Editor’s Note: Peter unloads in no uncertain terms on the current state of F1. In On The Table we wake up to realize that the Audi TT is 25 years old, and our AE Song of the Week is the riveting “Walking In Memphis” performed by Marc Cohn. In Fumes, Part XVI of Peter’s series “The Great Races” marks the three pivotal races that established the Shelby American Cobra as a force to be reckoned with in American sports car racing. And finally, in case you need it, we have coverage of F1 from Miami in The Line. Onward. -WG
By Peter M. DeLorenzo
Detroit. After forcing myself to endure the Formula 1 “show” from Miami on Sunday, I was left with the sickening feeling that it was the biggest waste of time and money being shoved down car enthusiasts’ throats at the moment.
Yes, the “stars” were in abundance – and I use that term with nothing but derision – “stars” who didn’t have a clue as to why they were there other than the fact that their publicists went to great lengths to arrange for grandiose photo “ops” for their charges, because, well, it was the place to be last weekend, and if they weren’t there, it would be catastrophic! The parade of “stars” was so tedious it was flat-out embarrassing, and that was 15 minutes in to the 90-minute pre-show. Oh, and we were graced with the knowledge that “Mr. Cruise won’t allow interviews.” As if we could give a shit. I witnessed more empty vessels masquerading as “important” humans there than our esteemed representatives in Washington.
That the race promoted two stalwarts of our vacuous, so-called “culture” – crypto and Fast X – speaks volumes. Oh yes, the race. That’s what it was supposed to be all about, right? The race that was so predictable that the pre-race talk that Max Verstappen would actually have a hard time coming back from ninth starting position to challenge his Red Bull teammate, Sergio Perez, for the win was laughable. The Red Bull squad is so clearly and overwhelmingly superior to every other team on the grid that Verstappen could have started last and still won.
F1 boasts of its technological superiority, but all it really proves is the age-old racing adage: “How fast to you want to go? Well, how much money do you have to spend?” The powers that be in F1 are barnstorming mercenaries who wend their way around the globe extracting obscene amounts of money from everyone and everything in their path. The “show” is a sanitized and homogenized facsimile of a race weekend. Everything is orchestrated to be predictable, because heaven forbid if the F1 practitioners encounter anything untoward or unimaginably unseemly. And the disgusting display in Miami underscored all of it.
The other laughable thing about F1? The smug overlords running F1’s “greed circus” are openly stating that the idea of adding teams to its current roster of teams would dilute their financial interests too much, to the point that they are steadfastly against it. That this specifically translates to meaning that they are adamantly against the proposed American-funded teams trying to gain entry to the series speaks volumes. My interest in F1 has been declining for years. The reason I forced myself to watch the whole wretched event in Miami was to take the temperature of F1, to see if there was even a glint of hope that things were somehow getting better in some way. Well, things are not getting better for F1. In fact, things are getting appreciably worse.
I know that there will be many racing enthusiasts out there who consider F1 to be the pinnacle of auto racing, and who will take great umbrage with what I have to say in this column. I don’t really care. I will gladly watch any INDYCAR race over just about any F1 race, the worthy exceptions being Silverstone, Spa and Monza.
One last thing. The next example of F1’s wretched excess – at least here in the U.S. – will take place in Las Vegas in October. The ticket prices, suite packages and everything else associated with this event are setting unheard of records for stratospheric pricing. The Greed Circus grinds on.
So, at the end of this discussion a giant question remains. Is the car enthusiast thing becoming a lost cause? Are we forced to accept the sanitized version of “racing” called F1? And, while we’re at it, are we really going to slink off and wait for EVs to put us out of our collective misery once and for all? Are we all – collectively – going to join the go-along-to-get-along hordes being farmed over to EVs even though serious questions remain about the plundering of raw materials, the lack of a fundamental infrastructure and the substitution of one source of power (gasoline) for another (coal)?
I don’t think so, and not by a long shot, thankfully. It doesn’t hurt to take a step back and remember the following very important points:
You have to love the car business. Well, let me rephrase that. Some of us immersed in this seething cauldron of runaway egos, shortsightedness, intermittent brilliance and, remarkably enough and against all odds, indomitable spirit, love this business. (Then again, when it comes right down to it, it depends on the day.)
We love it for the unbridled creativity demonstrated by its True Believers, who keep stepping up to the plate and swinging for the fences. We love it for the relentless 24/7 churn – and associated weariness – that it entails (even though everyone complains about it, they wouldn’t have it any other way).
We love it for the brief shining moments when an exceptional design or product advancement emerges to remind us all of what turned us on about the business in the first place, even though those moments are fleeting, at best.
But then again and truth be told, we love to loathe it too. It can’t be helped. We despise the carpetbagging mercenaries who seem to rear their ugly heads at the most inopportune moments to wreak havoc on this business. Oh, you know who I’m referring to, several of whom were even present and accounted for in Miami over the weekend.
We cringe at the legions of spineless weasels that populate almost every corner of this business and the dutiful, sniveling minions who project a positive demeanor but who wallow in serial, abject mediocrity at every turn. That part of the business is always depressing and tedious, there’s no doubt.
But yet, we press on. And for good reason too.
Yes, the overhyped, overblown and overrated aspects of this business, which we loathe, aren’t going away any time soon.
But fortunately, the fundamental enthusiasm displayed by the True Believers and everyday enthusiasts alike who still like – make that love – everything to do with the automobile isn’t going away any time soon, either.
Thank goodness.
And that’s the High-Octane Truth for this week.
Editor’s Note: You can access previous issues of AE by clicking on “Next 1 Entries” below. – WG