Posts by Gregory Brown94

I’d call that passive-aggressive mode right there. That guy Valtteri is just wired that way—almost sneakily aggressive. Or, if you want me to be blunt, he’s just being a total jerk. XD

Not exactly a fun fact, I guess: In every single sprint race so far, we've seen a collision between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton that resulted in Max Verstappen being forced out twice.

I saw on X a little while ago that all the gear just arrived at the race track, and we’re sitting here with less than 24 hours until the first practice session. It’s been a while since we haven't had those Thursday shots of the car parts.

For the first time in recent memory, Formula 1 is staring down a massive logistical nightmare. Six teams still haven't even received their cars, and honestly, it looks like nobody has their power units yet either. Some bad weather following the Mexico City Grand Prix delayed two cargo planes, and I'm hearing they might not even arrive until today. The FIA has scrapped the curfew just to give everyone a fighting chance to be ready before the first practice session.

I know these people are pros, but there's just no way this goes off without some hiccups during the weekend. And if things get even messier, we're racing again in just seven days at a brand-new circuit for Formula 1.

On another note, Lewis Hamilton is getting an internal combustion engine change. That’s going to mean a 5-place grid penalty for the Sunday 6:00 PM race.

Thanks for the kind words
I have no idea how I missed this, but Indianapolis Motor Speedway might actually be the first Formula 1 track ever with a completely covered
Paddock

Schedule (for those who might have trouble loading the image):

Friday

4:30 PM Practice 1
8:00 PM Qualifying

Saturday

4:00 PM Practice 2
8:30 PM Sprint Qualifying

Sunday

6:00 PM race

Any music suggestions for reading through the intro theme?

Hi everyone. Welcome to the opening thread for the first ever US Grand Prix at a track we haven't seen on the calendar for a year now. Before we dive into the details, I should probably mention one thing. During the Mexico City Grand Prix, the CEO of Formula 1, Stefano Domenicali, promised a refresh of the Formula 1 logo. It's all part of the push to promote their new 100% sustainable fuel called Drop-In. He also mentioned some updated graphics coming our way.



São Paulo is set to be the next battleground for Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton. To make things more interesting, we have this new sprint qualifying race format added to the mix. Ironically, Max Verstappen hasn't really finished his races when they've included sprints, so he’ll need to stay lucky in Brazil.



The first lap at Indianapolis Motor Speedway is usually pretty chaotic. We've seen everything there—from total mayhem back in 2009 to cars slamming into catch fencing like an old-school IndyCar oval crash from '93. Honestly, I worry this sprint qualifying format might just invite more trouble in São Paulo. Even Monza felt a bit dicey because that chicane is basically a magnet for accidents, though drivers have been being careful there lately. Here, though, we have those tricky, winding sections.



What's going to really spice up the weekend is the fact that, as with all sprint events, the drivers get only one hour of full preparation before qualifying—especially since Formula 1 hasn't been to this track in a year. Mind blown. At least, that's how it feels to me. It used to be four hours of prep, then it dropped to three, and now with this new setup, it's down to just sixty minutes. Either way, it won't be boring, and they are actually calling for light rain on Friday.

It's also worth noting that this will be the last race on the calendar held during daylight; the final three races are all scheduled as night races.







Action Zones

Turns 1-3

2015 - Max Verstappen vs. Felipe Nasr.

Turn 4

1994 - Jos Verstappen / Eric Bernard / Eddie Irvin / Martin Brundle.

turn 10

2019 - Lewis Hamilton vs Alex Albon.

turn 11

2012 - Romain Grosjean crash.

Goodyear is sticking with the C2/C3/C4 compounds, and that’s what we’ll see for the next two races too.



In such an unpredictable season, we have only four races left and it's just Mercedes and Red Bull Racing, separated by a single point! It's rare, especially during this turbo/hybrid era. Mexico did some interesting things, particularly regarding Lewis Hamilton, who is now trailing Max Verstappen by 19 points.

