138 replies to this topic

[pup]

Since her story was pulled within nanoseconds of being published, I doubt many had a chance to read it - but here's the archive.org link...

 

https://web.archive....velvet-curtain/

 

Whether you agree with her take or not, it's an honest and well written assessment from an F1 outsider, and makes me wish F1 had more actual journalists in the paddock.  Especially ones with no effs to give when it comes to ticking off the powers in the sport.  

 

 

[AustinF1]

Since her story was pulled within nanoseconds of being published, I doubt many had a chance to read it - but here's the archive.org link...

 

https://web.archive....velvet-curtain/

 

Whether you agree with her take or not, it's an honest and well written assessment from an F1 outsider, and makes me wish F1 had more actual journalists in the paddock.  Especially ones with no effs to give when it comes to ticking off the powers in the sport.  

Yeah I saw that posted on a small forum yesterday. I was really surprised it got pulled. It's a fairly frank outsider's look at the Paddock and Paddock Club environment, but it didn't seem earth-shatteringly terrible for F1/FOM. I like the author's writing style, even in the parts where I disagree with her here and there.

[NateF]

Client journalism is not only for politics!

[MichaelPM]

I haven't had a chance to read it but on the drive home today the radio broadcaster talked about Drive to Survive and bad blood between Christian and Jos. Mentioning how outside the race setting its just rich unlikable people and then during races its horrible personalities taking pot shots at each other. However the Spanish guy is likable...

I never thought of F1 that way, but I can't argue with it during the current state of things.

[juicy sushi]

I haven't had a chance to read it but on the drive home today the radio broadcaster talked about Drive to Survive and bad blood between Christian and Jos. Mentioning how outside the race setting its just rich unlikable people and then during races its horrible personalities taking pot shots at each other. However the Spanish guy is likable...

I never thought of F1 that way, but I can't argue with it during the current state of things.

I mean, that essentially is what racing always is.  F1 just lucked into a way to monetize the traditional garage whinging.

[scheivlak]

Fantastic article   

[BoDarvelle]

Yeah I saw that posted on a small forum yesterday. I was really surprised it got pulled. It's a fairly frank outsider's look at the Paddock and Paddock Club environment, but it didn't seem earth-shatteringly terrible for F1/FOM. I like the author's writing style, even in the parts where I disagree with her here and there.

 

 

I'm not. It's a view of F1, actually capitalism as she writes very little about anything to do with the race, through a communist's eyes.

 

Oh, sorry. "Card carrying socialist" to use her words. 

 

Her speaking of Hamilton; "It's reminiscent of the patronage system of precapitalist times, when rulers and nobles with endless riches paid musicians and composers to live in the palace with them."

Edited by BoDarvelle, 05 March 2024 - 20:33.

[PayasYouRace]

That's a very good read and it's a shame it is now only available on web archive.

 

I think it's important to get outsiders' views of Formula 1. It's important to remind ourselves of how Formula 1 increasingly encapsulates the terrible inequalities that blight our world, and anyone like Ms Wagner who shines a light on that gets applause from me. Formula 1 is getting increasingly detached from reality, driven by greed. Events such as the Andretti saga confirm this. The sport, much like the wider world, would benefit from less greed amongst the "haves" and sharing the wealth and success with everyone who makes that possible.

[jonpollak]

Totally agree PaYR.

This is the kind of article I’d like to write, albeit with a BIT more track related content. I really enjoy the outsiders view of the F1 fish bowl.
Imagine if some insider gets to wax on about the real F1 environment!?!? Like If Mark Hughes ever chucks in his media pass….. I’d bet he could write a doozy !!!

Thanks pup.
Jp

Edited by jonpollak, 05 March 2024 - 22:34.

[red stick]

I'm not. It's a view of F1, actually capitalism as she writes very little about anything to do with the race, through a communist's eyes.
 
Oh, sorry. "Card carrying socialist" to use her words. 
 
Her speaking of Hamilton; "It's reminiscent of the patronage system of precapitalist times, when rulers and nobles with endless riches paid musicians and composers to live in the palace with them."[/size]

Capitalism? Or cartel of wretched excess? One need not be a socialist to recognize the issues.

[Sterzo]

I really enjoyed the article, though I can see why a motoring magazine would think it not relevant to their content, and too political for them. It was incredibly well written and gave a personal perspective, which you don't have to share in order to appreciate.

