Formula 1 Racing News

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This is probably going to be Beyond Awesome -

Las Vegas to host Formula 1 and the Super Bowl within three months time.
Two massive events that close together. Wow. I knew it was going to be big but apparently it's going to be even more impressive of an event:

Organizer Says F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix, 'Will Be the Biggest Event in the World in 2023'

Brian Gullbrants, chief operating officer for Wynn Resorts said "...the event is expensive, but the demand is greater than we’ve seen for any event ever, so it is supply and demand.”

https://www.autoweek.com/racing/formula ... d568259d8a

The 3.8 mile track layout:

F1 Las Vegas track layout.jpeg (85.46 KiB) Viewed 1049 times

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Formula 1 teams stayed under the complicated $142.2 million budget cap, with many typical team expenses not even included.

Several expenses are not considered part of the budget cap, including driver salaries, wages of the three highest-paid staff members, travel costs, marketing, property and legal costs, entry and license fees, non-F1 or road-car activities, parental and sick leave payments. employee bonuses and staff medical benefits.

Engines are covered by a separate regulations package.

Lol - too funny. The non-covered???

Travel expenses - flying and otherwise transporting the cars, gear, crews, family members, etc. to 22 dif venues worldwide. What does that cost? $100m? $125m?

Driver salaries? They make from $1m (I think only one at that paltry figure) to a high of $55m.

Three highest paid staff? $10m? $20m? $50m?

Entry fees? Red Bull will pay over $8m this year. Depending on points, I estimate roughly $2m to $8m+ per team for FIA fees.

Marketing, property, legal? Huh? Could be $10m to $25m as my wild guess. (What constitutes "property costs" in F1?? Headquarters? Team principals' homes? Aspen mansions? What?)

Non F1 activities - what the heck is that??

parental & sick leave?

employee bonuses & staff medical benefits? Throw out a figure. Probably close to a million for medical per team and a complete unknown for bonuses which could be quite large.

Engine costs? Hah! Hah! Not included in the cost cap.

That $142.2 million budget cap is hilarious. The real per team annual expense for the top tier teams is probably in the $500m - $600m range, probably more for Red Bull & Mercedes.


https://www.autoweek.com/racing/formula ... d568259d8a

[Stormy_Monday]

this kind of stuff will make one give up on F1....

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this kind of stuff will make one give up on F1....

I know.

If they're going to have a cap, then make it one that's believable, not a charade that anyone can see straight through. Otherwise, just cut the teams loose and let them spend what they want. Either a hard cap - a real and believable one - or none at all. What they are doing now is making a joke out of themselves. That's my opinion anyway.

So much drama. So much melodrama. So much posturing. So much cheating. I guess that's what they want. Racing spectacle and racing quality replaced by theatrics that have no limits.

Forget about all of that F1 and just go race!

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"Signs Point to FIA Approval of Andretti F1 Entry"

https://www.autoweek.com/racing/formula ... d568259d8a

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Michael Andretti, Andretti Formula Racing Cadillac Get FIA Approval for F1 Team

So, phase 2 complete with FIA blessings. Now it's up to the Formula 1 wigs to approve or turn down.

https://www.autoweek.com/racing/formula ... d568259d8a

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"McLaren Sets New F1 Pit Stop Record: Four Tires in 1.80 Seconds!"

https://www.autoweek.com/racing/formula ... d568259d8a

Slackers....

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Autoweek headline:

"The question begs: If the current Andretti Cadillac bid isn't good enough for Formula 1, then when would the series EVER expand to 11 teams?"

Interesting take on the matter. My hope is that Andretti gets in.

https://www.autoweek.com/racing/formula ... d568259d8a

[WillyDaP]

I think the Andretti name would bring a wealth of US Advertisers, unlike Haas, which has had a noble effort, but is not the household name as carried by this legendary racing family. With the recent strong growth of F1 hopefully the other teams will see the addition of more venues and popularity will enhance the profits and all will benefit. But, as noted greed is often blind to positive change and we can all only hope the Andretti name is allowed to join the F1 Circus.

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I think the Andretti name would bring a wealth of US Advertisers, unlike Haas, which has had a noble effort, but is not the household name as carried by this legendary racing family. With the recent strong growth of F1 hopefully the other teams will see the addition of more venues and popularity will enhance the profits and all will benefit. But, as noted greed is often blind to positive change and we can all only hope the Andretti name is allowed to join the F1 Circus.

Hey Bill - have you got the process of changing your four wheels in 1.8 seconds down pat as McLaren did in the video I posted above?

I'm close. With my two floor jacks I can rotate side-to-side, check pads, rotors, etc. in an hour and a half or so if I don't take too many of my usual garage duty breaks (union rules) to pet the dogs and check Carpokes.

(Two floor jacks required since they go where the jack stands need to go. There are only four jack points on the GT4 - the rest of the underside is completely covered. I could use some Jackpoint stands. Been putting that off forever.)