Max Verstappen needs a clean weekend and a win to pull further away from Lewis Hamilton, while Hamilton has to get back to the very top immediately if he wants any kind of chance. Of course, all of this goes out the window if there's an unexpected DNF.



Ferrari did a great job in Mexico. They are 13.5 points ahead of McLaren now, which isn't huge, but they're moving in the right direction toward securing third place. Daniel Ricciardo caused that mess at the start, ruining his own race but giving Ferrari the opening to pull ahead. It wasn't perfect, but they need to focus on what's coming next. Lando Norris isn't shining quite as much lately, and his chances of even passing Sergio Perez are slipping away.

Alpine will almost certainly lose 5th place to AlphaTauri. Pierre Gasly is carrying the whole team on his back, and honestly, props to him. In this current power dynamic, Alonso's magic provides small scraps, whereas the AlphaTauri car is just a very strange machine. If they nail the setup, Gasly can easily be the strongest of the rest (realistically, 5th place is basically locked), but in other cases, the setup just fails and AlphaTauri can't even scrape any points. Gasly is heading to a track that holds a special place in his heart, so we might see him up high again, maybe even near the Paddock.

Aston Martin is in a tough spot; 7th place feels pretty much guaranteed for the rest of the season. Alfa Romeo's only hope is some chaos at the start against Williams, but I can say with confidence that the order of the bottom four teams will likely stay exactly as it is until the end.



From what we can see, this track suits Mercedes, but Red Bull Racing is on a completely different level this season—a level Mercedes hasn't seen since 2014. The Sprint qualifying race could really shake things up, and the final race on the classic calendar will set the stage for heading into the unknown.

graniteharbor502 said:The schedule is right there at the end of the first post on that last image. Still, I hope Alan starts paying more attention to what the forum users want regarding the schedule being in a clearer spot (and maybe a clearer format).

I don't really get how it isn't visible. I know the graphics overlaying the images make things difficult again, kind of like how we struggle with the TV broadcast every year. One idea I have is to turn the thread intros into actual previews before the races start. I thought about making a video for YouTube, but I'm worried about getting flagged.

The schedule on that image is 600px wide. I honestly don't see how it's not readable. The numbers are 16px font, red, paired with white text for the descriptions, all set against a dark background.

And as for the "forum users," so far it's just been the President complaining about how much I understand. Or the bashing over on PP.

wow, I don't get this whole argument. We aren't little kids who need massive drawings and giant letters like a first-grade textbook.

stormybadger8 said:Red Bull Racing is just making their own mess lately. Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if Pierre Gasly ends up slamming into Max at the start, and then Max just takes out Sergio Perez in the chaos as a result. 😬

Or maybe it’s the reverse of what happened at the Circuit of the Americas. Gasly clips Sergio Perez, who then slides right into Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas. Meanwhile, Verstappen just cuts through the chicane and gets away clean. 🤣

@Gregory Brown94/">@@Gregory Brown94,

I get why you're frustrated, but there’s always got to be a balance between historical facts and what’s actually happening in the current season. Of course, everyone—myself included—would love to open a thread and find a deep dive into the racing history of this track, something written like a beautiful newspaper feature or a scripted documentary. But after that, we still need plenty of coverage on the present season.

To be honest, I used to write Grand Prix topics in that exact long-form style years ago for ESPN, and some shorter pieces for Fox Sports and that old CNN forum. Back then, though, I wasn't working full-time, so I had way too much free time and energy to pour into all my hobbies.

Anyway, thanks for adding to the thread with such a great story.
__________________________________________________ ________

Here is the starting grid for today's race▼



What am I expecting? A great start from Valtteri Bottas to hold onto P1, while Max overtakes Lewis on the clean side to take P2. Sergio Perez will likely use that gap to defend himself against Pierre Gasly, who will be under pressure from Daniel Ricciardo. In the end, Daniel Ricciardo might just barely stay ahead of Carlos Sainz. Charles Leclerc will probably have a little fun battling Sebastian Vettel but should stay ahead. Nacci might try a banzai maneuver again and potentially pass Sebastian Vettel. Fernando Alonso is the only one who can really threaten Kimeta; nobody else. I'm expecting some contact among the bottom five drivers because that little group is just chaotic.