[AlexS]

She talks like a puritan priest ,usual for socialists which is basically a violent religion - since voluntary socialism is quite rare. The usual contradiction of obsessing and despising money at same time, and those 10000$ Rolexes, etc that are paying the salaries of several thousands persons. That last part she forget to tell that is good the rich spend their money in things that other people do and not only between themselves.

 

As a socialist she also typically despises the poor that prosper for themselves and refuse to be dependent on socialism  : An example of her Ideological Aristocracy:

 

Many of its practitioners, such as Ross Chastain and Joey Logano, continue that same kind of Dukes of Hazzard swagger. Even in our professionalized, PR-besotted world, they retain in spirit their scrappy origins. Both sports share a commonality in weird, fleeting small-fry sponsorships: Dogecoin, sealant companies, and Quick-Step flooring, those kinds of things. 

 

 

She writes about a different culture above but she did not internalised that it is a different one. As a progressive she would never write that way if she was writing about black Americans, Aborigines etc . Then even the most mundane thing will have been a reason to be proud.

 

One good way to know what is the ideology of a journalist is to find those the journalist allows to be proud of the mundane.

 

 

At the end the way she wrote about Lewis was quite uncomfortable that remind me of some writings about Obama. Groupie level?  About his salary she says nothing . Yet another contrast: despising rich people from industry but careful to not do it to a sport icon.

 

Overall an article  that looks a bit like tabloid journalism for a Socialist magazine. . Some parts of the writing were well done from a word flow pov specially when she talks about the F1 car and track operations  but others were tiresome.

 

But no juice.

[jonpollak]

I was able to ignore her political and social bent and just enjoy her observations as intended.

Jp

[Risil]

I think you've got it backwards: she clearly admires Logano and Chastain as having a sort of authenticity and truth to stock car racing's roots or essential spirit or whatever you want to call it.

[Chubby_Deuce]

I was able to ignore her political and social bent and just enjoy her observations as intended.

Jp

That’s probably because you’re not a completely unhinged weirdo.

[Risil]

Her speaking of Hamilton; "It's reminiscent of the patronage system of precapitalist times, when rulers and nobles with endless riches paid musicians and composers to live in the palace with them."

Comparing Lewis Hamilton to Joseph Haydn is a bold move

[BoDarvelle]

I think you've got it backwards: she clearly admires Logano and Chastain as having a sort of authenticity and truth to stock car racing's roots or essential spirit or whatever you want to call it.

 

"Dukes of Hazzard" swagger isn't a compliment.

 

The fact it doesn't describe Logano in the least is chuckle worthy. He's from Connecticut and this is how Tony Stewart described him;

 

 

 

"He's nothing but a little rich kid who's never had to work in his life, so he's going to learn what us working guys who had to work our way up … how it works."

[Risil]

"Dukes of Hazzard" swagger isn't a compliment.

If you told me I moderated the forum with a Dukes of Hazzard swagger, unlike certain professionalized PR-besotted bozos, I would consider that a compliment!

It didn't quite fit my memory of Logano's fairly smooth entry into NASCAR either but I suppose image and swagger can go a long way.

[BoDarvelle]

Assuming you are not American so don't know that most Americans would take "Dukes of Hazzard" swagger as being a southern redneck. aka hick. Not sure what you Brits term someone similar.

 

She's amused by them. Doesn't respect them.

[Venom21]

Love her McMansion hell blog, its hilarious.  Will definitely read this later.

[OvDrone]

That was a phenomenal read. Was transfixed and rarely have I read an article recently, that well written.

Thank you Pup, for sharing it ^^



About the greed and immense neo-feudal differences in wealth in our world... I don't know what to say at this point. It's so pervasive everywhere, in all aspects of life. 

You can see F1 as this mystical, elusive showcase of man and machine, and in it's best times, it is. Yet the corruption at it's heart is overwhelming right now. It is such a crazy world. I can't get past the corruption and greed though. It's too sick.

[mariner]

I really liked it, a proper peice of in-depth writing which mut be very hard to get published in this instant, Whatsapp world.

 

. 

It is probably blasphemous but I always thought that Road and Track and Car and Driver had a higher writing  quality than most UK magazines because they looked outside the pure car stuff as this woman did 

[Nobody]

it's a great article in fact, why did it get pulled?

 

outfits worth more than the market price of all the organs in my body 

 

 

[ClubmanGT]

it's a great article in fact, why did it get pulled?

 

outfits worth more than the market price of all the organs in my body 

 

 

 

She says this as if it's a bad thing, otherwise capitalism would suggest we should get the chop.

Long may my organs be worth less than my continuing personage as a going concern. 

