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Brianj5600

Brianj5600

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There seems to be a few F1 fans so here is the thread for F1 conversation.

I saw my first in person F1 in 1984 in Dallas. I was on the fence when Nigel Mansell attempted to push his car across the finish line. He collapsed from heat and exhaustion allowing Keke Rosberg to to win. I was hooked.

The turbo era cars were crazy. Up to 1500 hp in qualifying and huge rear tires could accelerate beyond belief. There was a hairpin the penultimate corner and the first couple of cars through accelerated so fast my head didn't turn fast enough. After a few came through my head was up to speed. Big bang engines fire all cylinders in between 90 and 110 degrees and don't fire again for around 620 degrees.

In 2001 we were planning a honeymoon in Italy in April 2002, including going to the San Marino F1 race. 9/11 erased that.

I went to the first Indy F1 race and several after. Hearing the Mercedes come down the front straight was crazy loud. The metal grandstands with metal roof reflected the sound and amplified it. All of the teams by then were running big bang engines, except Mercedes-Benz. BB engines have a lower tone a sound like the rpm is lower. They sound incredible at 17,000+ rpm, but the even fire Mercedes sounded more like a turbine engine or a whirring sound. I could go on.

Sorry for the long post...I am a little passionate. Share your stories, tech, news, anything Formula 1.

I'll start some news. George Russell will be replacing Lewis Hamilton, well driving Lewis' factory Mercedes. I like Russell and would like to see him with a better car.
 
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Nice thread, I had tickets to attend my first race at the Mexico GP in Oct, but it got cancelled due to COVID. I`ll have to wait until next year.
 
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I can't wait to see what Russell can do in the Merc. It's hands down the best car on the grid, but I don't believe that takes anything away from what Ham has accomplished in it.

I've been following F1 only thru the current V6 era but remember watching the old V10's scream on the tv while visiting my grandparents. I've been a lifelong sportscar fan and have been to more Daytona 24's than I can count.
 
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I got into SCCA road racing and karting as a teenager & became an F1 fan in the mid 90s as Schumacher was rising to dominance. I haven't attended a race outside of the states, but I did go to COTA a couple of years ago & went to every single Grand Prix at Indy when they raced there in the 2000's. Lots of fond memories. I think the V-10 era produced some of the best noises our ears can ever hear.
 
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Brianj5600 said:
I like that track. The stadium complex is unique and it is probably one of the most action packed places in F1.
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Yes, I also like all the pre and post show, since it is right around the date when we remember our deaths (all saints day), the organizers put together a really nice show. Last year my son & daughter went and had a chance to meet Giovinazzi, it was quite an experience.
 
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H_Nunez said:
Yes, I also like all the pre and post show, since it is right around the date when we remember our deaths (all saints day), the organizers put together a really nice show. Last year my son & daughter went and had a chance to meet Giovinazzi, it was quite an experience.
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The festivities look like a lot of fun. People in the stand wearing costumes. The only people at the Indy races in costumes were Europeans.
 
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Great thread! I've been following F1 since 1967 when I attended the Canadian GP at Mosport, Ontario. Since then I've been to F1 races at Mont Tremblant and Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Quebec and Watkins Glen, NY. Admittedly, I haven't attended one since 2001 when we sat 5 rows up about 50' on the race side of the start finish line at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve (my hero). The year before we were at L'Epingle (the hair pin). To be honest, prices got way out of whack in the modern era when you considered travel, hotels, etc. so I stayed home. Fortunately TV is better than it's ever been. I also watch a lot of historic footage on YouTube. I see a lot more now than I ever did then.

During the '60s and '70s I enjoyed CanAm racing just as much as F1. We traveled around to see them too. Because of COVID, this year has been the first since I can't remember when that I did not go to Mosport which early on had a reputation for being one of the toughest F1 circuits. The vintage races there and at Watkins Glen to a lesser extent have been staples for me.

The Grosjean crash on the weekend brought back memories of Francois Cevert's gruesome crash during practice at The Glen in 1973. He hit the armco too and it cost him his life. I was there and the silence at the track for the rest of the weekend was noticeable.