My Top 10 prediction at the end of the first lap:

1. BOT ◄ 0
2. VER ▲ 1
3. HAM ▼ 1
4. GAS ▲ 1
5. PER ▼ 1
6. RIC ▲ 1
7. SAI ▼ 1
8. LEC ◄ 0
9. VET ◄ 0
10. GIO ▲ 1

We all know how great Denis is and all that. But honestly, I’m dying to see:

- Is the Baron going to blackmail someone by claiming they're poisoned, only to reveal the cure is hidden in goat's milk XD
- What is that weirding machine actually going to look like, and how will the free agents react, shouting "Eee, Muad'dib XD"
- Will the Baron say "who is this Muad'dib" in a sort of erotic way?
- Are there going to be scenes where Paul's voice tells someone like Spider-Man's MJ to "shed echoes and scold oneself" while they're making Paul II?

When is 2023 finally getting here? XD

Everyone seems to have forgotten just how much Daniel Ricciardo struggled with the car's handling. It was absolute rock bottom for Red Bull Racing and Renault. You can't really expect anyone to stay mentally steady under those kinds of conditions. That 2018 season isn't some fair benchmark when you compare the battle between Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo.

By the way, they cleared out two rows of construction barriers over at Terminal 1.

Any music suggestions to listen to while reading this intro?



Hello everyone. Welcome to the opening thread for the very first Grand Prix of Mexico City. Why am I saying "first"? Well, for some strange reason, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway has hosted the Grand Prix of Mexico City per the contract until now, but the new agreement dictates that both this race and the next one in New York City will carry the city's name in the title of the Grand Prix.



Anyway, enough about the oddities. This season has been giving us unprecedented battles—probably the best since the turbo hybrid era kicked off back in 2014. For anyone who isn't pulling for Mercedes, that era has felt like an eternity. We still have Mexico City and New York City left on the classic calendar. After those, we head into the unknown: Miami, Las Vegas, and a radically redesigned Miami.

There’s only a week of downtime between Mexico City and New York City. In the USA, we'll be watching the season's penultimate sprint race this year, followed just a week later by NASCAR in the USA. There will be a two-week break before the first-ever Grand Prix in Saudi Arabia, and then, just a week after that, the finale in Miami.



Mentioning Mexico City and New York City brings to mind those high-altitude tracks that really punish the turbochargers. It'll be interesting to see how things develop for Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen. They share the record for two wins at this track with legends like Jim Clark, Nigel Mansell, and Alain Prost. On the constructors' side, Mercedes holds the record with three wins, alongside McLaren, Williams, and Lotus. Red Bull Racing has two. Unrelated, Honda holds the record with four, while Ford and Mercedes have three each.







Action Zones

Turns 1-3

2014 - Lewis Hamilton cuts the chicane in Lap 1.

Turns 4 and 5

2015 - Valtteri Bottas vs Kimi Raikkonen.

Turn 7

2015 - Sebastian Vettel crashes.

Goodyear is bringing the usual mix of unspecified compounds for this one. We can expect the same from the drivers through the end of the season, though we'll likely see the softest compound used during the Miami race.



After a rough qualifying session, Max Verstappen and Red Bull Racing came out on top. Sergio Perez securing third really helped close the gap, leaving the Red Bull Racing team just 23 points behind the championship-leading Mercedes. There have been some concerns regarding the internal combustion issues within the Mercedes Power Unit, which might lead them to run prototype tests on Valtteri Bottas's car—basically trying to find a fix for the problems Mercedes is facing. It’s pretty obvious they won't risk doing that with Lewis Hamilton, since he's leading the championship, but eventually, Lewis Hamilton will probably have to switch to a fourth PU. Racing at high altitudes is definitely going to impact that third PU Lewis Hamilton is using right now.

