Carlo_Carrera

No. They only test in Bahrain these days. The Barcelona weather was too unpredictable and often too cold.

thebishman

McLaren just locked up Norris past 2026. Wise move imho.

rsabeebe

same thing we saw in Vegas. you have to mortgage your house to attend the race. no thanks!

LuigiVampa

I did podium club for four people in Montreal last year. The amount I spent on the tickets, hotel, food, etc., was equal to the down payment on my first house a little over 25 years ago.

Carlo_Carrera

Was it worth it?

I did the same a few years ago and felt it was.

I had done other GPs with grandstand seats and was disappointed.

LuigiVampa

To be honest - it was. My family, who can take or leave F1 or other forms of racing, are asking when we will do it again.

Every day was awesome from start to finish - all puns intended.

dan212

How times change. F1 and F2 used be casual less extravagant affairs. A friend of mine and a classmate went to a race in the 60's. After the race they were walking around and saw some mechanics struggling to load a car. They had no idea whose. They offered to help. The crew told my friend to get in and steer while the rest of them pushed. And so my friend helped steer the car onto the transporter.

Turns out my friend was steering Jim Clark's car..

How cool is that?

gbuff

REALLY cool, Dan.

'Course, it helps that Moss and Clark were my racing idols as a kid....

fatbillybob

Moss was a real man. I love his implied comments and sometimes no so implied about how racing today is just too safe...basically "buck up buttercup!" To die of old age as a storied racer from the time when a mistake ment death is an incredible accomplishment. Today they let people like me race almost risk-free....the sport has become so diminished.

Carlo_Carrera

So how many F1 drivers should die racing every year for you to consider them all real "men"?

LuigiVampa

I think the lack of respect we sometimes see between drivers, with some "too close racing", is emblematic of the decreased risk which comes with a shunt.

You can't deny that there is less on the line. The further back in time you go the bigger the ***** it took to compete.

gbuff

One year for Christmas as a kid I received a Strombecker 1/32-scale slot-car set that was "Endorsed by Stirling Moss"...the two cars in the set were a red pontoon-fender TestaRossa and a BRG Jag D-Type with the big fin in the back. Priceless.....never forgot those cars and got myself an E-Type (XKE) later in life.

Carlo_Carrera

You can consider it big *****, I consider it an undeveloped prefrontal cortex or denial or stupidity or insanity.

The drivers I most respect in F1 history are the ones who fought for driver safety, Stewart, Lauda, Prost, etc. Drivers known for their intellect on and off the track. To me they are the the real "men".

The drivers I don't respect are the ones who created the current atmosphere of racing via bulling. The king of which, and the most responsible for the current situation, Senna died on track. Not smart IMHO.

LuigiVampa

What wasn't clear in my post is that I agree with you. I'm just saying there is a different risk between now and in the past.

Consider Jackie Stewart, who famously championed for safety. He was going to finish he career at 100 races but when his teammate and protege, Francois Cevert, died at Watkins Glen, Stewart retired at 99 races.

​​​​​​​You don't really hear about anyone citing safety as a reason to retire these days.

gbuff

Yes, he did, as Mid-Ohio found out.

From MotorSport Magazine, Nov.'71:

They don’t love Jackie Stewart at Laguna SCCA, or the motoring writer of the San Francisco Chronicle doesn’t. That paper pointed out last month that at the Mid-Ohio Raceway for a Can-Am event Stewart cost the track owners a small fortune in alterations to a circuit which has a good safety record. He “didn’t like some trees here, a dirt bank there, or the arrangement of some guard rails”. His opinions were backed by Hulme and Revson but, according to this reporter, the rest of the drivers supported the SCCA’s ruling that the track was safe. Stewart refused to start unless the alterations were made, and as Mid-Ohio had billed him to appear they spent the night complying with Stewart’s requests.