Like others have said, the race this weekend will be special. I'm a big George Russel fan and the re configured track is going to make for a MUCH different race.
 
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PCO6 said:
Great thread! I've been following F1 since 1967 when I attended the Canadian GP at Mosport, Ontario. Since then I've been to F1 races at Mont Tremblant and Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Quebec and Watkins Glen, NY. Admittedly, I haven't attended one since 2001 when we sat 5 rows up about 50' on the race side of the start finish line at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve (my hero). The year before we were at L'Epingle (the hair pin). To be honest, prices got way out of whack in the modern era when you considered travel, hotels, etc. so I stayed home. Fortunately TV is better than it's ever been. I also watch a lot of historic footage on YouTube. I see a lot more now than I ever did then.

During the '60s and '70s I enjoyed CanAm racing just as much as F1. We traveled around to see them too. Because of COVID, this year has been the first since I can't remember when that I did not go to Mosport which early on had a reputation for being one of the toughest F1 circuits. The vintage races there and at Watkins Glen to a lesser extent have been staples for me.

The Grosjean crash on the weekend brought back memories of Francois Cevert's gruesome crash during practice at The Glen in 1973. He hit the armco too and it cost him his life. I was there and the silence at the track for the rest of the weekend was noticeable.

Like others have said, the race this weekend will be special. I'm a big George Russel fan and the re configured track is going to make for a MUCH different race.
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What I would give to have seen some of the CanAm races at Road Atlanta! Those are some of the coolest cars of all time. Such a diverse class of racing with all kinds of new ideas coming out.
 
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jesseshoots said:
What I would give to have seen some of the CanAm races at Road Atlanta! Those are some of the coolest cars of all time. Such a diverse class of racing with all kinds of new ideas coming out.
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We used to camp at Turn 3 at Mosport and still often do. It's about a third of the way around the 2.5 mi. track from the start. You could hear the start of an F1 race and gauge where the cars were long before you saw them ... and what a sight when you did! CanAM races at the same location were much different. You could feel them them before you saw them. It was like standing close to a railway track.

One thing I liked about that series was that there was always a lot of F1 drivers in the field.
 
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GTP is the series I wish I would have been able to see. I did get to see basically Toyota GTP rebodied as a Supra. It was at Pike's Peak in 1995. The day before the race the car was blown apart for cleaning at the local Toyota dealer. The car was roped off, but you could get close enough to see everything. They were sponsored by Popeye"s Fried Chicken and the local restaurant kept bring more and more boxes of chicken for free.

It was still gravel at the time. We were at the end of the picnic grounds straightaway and top speed was 140 mph. After watching the slower classes It was time for the unlimited class. Rod Millen was the first one thru and I thought he had a total brake failure. It was 2 90 degree turns, a left then right. I thought he was going to plow into the side of the mountain, but zip zip and he was gone. We all looked at each other in silence. I can't imagine them on a road course.
 
GTP/Group C era is a close second to the CanAm in my books. I've seen a few of the historic GTP cars run exhibition laps at Daytona during the 24hr weekend but they definitely weren't turned up to 11. Even then they were magical on track
 
I was off on a couple things. Tojima went through first and top speed was 126 mph. It was 25 years ago so cut me some slack. At 1:15 in this video I am the tall one with a gray sweatshirt.


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My brother and I want to get to the F1 race in Austin some year. Just wish it wasn't so expensive. 2022 sounds like a good year as they'll have the brand new cars and most of the season to refine them in time for a great race in Austin. I hope. lol
 
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CybrSlydr said:
My brother and I want to get to the F1 race in Austin some year. Just wish it wasn't so expensive. 2022 sounds like a good year as they'll have the brand new cars and most of the season to refine them in time for a great race in Austin. I hope. lol
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Hey, I`ll meet you there, it`s also in my plans for 2022...
 
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George Russell top of the chart in FP1 and FP2. I guess ESPN didn't air FP1 so I'm not sure what went on other than GR was fastest.

I have to work tomorrow so I can't watch qualifying until 6ish pm. I need to retire so I would have more free time.
 
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Russell did great! I bet Hamilton was in quarantine praying he wouldn’t make it out of Q2 while the Merc engineers were praying for a pole.
 
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