[Shambolic]

I'm not. It's a view of F1, actually capitalism as she writes very little about anything to do with the race, through a communist's eyes.

 

Oh, sorry. "Card carrying socialist" to use her words. 

 

 

I'm pretty left wing, so I'm all good with her "card carrying socialist" thing.

 

But after maybe the seven thousandth word that still hadn't really moved past her background covering cycling, her disdain for promo t shirts, and her observations on first class air travel, I gave up. Maybe there is something about F1 further into the novella, but all I could think was "Why am I reading this instead of the book I bought a couple of weeks ago?"

[loki]

I'm not. It's a view of F1, actually capitalism as she writes very little about anything to do with the race, through a communist's eyes.

 

Oh, sorry. "Card carrying socialist" to use her words. 

 

Her speaking of Hamilton; "It's reminiscent of the patronage system of precapitalist times, when rulers and nobles with endless riches paid musicians and composers to live in the palace with them."

 

Conflating communism and socialism is like conflating Christianity and Islam…

[loki]

That’s probably because you’re not a completely unhinged weirdo.

Correct.  JP is not unhinged…

[Jim Thurman]

"Dukes of Hazzard" swagger isn't a compliment.

 

The fact it doesn't describe Logano in the least is chuckle worthy. He's from Connecticut and this is how Tony Stewart described him;

"He's nothing but a little rich kid who's never had to work in his life, so he's going to learn what us working guys who had to work our way up … how it works."

While I concur that it hardly describes Logano, it is beyond chuckle worthy coming from someone who had a TV network and a baking powder heir pave his road for him, giving him every favor along the way. Is he truly so dense that he doesn't realize that?

 

My take is the writer views Logano as having a flippant, "I don't give a ..." attitude.

[catent]

She talks like a puritan priest ,usual for socialists which is basically a violent religion - since voluntary socialism is quite rare. The usual contradiction of obsessing and despising money at same time, and those 10000$ Rolexes, etc that are paying the salaries of several thousands persons. That last part she forget to tell that is good the rich spend their money in things that other people do and not only between themselves.

As a socialist she also typically despises the poor that prosper for themselves and refuse to be dependent on socialism : An example of her Ideological Aristocracy:


She writes about a different culture above but she did not internalised that it is a different one. As a progressive she would never write that way if she was writing about black Americans, Aborigines etc . Then even the most mundane thing will have been a reason to be proud.

One good way to know what is the ideology of a journalist is to find those the journalist allows to be proud of the mundane.


At the end the way she wrote about Lewis was quite uncomfortable that remind me of some writings about Obama. Groupie level? About his salary she says nothing . Yet another contrast: despising rich people from industry but careful to not do it to a sport icon.

Overall an article that looks a bit like tabloid journalism for a Socialist magazine. . Some parts of the writing were well done from a word flow pov specially when she talks about the F1 car and track operations but others were tiresome.

But no juice.

If you found the way the author spoke of Hamilton “uncomfortable” - in a way reminiscent of how people spoke of Obama - may I ask how you feel about the cult following Trump has? Not that it’s relevant to this topic, but certainly no less relevant than Obama.

Socialism is a “violent religion”? That’s untrue. And if you have concern about organized, sociopolitical/religious violence, I’d again ask how you feel about Trump and his constituency.

As for your general dislike of “socialism”, I’d ask you if you’ve ever contacted police, fire, or rescue services for assistance? Have you ever driven on a publicly built/paid for road? Have you or your children attended a public school? These are forms of socialism; publicly built/paid for/owned services/utilities that serve the public. They were paid for via taxes and exist to provide a mutually beneficial public service/good.

Do you believe these programs to be inherently bad for society? Or do you feel they serve some good purpose? And instead of ignorantly badmouthing these social programs, perhaps we could have thoughtful discussion about the scope/extent/implementation/execution of these public programs in our society?

[BoDarvelle]

Socialism is a “violent religion”? That’s untrue. And if you have concern about organized, sociopolitical/religious violence, I’d again ask how you feel about Trump and his constituency.

 

 

I imagine this thread is well on it's way to being locked, but it wasn't the Trump crowd (who I also call a cult), or anyone on the right, that was burning American cities back in 2020.

 

Parts of Minneapolis look much like Gaza.

[Nathan]

I don't get why it was pulled.  A bucket full of crabs no doubt, but it was alright and nicely written.

[JeanAlesi27]

Sheds light on why it was pulled.

 

https://www.washingt...ck-kate-wagner/

[Gyan]

It's a brilliantly written article. The way she describes the car during a garage tour is essentially the perfect advert to attract new fans, Liberty should be pushing this article in all honesty, it's free high-quality PR. Pure poetry.

