[Official] United States Grand Prix 2016: Grand Prix Weekend Thread

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by dyewat808

any reason as to why track limits aren't being enforced?

They were saying on Sky before the race, it doesn't give any significant advantage. Well it won't if they are all allowed to do it.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Congrats to Lewis on his 50th GP win and finally out of the doldrums and in Victory Lane but is it enough to keep his championship hopes alive? All Nico has to do is finish 2nd in all the remaining races and he has the car to do it. Good to see both McLarens in the points.

[spider]

So, why doesn't Daniel like Nico?

Great drive by Fernando, Felipe proving again he's clumsy wheel to wheel(!).

[gert]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

All Nico has to do is finish 2nd in all the remaining races and he has the car to do it.

Or get 1 win and 1 second place.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by gert

Or get 1 win and 1 second place.

Yep, another win or two under his belt his what he would want, rather than cruising it and I hope he does it. F1 needs someone else to win the WDC, no disrespect to Lewis.

[S griffin]

Great win for Lewis, getting the start right this time, but I agree, although I'm a big fan of his, it would nice to see Nico take the title for variety and he deserves it this year, he's driven better than ever

Plenty of drama in this race, a bit of choice language over the radio and it was refreshing to see Max admit to making a mistake when he came in

Fred proved once again why he's far from finished in F1 with some great overtakes and hunting down both Felipe and Carlos over the closing laps. Also good to see Haas getting a point in it's home race.

[TrapezeArtist]

Originally Posted by dyewat808

any reason as to why track limits aren't being enforced?

Because it's totally impractical when the kerbs are just painted onto flat tarmac. And nobody in authority has the cojones to bring back real physical track limits.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by TrapezeArtist

Because it's totally impractical when the kerbs are just painted onto flat tarmac. And nobody in authority has the cojones to bring back real physical track limits.

The layout was conceived by promoter Tavo Hellmund and 1993 Motorcycle World Champion Kevin Schwantz, hence the lack of kerbing. However, they said on Sky before the race, that because of the lap times, the F1 authorities didn't think anyone was gaining any significant advantage.

[chunterer]

What's with Lewis and this new persecution complex?

He's got very split persona all of a sudden.

One minute he's casually bantering with journo's and then next he's getting all precious with Sir Damon of Mill Hill and Jonathan Herbie about mindsets and engine issues that the team denied he even had!

Why can't he just get on his excellent driving because he really does not suit trying to be a clever clogs.

[Aysedasi]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

The layout was conceived by promoter Tavo Hellmund and 1993 Motorcycle World Champion Kevin Schwantz, hence the lack of kerbing. However, they said on Sky before the race, that because of the lap times, the F1 authorities didn't think anyone was gaining any significant advantage.

It's a bizarre explanation. Gaining an advantage isn't the whole issue. They should be driving on the track, not a rough approximation of it.....

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by Aysedasi

It's a bizarre explanation. Gaining an advantage isn't the whole issue. They should be driving on the track, not a rough approximation of it.....

It is bizarre. Obviously, if you let all the drivers exceed the track limits, no one driver is going to get a clear advantage. That aside, they should be driving on the track and only the track.

[TrapezeArtist]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

It is bizarre. Obviously, if you let all the drivers exceed the track limits, no one driver is going to get a clear advantage. That aside, they should be driving on the track and only the track.

Precisely. And I see no possible way that that will happen until there is a clear disadvantage to the driver in going outside the track limits.

[S griffin]

And if we had proper run offs the debate would be over

[bjohnsonsmith]

COTA chairman Bobby Epstein wants to see a bigger gap between the United States and Mexican GPs to help boost attendance.

http://classic.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/126833

[chunterer]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

COTA chairman Bobby Epstein wants to see a bigger gap between the United States and Mexican GPs to help boost attendance.

http://classic.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/126833

When I first saw the strapline I thought it was going to say we need another race between Austin and Mexico!

[Akrapovic]

"I would put Mexico with Canada as it's hot here in June and July - not pleasant like now."

Because as we know, it's not hot at all in Mexico in June.

[wolfhound]

Originally Posted by Akrapovic

"I would put Mexico with Canada as it's hot here in June and July - not pleasant like now."

Because as we know, it's not hot at all in Mexico in June.

What about the local food?

[Razzzor]

It was interesting post race how Lewis kept going on about having a big disadvantage to Nico in the race because he was down on power. Even the guys mentioned Toto had denied this but Lewis kept hammering it in, bringing it up in at least two interviews that I saw. He even said it was about 2 seconds... what over an entire race?!!!!! F--k sake you could lose 2 seconds if you caught a couple lapped cars in the wrong place. Nico lost far more than that being behind Ricciardo. Lewis really quite insecure isn't he? He must really hate when Nico beats him. I do hope Nico gets this title.

As for Max (and gets DOTR again on the broadcast wtf?!) pitting by mistake, it sort of indicated that he doesn't have his brain switched on quite as well as some other drivers while he's racing hard. I wonder how he'll go in some more technical races (wet/dry) where he has to think fast.

[wnut]

Somehow this interview of an F1 driver with Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie just never gets old!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H11oHOEOZlE

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by wnut

Somehow this interview of an F1 driver with Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie just never gets old!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H11oHOEOZlE

Lool. Haven't seen that for years.