Regarding Hamilton, he’s sitting 12 points behind Verstappen. A potential retirement here could honestly decide who takes the 2021 title. I don't want to play fortune teller without a crystal ball, so we'll just have to wait until race weekend rolls around.



McLaren and Ferrari are locked in a battle for third and fourth. Right now, Ferrari is trailing by just 3.5 points, which is basically nothing. Just like before, Daniel Ricciardo's current form is going to be the deciding factor in this fight for third place. As for the guys in red, Sainz is doing a great job despite some struggles. He's holding steady at 5.5 points behind Leclerc, and they're working well together.

Alpine suffered their first double DNF in the US, which breaks that streak of scoring points they started back at the Grand Prix of Emilia-Romagna. Fernando Alonso showed his true colors in the US while battling both Alfas, and from what I can tell, he’s going to give everything he's got to beat AlphaTauri. Pierre Gasly unfortunately dropped out in the last race, and Yuki Tsunoda helped AlphaTauri get a bit closer to Alpine. Honestly, it feels like they're just fighting for scraps; in normal circumstances, Aston Martin can only pick up tiny amounts of points, which isn't nearly enough to catch even AlphaTauri. The only silver lining is that Williams is 39 points behind them. But then again, we all know how that big plan starting with Racing Point is paying off. Even if people see the situation negatively, I think it's actually pretty cool because the Mercedes W10 replica turned out so well, and the evolution just makes it easier for them to transition into the 2022 overhaul. Sebastian Vettel knows this, and I'm sure he's doing everything possible to prep for next year. Haas can only hope for a massive pile-up ahead to snag their first points of the season.



Temperatures look pleasant for the weekend. I'm basing this on Sunday's forecast, which is usually hit-or-miss, but it doesn't look like any rain is coming. That should give the drivers ideal conditions to dial things in. Thanks for reading, everyone. We've got a real spectacle coming up over the next two races in South America.

Edit: I messed up the date in the title; it should be November 5th–7th, 2021. Sorry for such a silly mistake.

It’s official! Dune: Part One (2021) is getting a sequel that will wrap up Frank Herbert's book.

This pretty much puts an end to all those rumors about making a TV series instead of a movie sequel.



Legendary just posted on Twitter, giving the green light to the next chapter.

Translation: "This is only the beginning... Thank you to everyone who has experienced Dune: Part One (2021) so far, and to those who will experience it in the coming days and weeks. We are very excited to continue this journey."

Also, Deadline released more details about the sequel, which confirms the direction they're taking beyond just Legendary's tweet.

Here is the Deadline article regarding the sequel. Some key takeaways:

- Toby Emmerich, CEO of Warner Bros. Picture Group: "We are excited to continue this journey with Denis Villeneuve and his cast, along with our partners at Legendary, and I can't wait to bring the next chapter of this epic story to theaters in November 2023."

- Ann Sarnoff, CEO of Warner Bros.: "The sequel to Dune: Part One (2021) is definitely happening, with Legendary covering 80% of the production costs."

- Legendary: "Legendary is pleased to officially move forward with Dune: Part Two, once again based on the incredible books by Frank Herbert."

"We wouldn't have reached this point without the incredible vision of Denis Villeneuve and the fantastic work of his talented crew, writers, actors, our partners at Warner Bros., and of course, the audience! We're in for more Dune."

It's pretty obvious there’s no real leadership here. Your championship needs a solid set of rules that don't necessarily have to mirror the FIA rulebook.

For instance, you shouldn't be calling it "best in qualifying" instead of just "PP." You need to stick to that. Drivers who have a DNS, get disqualified from qualifying, or take grid penalties aren't legitimate PP winners because that's not what PP means—it signifies the best starting position. A DNS doesn't give you the best starting position since you aren't actually at the front of the grid when the lights go out.