 

The day's activities commenced with a tour of the garage. In the garage, there are many mysteries one is not allowed to know or see. The use of phones is forbidden lest one incur accusations of espionage. When we got into the garage, Lewis's car was naked, its insides visible for all to see. I think this was the moment where my respect for the sport as it exists really made itself clear. It is hard to describe what I felt looking at that car. The closest phrase I have at my disposal is the technological sublime. I pictured a living, breathing animal of extraterrestrial origin, hooked up to a thousand arcane sensors that delivered messages in little pulses. All the tubes and sculpted carbon-fiber parts and the endless net of wires all working in service to the godhead engine, formed something totally incomprehensible to me, a feat of engineering so vast it breached the realm of magic. Hamilton himself walked through in his helmet, unexpectedly on an errand. After being in the presence of the car, I perceived him differently than before, when he was just a guy driving in circles on TV. The scope of his capabilities became more directly known to me in the face of that which I believed to be unknowable. All of that was built in service of him.

 

 

 

The car is both the most studied piece of human engineering, tuned and devised in lab-like environments and at the same time a variable entity, something that must be wrestled with and pushed. The numbers are crunched, the forms wind-tunneled. And yet some spirit escapes their control, and that spirit is known only by the driver. Yes, we watch this perfect blend of man and machine, but we speak of the machine as though it were not of human origin, as though the machine, being born from science could—eventually, through its iterative processes—sublimate human flaws. The driver, being human, knows this is false.

[Muppetmad]

I also have no idea why this was pulled. In truth, I think it falls prey to "style over substance" in how it is written (although maybe that's my profession, in which every word matters, speaking volumes...), but there is nothing in there that's egregious or unwarranted.

 

If F1 wants to be big in the USA, it has to accept that not everyone will like what they see.

[loki]

I also have no idea why this was pulled. In truth, I think it falls prey to "style over substance" in how it is written (although maybe that's my profession, in which every word matters, speaking volumes...), but there is nothing in there that's egregious or unwarranted.

 

If F1 wants to be big in the USA, it has to accept that not everyone will like what they see.

 

Jenna Fryer reported the piece “didn’t fit the editorial direction” of Road and Track.

[Muppetmad]

Okay, but surely that judgement should have been made before publication?

[Nobody]

She says this as if it's a bad thing, otherwise capitalism would suggest we should get the chop.

Long may my organs be worth less than my continuing personage as a going concern. 

 

the moment your organs come into demand over any other random person's is when the market will take any interest, and outstrip the value of some fine rags (I suspect)

[Mat13]

Thanks for sharing, I enjoyed that!

[Diablobb81]

Why was it pulled? It was a good read.

Edited by Diablobb81, 06 March 2024 - 07:20.

[BoDarvelle]

Why is it so hard to understand the editor pulling it from Road and Track?

 

It's a socialist class warrior's view of the people that frequent F1 paddocks. Not exactly what a magazine begging for subscribers, many/most of whom are upper class, the group she pillories, would be wanting to run.

 

You, and others here, may agree with her views but a large percentage of their readers would not.

 

Pissing off your dwindling subscriber base is not a wise thing in this electronics age.

 

And as said in the Washington Post article, a left leaning newspaper yet they still put socialist in the headline, the editor only took the position in January and did not know of the article which had been in the works for months. Perhaps poor judgement like commissioning this article from this writer is why the former editor is out of the job.

[jAnO76]

Risil you moderate the forum with a Dukes of Hazzard swagger. 

[Pingu Pi]

Why is it so hard to understand the editor pulling it from Road and Track?

 

It's a socialist class warrior's view of the people that frequent F1 paddocks. Not exactly what a magazine begging for subscribers, many/most of whom are upper class, the group she pillories, would be wanting to run.

 

You, and others here, may agree with her views but a large percentage of their readers would not.

 

Pissing off your dwindling subscriber base is not a wise thing in this electronics age.

 

And as said in the Washington Post article, a left leaning newspaper yet they still put socialist in the headline, the editor only took the position in January and did not know of the article which had been in the works for months. Perhaps poor judgement like commissioning this article from this writer is why the former editor is out of the job.

I think this highlights the real issue at play, an intolerance (at publishing and/or audience level) for appreciating a differing perspective and experience on all things in life. Silo's and homegenous thinking is never healthy in growth... Moving to a world of accepting of difference and holding the difference with less weight is a healthier future and perspective for all. 