[broadrun96]

From Racer.com:

Talladega's Sprint Cup telecast scored a 2.2 overnight rating, averaging 3.6 million viewers. That was down from a 2.6/4.2m figure from last year, when the race also aired on NBCSN.

F1's USGP on NBC scored a 0.5 rating, averaging 727,000 viewers. That was down from a 0.6/889,000 in 2015.

NASCAR's second-tier Camping World Truck Series also outperformed F1 on the tube, taking advantage of a rare appearance on a broadcast network. Saturday's Talladega Truck race scored a 0.8 overnight on FOX, for an estimated average of 1.3m viewers.



Wow, we really don't care about F1 here even when it's the home race and OTA. And to get crushed by the Cup race on the cable channel F1 is usually on?? Course I didn't help much, watched it that night on NBCSN instead of live on NBC. But then I might be one of the few who prefers the Euro races so I can watch with breakfast and get stuff done in the afternoon.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by broadrun96

From Racer.com:

F1's USGP on NBC scored a 0.5 rating, averaging 727,000 viewers. That was down from a 0.6/889,000 in 2015.

I'd like to know how that compares to IndyCar, excluding the 500 and Long Beach.

[broadrun96]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

I'd like to know how that compares to IndyCar, excluding the 500 and Long Beach.

Ask and you shall receive, again from Racer.com:

NBC LAUDS YEAR-ON-YEAR GROWTH FOR INDYCAR COVERAGE
Although the numbers for the Verizon IndyCar Series' season finale at Sonoma were a little disappointing – a 0.3 final rating and 536,000 viewers on NBCSN Sunday afternoon, down 40% in ratings and 36% in viewers from last year when it ran in August, avoiding NFL football – NBC Sports Group claimed its second straight year of overall growth in audience for its 10 race telecasts in 2016.
The network reported reaching more than 6.5 million total viewers this season for its coverage, which appeared on both NBCSN and CNBC, its highest season total since acquiring IndyCar rights in 2009. NBC’s IndyCar coverage averaged 488,000 viewers across 10 weekend races to rank as its second most-watched IndyCar season since 2009, although that was down slightly from last year’s record-setting average viewership (507,000). This season also delivered NBC Sports Group's most-watched IndyCar race ever, when NBCSN and CNBC's live simulcast at Mid-Ohio averaged 929,000 viewers on July 31.
Digitally, the 2016 IndyCar season on NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app delivered 6.7 million minutes streamed and 89,000 uniques, both NBC Sports Group IndyCar records.

Other 2016 highlights from NBC Sports Group’s coverage of the 2016 Verizon IndyCar Series:

Viewership in the Adult 18-49 demographic was up 7% vs. 2015 (123,000 vs. 115,000);
10 races in the last two seasons eclipsed 500,000 viewers, more than the past six seasons on NBCSN combined (five)
Indianapolis ranked as the No. 1 local market with a 2.38 rating.

Following are NBC Sports Group’s five most-watched IndyCar races:

Date Race Viewership

July 31, 2016 Mid-Ohio 929,000
August 15, 2015 Sonoma 841,000
August 2, 2015 Mid-Ohio 666,000
July 24, 2011 Edmonton 642,000
August 23, 2015 Pocono 635,000

Following are the Top 5 markets from the 2016 Verizon IndyCar Series on NBCSN/CNBC:

Rank Metered Market HH Rtg

1 Indianapolis 2.38
2 Milwaukee 0.83
3 Richmond-Petersburg 0.80
4 Greenville 0.78
5 Greensboro 0.73


So it looks to be close for the USGP.

Malaysian:

Formula 1 might have had one of its more dramatic races of the year at the Malaysian Grand Prix, but its position on the planet ensured one of F1's lowest live audiences of the year. The live telecast on NBCSN scored just a 0.15 rating and 231,000 households early Sunday morning, although the replay at the "traditional" F1 air time of 7:30 a.m. ET scored a 0.13/175,000, so the two combined to yield a fairly average F1 audience for U.S. cable.

Singapore:

The Formula 1 race from Singapore was also down but to a lesser degree, scoring a 0.28 rating and averaging 419,000 viewers on NBCSN. Last year this race scored a 0.33/510,000 viewers.

Monza:

The return of IndyCar racing to Watkins Glen on Sunday afternoon followed Formula 1's Italian GP at Monza Sunday on NBCSN, and the two netted almost identical numbers. The F1 telecast scored a 0.30 rating, averaging 467,000 viewers, while the Verizon IndyCar Series telecast later in the afternoon had a 0.29/440,000 viewers. F1's numbers were essentially unchanged from 2015 on NBCSN (0.31/461K).

[steve_r]

That's the viewing figures in the whole of the USA right?

I guess most Americans don't like motorsports. Period.

All this clambering to make F1 big in the states, and it turns out the viewing figures aren't even great for their for their own homegrown series...

[canamman]

Originally Posted by wnut

Somehow this interview of an F1 driver with Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie just never gets old!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H11oHOEOZlE

First time for seeing these guys and skit. That was
laugh out loud funny!