And regarding the FL, it would honestly be better to just count the absolute fastest lap, since that's the only true fastest lap of the race. What seems to be confusing everyone is—well, let me rephrase that—according to F1, a driver earns 1 point for the fastest lap if they finish in the Top10, but that simply means they are the legitimate winner of that point, regardless of the fact that a driver outside the Top10 might actually hold the absolute fastest lap time of the race.

I honestly can't believe these basic things aren't included in your rulebook.

I feel like I'm falling through the air here; it's honestly depressing reading such a massive argument over these bizarre situations.

Leclerc in Monaco—He clocked the fastest lap in qualifying, which should legitimately give him pole position, but a mechanical failure during the formation lap leaves him in a DNS situation. As we saw, his deserved P1 spot on the starting grid was essentially vacant, yet the grid wasn't shuffled to hand Max Verstappen P1. In my opinion, whoever assigned Leclerc the PP shouldn't be getting points for it. If Leclerc had actually made it through the warm-up lap and then his gearbox failed right at the start of the race, then the people who gave Leclerc the PP would be considered legitimate point scorers in your championship. I see you all trying to stay aligned with the FIA regarding documentation and how they implement scoring rules, but keep in mind that the FIA is only semi-transparent and they love changing their implementation depending on the specific case. Take Sergio Perez, for example—they wiped away his DNS in Belgium this year; it's a total precedent and the peak of absurdity.

Hamilton in Barcelona 2012 and Turkey 2021—There’s no debate there. You're the fastest in qualifying and you qualify as P1, but you haven't earned the PP because you were either disqualified, hit with a penalty from the previous race, or forced to change components outside of regulations.

I think the best way to handle these cases for your PP is as follows:

* A driver who takes a grid penalty or is disqualified during qualifying despite setting the fastest time doesn't have a legitimate PP.
* A driver who should be starting on pole, but suffers a mechanical failure during the formation lap or the warm-up lap, does not have a legitimate PP.

"DNS" is a clean term that solves your headaches, because if a driver has the PP but can't actually start the race from that position, they don't have the PP.

A total, wet-and-messy farce. Honestly, maybe one of the worst in NASCAR history, and that's considering nobody actually got hurt or sick...

The 2021 US Grand Prix is going to be remembered as one of those races that just completely breaks all the statistics in weird ways. XD

The race had those few formation laps that basically serve no purpose other than to exponentially shrink the total lap count. So, if I saw correctly, we only did 5 because the readout said it would be 39 laps total...

Alright, now it's time to dive deep into the stats:

* Shortest race ever—just 3 minutes and 27 seconds.

1991 US Grand Prix - 24 minutes and 34 seconds.
1975 US Grand Prix - 42 minutes and 53 seconds.
2009 US Grand Prix - 55 minutes and 30 seconds.
1975 US Grand Prix - 57 minutes and 56 seconds.
1984 Monaco Grand Prix - 1 lap, 1 minute, 7 seconds.
1978 US Grand Prix - 1 hour 7 minutes and 4 seconds
2001 US Grand Prix - 1 hour, 8 minutes, and 5 seconds.
9. 2003 US Grand Prix - 1 hour, 14 minutes, and 19 seconds.
2005 US Grand Prix - 1 hour, 14 minutes, and 28 seconds

* Shortest mileage— 4.2 miles

1991 US Grand Prix - 33 miles
1984 Monaco Grand Prix - 64 miles
1975 US Grand Prix - 68 miles
1975 US Grand Prix - 107 miles
2009 US Grand Prix - 107 miles
1997 Monaco Grand Prix - 130 miles
1981 US Grand Prix - 143 miles
1978 US Grand Prix - 144 miles
2003 US Grand Prix - 145 miles

* Lowest lap count - 1

1971 US Grand Prix - 12
1968 US Grand Prix - 14
1969 US Grand Prix - 14
1972 US Grand Prix - 14
6. 1973 US Grand Prix - 14
7. 1974 US Grand Prix - 14
8. 1975 US Grand Prix - 14
9. 1976 US Grand Prix - 14
1991 US Grand Prix - 14

Technically, Max should have walked away with a Grand Slam—pole, leading every lap, fastest lap, and the win—but since that fastest lap happened under the SC, it doesn't really count. It’s almost like he's the first driver ever to miss out on a Grand Slam just because of how bizarre things turned out. This would have been his second one, if not for those circumstances; his first was back at the US Grand Prix.