 

Kate's writing is whimsical, personal and even poke's a little fun at the bubble that is F1. F1, news outlets and all (me inc) should try to be a little less sensitive.

 

Easier said than done with our personal feelings, emotions and circumstances at play never mind when beheld to stakeholders, sponsors or boards - but maybe the start is for the audiences to simply accepting this was a nicely written article that may not fully align with all views but is simply another view to look through and potentially nothing more.

 

I really enjoyed it, less stale, more story and lyrical.

Edited by Pingu Pi, 06 March 2024 - 07:55.

[timmy bolt]

I think people are getting a bit caught up with the socialist bit of the article. In the US people call themselves socialist yet they are barely left of centre by European standards. They're a long way off socialist / communist Russia.

[Diablobb81]

Why is it so hard to understand the editor pulling it from Road and Track?

 

It's a socialist class warrior's view of the people that frequent F1 paddocks. Not exactly what a magazine begging for subscribers, many/most of whom are upper class, the group she pillories, would be wanting to run.

 

You, and others here, may agree with her views but a large percentage of their readers would not.

 

Pissing off your dwindling subscriber base is not a wise thing in this electronics age.

 

And as said in the Washington Post article, a left leaning newspaper yet they still put socialist in the headline, the editor only took the position in January and did not know of the article which had been in the works for months. Perhaps poor judgement like commissioning this article from this writer is why the former editor is out of the job.

If people only read articles that only agree with their views then i have some bad news for them.

 

The article is fine even if you don't agree with her interpretations (which i partly don't).

Edited by Diablobb81, 06 March 2024 - 08:35.

[loki]

I think people are getting a bit caught up with the socialist bit of the article. In the US people call themselves socialist yet they are barely left of centre by European standards. They're a long way off socialist / communist Russia.

I see others that think some are socialists when they’re really left or center left.  The term is used as an insult by many while not realizing they live in a social democracy in the form of a republic.   The term is usually self described as a democratic socialist.  More similar to Nordic countries than to Marxists or Leninists.  Think Sweden not so much USSR.

[piszkosfred]

I'm not. It's a view of F1, actually capitalism as she writes very little about anything to do with the race, through a communist's eyes.

 

Oh, sorry. "Card carrying socialist" to use her words. 

 

Her speaking of Hamilton; "It's reminiscent of the patronage system of precapitalist times, when rulers and nobles with endless riches paid musicians and composers to live in the palace with them."

Are you lived ín a communist state ever? I don't think you know what do you write about.

Edited by piszkosfred, 06 March 2024 - 08:55.

[Risil]

Risil you moderate the forum with a Dukes of Hazzard swagger.

Thank you! What a nice compliment, you've made my day.

[chrcol]

Why was it pulled?

[absinthedude]

What a pleasure in this age of the soundbite and two minute read, to come across a well crafted piece like that. 

 

The fact that Kate Wagner mentions her political convictions sets the stage, it helps us understand the lens through which she is viewing the F1 circus. Surely, one does not have to agree with her to see that she's setting a scene and describing an experience that likely none of us will ever partake in. 

 

Her description of the Mercedes F1 car is poetic. The way she writes about that feeling of her skin crawling at being around not just that much money but the attitude of those with the money....really helps the reader feel like they are there too. Which is sometimes what great journalism should be about. 

 

conflating socialism with the kind of USSR or even North Korean communist systems is just lazy guff and....soundbites. No doubt written by someone who's never even met anyone who experienced Eastern European communism or Western European socialism. 

 

F1 cannot continue to grow it's pie ad infinitum. They are thinking short term. This has been an increasing problem since Bernie sold up. Bernie created something that he sustained for decades, the current lot are trying to milk as much as they can before jumping off the ship at the right moment, just before it sinks. There's nothing wrong with making money, or having money. I grew up around a few *very* rich people, one or two of whom may have graced the Paddock Club at some time or other. But back in those days, they didn't have the attitude of today's lot....in fact, as I recall...one did party political broadcasts for the Liberals and some others publicly supported the Labour Party. 

 

May we all enjoy our moments of Dukes of Hazzard swagger. May the confidence of Bo and Luke find their way into our lives, especially those of us who *are* less fortunate. 

 

A crying shame that this was pulled. Sometimes publications are best served when they offer something different to their usual fare. When they offer an article that might upset the applecart. 

[LittleChris]

Good article. Didn't see anything pertaining to what we in Europe would call socialism just the skewering of a few pompous, up their own arse, probably well connected egos hence withdrawal 🙂