Your personal Tumblr library awaits
Couldn’t have said it better myself 👏🏻. We Asian F1 fans experience the same almost for all the races, heck the races in the US alone is at 1 AM in my time zone, but with Vegas being a night race, it’s gonna be one happy Sunday morning whilst I watch the race 😇☀️
My 2 cents on the Vegas GP bc I can't sleep:
- I don't really have an issue with 3 races in the US. The US, as a country with a rich motor racing heritage, hosts a myriad of historical racetracks of high standards. But instead of making use of those readymade circuits, we have a track that is aspiring to give Daytona a run for its money on bumpiness, a stadium parking lot, and a street circuit. The opening of the US market is a wonderful opportunity to introduce the wider world to the beauty of American circuits and the quality racing they are capable of producing, not tourist postcard attractions with labeled corners.
- This may be total nonsense, but the words of the governor are giving me the vibe that he wants Vegas GP to be the new Monaco GP (in terms of glamour and prestige). First of all, Monaco isn't the most fitting track for current cars, so the racing isn't that great, but that's not the point. The point is that, with Monaco ceasing to be a standalone event this season and Vegas coming onto the calendar next season, I'm sensing perhaps Vegas will be (or attempt to be) on par with Monaco in terms of special events. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I hope Vegas doesn't become like Monaco, where what happens outside of the race is of more substance than what happens on race day. Nowhere else has Monaco's racing heritage to be able to pull it off.
- I think I would be delusional to believe historic European tracks won't be cut from the calendar. In fact, I would rather prefer it over 30 races, although it is not unlikely to have 30 races and less European circuits in a few years time. The removal of motor racing history and heritage from the calendar is sad to watch.
- A bit of tangential observation: Europe (FIA WEC) and America (IMSA) spent years working out a cohesive regulation (LMH and LMDH) to make racing more accessible across the pond. Phenomena like this represent the trend of motor racing becoming more global (especially across the Atlantic), with a key emphasis on the quality and cultural heritage of motor racing (shown in the endurance case: WEC constructors want to race in Daytona/Sebring, IMSA constructors want to race in Le Mans). It shows sacrificing racing heritage like historic circuits is not necessary for attracting new crowds; in fact, one may argue that these historic circuits are drawing said new crowd in.
- Going back to F1 and motorsports. The way to create and maintain viewership is through superb racing and professional race control on high quality circuits. Drive to Survive is all fun and games until the newly-inducted realise the lies and cracks in a gimmicky show. F1 shouldn't aspire to be widely publicised and widely ridiculed as a Netflix show.
- That said, Vegas can end up a great track and if it does so I'd happily eat my words.
- I know some Europeans care about time zone, but it's something most of us non-Europeans had to deal with for most of the season. Just as I don't believe F1 should specifically accommodate American viewers, they are not obligated to go out of their way to accommodate European viewers either. It is one weekend, and no one is putting a knife on your throat to watch it live.