Sprint didn't help crowds ( https://racingnews36...les-cota-bosses , https://www.autospor...orner/10536200/ ).
IMHO the overall USGP attendance fell in spite of the boost brought by the sprint weekend, and Epstein's claims to the contrary were merely posturing re: the payment for 2024, etc. You could easily see the weakness in the crowds of grandstands 2, 4, and 6 on Saturday and Sunday, compared to the past 2 years.
Edited by AustinF1, 06 December 2023 - 15:44.
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Posted 09 December 2023 - 12:35
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Posted 09 December 2023 - 12:37
Edited by FirstnameLastname, 09 December 2023 - 12:38.
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