The 2021 US Grand Prix was actually the first race ever where nobody managed to snag a legitimate fastest lap.

George Russell is a 21-year-old driver who managed to snag a podium finish. Before him, it was Esteban Ocon at the Sakhir circuit.

Number 63, driven by George Russell, marks the 56th unique number in NASCAR history to land on the podium. Before that, we saw number 55 achieve it with Carlos Sainz at the 2019 US Grand Prix. Going back a bit further, number 54 was held by 77, which belonged to Valtteri Bottas during the 2014 US Grand Prix. And if you look even further back, number 53 was actually zero, used by Damon Hill at the 1993 US Grand Prix.

The 2021 US Grand Prix was actually the first time we ever saw a race start from a pit lane formation (correct me if I'm wrong on that), mostly because the cars had already done a few warm-up laps before that first red flag came out.

Sergio Perez was basically written off as a DNS before he even completed a single warm-up lap. But since they managed to fix his car while it was still under parc fermé, they ended up giving him a pit lane start. It’s just bizarre—the race kicked off with only 19 cars on the grid, yet somehow finished with 20 drivers classified. Just strange.

Max Verstappen led from the very first lap straight through to the last—even if there was only one single lap to go—marking his sixth time doing that in his career. He’s officially moved past legends like Fangio, Stirling Moss, Jack Brabham, and Marc Andretti, landing him right at number 12 on that list. Lewis Hamilton is still sitting at the top with 22.

Max Verstappen has officially tied Stirling Moss for the number of wins without a championship title—that brings him to 16.

The 2021 US Grand Prix actually had eight different constructors in the top eight. That’s a new record.

This is only the 11th time in history we've seen a race without anyone dropping out. The last time that happened was actually earlier this year during the US Grand Prix. It’s also the first time ever a wet race has finished without a single retirement.

Honda finally secured their first win at Indianapolis Motor Speedway since Senna back in 1991.

The 2021 US Grand Prix stands as the sixth time we've seen half points being handed out. Looking back at history, there were a few others: the 2009 Malaysian Grand Prix; the 1991 US Grand Prix where McLaren secured the championship after Nelson Piquet drove his final race; that 1984 Monaco race where Ayrton Senna landed his first podium; the 1975 US Grand Prix which saw Vittorio Brambilla’s only win alongside Tom Pryce’s first ever podium; and finally the 1975 Spanish Grand Prix, the one and only race where a woman scored points—half points, actually—thanks to Lella Lombardi.

Matthew Johnson30 said:Some motherfuckers are always trying to ice-skate uphill 🙏

It’s honestly depressing reading through all these old comments about Blade—I mean, who even is he to you guys? 😵
I'm genuinely worried they're going to rush things or just nerf Blade in the MCU with Mahershala Ali. It feels like some female version will probably swoop in during her own movie to save the day, while Blade just sits on the sidelines clapping and shouting "You go girl!".

A female version? wow, they'd be stripping the soul out of Blade without Snipes. Just imagine some female vampire biting a guy's neck and blood dripping down her chest...

But hey, that's the MCU for you, so I probably won't even bother watching it. To be honest, I'm expecting nothing from this version of the franchise. I'm staying quiet because I don't want to get my hopes up for nothing.

A buddy of mine, dmw, asked if I could post this for him▼

Kevin Brooks said:Taika can do whatever he wants—I’m still watching everything he puts out. 😍 His sense of humor really works for me.
I just don't love how they turned Thor into a bit of an idiot, specifically in terms of his intelligence.

Are you talking about the era before or after Avengers: Infinity War?